Mix Analysis 11

The Hunger Games:

Supervising Sound Editor - Lon Bender (Drive, Shrek)

Re-Recording Mixer - Michael Keller (Green Lantern, 2012) and Mike Prestwood Smith (Casino Royale, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

Training Scene: 





00:00-00:03 - Whooshing as the machete is swung, mannequin parts being cut off, grunting as the boy moves
00:02 - music starts
00:05 - grunt, whoosh as spear is thrown
00:06 - spear hits target
00:09 - bow is pulled back
00:10 - arrow is released, hits target
00:17- - mechanical targets moving
00:23-00:25 - knives thrown, hit targets
00:27- Peeta climbing rope, grunting
00:31 - Peeta struggling in rope, rope creaking
00:34 - Peeta falls, lands on mat and grunts
00:35-00:37 group of kids laughing at Peeta
00:39 - Katniss dialogue
00:41 Peeta dialogue
00:45 Peeta dialogue
00:47 Katniss dialogue
00:52-00:54 - Katniss footsteps, away
00:59-01:02 - Peeta footsteps
01:03 - Peeta grabs heavy metal object
01:04-01:07 - Peeta drags object off of rack
01:08-01:12 - Peeta staggers up stairs with the object
01:17 - Group laughs
01:20- Peeta grunts, hurls metal object
01:21 - object hits rack of metal spears
01:22-01:24 - spears clatter to ground
01:26-01:32 Peeta breathing heavily

This scene is pretty much all about the skills these kids have.  There’s almost no dialogue involved, so the sound effects used for each of the weapons is very important.  The point is to make these kids seem extremely dangerous, so the more sinister the sound of their weapon flying through the air, or the bigger sound the impact of the weapon creates, the scarier the kids seem.  The sound of the movement is important, as it shows a sense of speed and agility, which is different from when we hear the struggling of Peeta on the rope wall.  The satisfying thud and the clatter of the spears changes the way the competition sees Peeta because we know the metal object is very heavy, which is also conveyed through the sound it makes and the way his footsteps and movement changes while he is carrying it.

Style Prep:

00:00 music starts
00:02-00:11 - indistinct crowd chatter and movement
00:10 - Caesar dialogue
00:17 - Seneca dialogue
00:22 - Caesar interjects, Seneca continues
00:27 - footsteps
00:29-00:33 shower head running
00:35-00:37 - gentle hair brushing
00:40 - pluck with tweezers
00:43- showerhead running
00:45 - scrubbing Katniss
00:46 - cut hair with scissors
00:47-00:48 - footsteps walking away
00:49 - pull off wax on leg, Katniss grunts
00:50 - pull off wax again
00:54 - Katniss dialogue
00:58 - stylist dialogue
01:07 - metal shifting
01:08 - Cinna dialogue
01:15 - Katniss dialogue, Katniss sits up on metal table
01:16 - Cinna dialogue, sits down in chair
01:22 - Katniss dialogue
01:24 - Cinna dialogue
01:35 Katniss dialogue
01:37 - Cinna dialogue
01:41 - Katniss dialogue
01:43 - Cinna dialogue
01:50 - Katniss dialogue
01:53 - Cinna dialogue
02:06 - Katniss dialogue
The part of the scene where Katniss is going through the stylists is throughly helped by the sounds used with each step.  Each of the sounds are harsh and isolated.  It’s the capital, transforming Katniss into what they think she should be, so the sounds are exactly happy because it is to be viewed as a negative thing by the viewer.  We know what they want her to be is unnatural, so they are putting her through this makeover.