About

“STONE” is a short film directed by Kade Allen. It is set 12,000 years ago and was shot entirely on location on Stone Mountain in Atlanta Georgia (United States).

I was involved in this project as a Score Composer and producer, making the music for all the scenes of the movie. The genre that Kade Allen was looking for was something along the lines of Tribal Percussion. We both agreed that in each scene would be interesting to introduce different instruments, to convey the aesthetics, growing emotions and different feelings throughout the movie.

Process

I had to imagine how music would be made at that time and the tools that would be available to create different sounds and textures. Some of those would be Sticks, Claps, Drums, Didgeridoos, Flutes, Stones and Seeds. Ended up recording some gutturals and vocalizations as well, for a couple of scenes, which was quite fun.

The instruments, however, needed to be captured as raw as possible, without many effects going on, for a more natural and involving sound, translating the ancient and prehistoric scenes.

I learned from researching about paleolithic music, that a flute made of bone, dating approximately 35,000 years ago, was discovered in a cave, in Germany (Paleolithic flute), 2006, which is amazing! There are many instruments, really quite old, that were used in ceremonies, rituals with chants and dancing, to interact with gods and spirits.

By paying attention to the soundtrack as a whole, you’ll notice that frame drums, with a lower pitch sound, lead most of the scenes. Kind of like a bed for everything and also taking the spotlight at times. But there are moments in the movie that transport the listener to another world, especially the Hermit scenes, where the didgeridoo assumes a bigger role.

Watch how some of the instruments were used

…and how some of the textures were made:

Cast and Crew

Direction: Kade Allen
Cast: Eamon Glennon (Bear Killer) and Simon Shih (Hermit)
Producers: Salvatore Cardinale and Colleen Ryan.
1st AD: Sophie Reidd, DP: Brenden Mascherino, 1st AC: Wesley Collins, 2nd AC: Weston stokes, Cam Utility/Loader: Lukas Karamitsanis,
Sound Mixer: Alkire Brett, Music Score: Nuno Pinto de Carvalho,
PD: Ken Misaki, Costumes: Davis Biddlecomb, Gaffer: Michael Magarahan,
Best Electric: Jrdan Bristow, Key Grip: Aidan Kelly
Best Grip: Charles Hoy, Grips: Max Fields, Kenadie Larson, Ari Isenberg,
Editor: Jolie Mccauley, Colorist: Brenden Mascherino, Helper: Cierra de Bie,
Film test Stand-In: Dexter Assa, Graded using: Dehancer Film,
BTS Photography: Ari Isenberg.

About

“Apenas Mais Um Dia” (“Just Another Day” in English) is a cinematographic project by final year students from the Art School / Escola das Artes – Universidade Católica do Porto.

“Apenas mais um dia” is directed by Gonçalo Dias. With producer: Pedro Costa, Dir. of art and photography: Tiago Sousa, Ass. Director: Camila Pereira, Dir. Sound: Nuno Pinto de Carvalho. Actors: Rafael Ferreira (Rui), Rita Duque (Margarida), Carolina Mendes (Diana), Sebastião Varaine (Filipe).

We spent a whole week filming inside a house, in a village of Luso region (Mealhada, Portugal) and for the last day, in a park at the Mountain range of Bussaco (Serra do Bussaco).

Sound direction and capture

I was in charge of directing the sound, with operating the boom+recorder and choosing the best locations to capture and orient the shotgun mic properly, both indoors and outdoors.

Using a shotgun mic indoors isn’t easy because the sound can become really boomy sometimes, especially when placed around corners and near ceiling. Capturing a clear dialogue without the capsule appearing in front of a camera requires constant calibration and testing, but I loved every part of it.

Every scene shot was carefully planed previously (locations, positions, etc) by the production team, which made my job in getting the best sound possible easier and efficient.

The most challenging, and funny, part was the “fighting scene”. I had to move fast in order to capture the actors moving (steps, clothes, shouts, breaths) and avoid hitting the boom mic against any object.

Post Production

Few months later, and after the team taking care of part of the footage, I was tasked with editing the dialogue and create the foley for the different scenes.

Dialogue Editing

Having worked in dozens of VO/Dialogue/Vocals and syncing them with video, this was a straightforward process. Never the less, it takes time choosing the best audio take for the camera angle, sync it with the picture, apply the necessary tools to enhance the audio and sometimes replace words from other takes to get clearer speech.

For the dialogue recorded outdoors, in the park, I had to use specific tools for reducing the background noise.

The recordings near the lake, as you can imagine, were really noisy. The sound of water flowing in abundance, is perceived like a white noise or hiss.

Taking off or reducing these ambient sounds needed special attention, in part because the level of ambience (background noise) in these varies from angle to angle, depending on the position of the boom mic.

After processing I had to make sure the audio quality was similar in each recording, so that any transition to the next take/angle happens smoothly, without alerting the viewer that something in the audio changed.

Foley production

After the dialogue being done and shared with the rest of the team, I moved to the foley creation.

Some scenes needed simple sounds like cloth rubbing and footsteps in gravel, while others required more complex sounds.

Some I managed to re-use from my own libraries (water, birds, etc) and from previous boom recordings (tv falling/breaking, different takes from “fight scene”) while others were created on the spot (rubbing of clothes, slap, breaths, etc).

A good slap, for example, can be obtained from a mix of clap and a snare hit on top of a regular slap. Sorry for all those slaps Rui 😆

Cast and Crew:

Direction: Gonçalo Dias
Production: Pedro Costa
Text: Gonçalo Dias
Direction of Photography: Tiago Sousa
Direction of Sound, Capture, Dialogue Editing and Foley: Nuno Pinto de Carvalho
Art Direction and Color Correction: Tiago Sousa
Actors: Rafael Ferreira (Rui), Rita Duque (Margarida), Carolina Mendes (Diana), Sebastião Varaine (Filipe)
Ass. Director and Setup: Camila Pereira
Sound Mix: Bernardo Bento
Score: André de Carvalho

About

This is a documentary about the the rise of Atlético Clube de Portugal, in which I was involved as a sound-designer. Its directed by Francisco Pereira Coutinho, to whom I thank for the opportunity.

Atlético is a Portuguese sports club from Alcântara, within the city of Lisbon. This documentary covers the history of the club, with interviews from the Chairman, Manager and many other members deeply involved and responsible for its growth.

Final Product

Despite all the work and treatment, the objective was always getting the audio and transitions to sound as natural as possible!

Watch the documentary here (inc. english subtitles): https://youtu.be/uKaIgQC4lWs

Crew:

Direction: Francisco Pereira Coutinho
Footage: Marta Dias Coelho, Francisco Pereira Coutinho
Color Grading: Daniel de Laranja
Sound Design: Nuno Pinto de Carvalho.

About

In this project I did the sfx and score of a video containing a minecraft scene with many separate VO lines and a script.

The Voice Over, supplied by the same company, was from a longer script which needed to be cut and edited as well, to fit in the video, according to the script provided.

Process

Some of these sounds and music created were influenced by the early ages of the show “Adventure Time”, which I loved. I think the rawness and aesthetics of the sounds, like an in-development game, fit in this low-poly 3D world.

Although, there’s some light music to accompany the “quiz” type scenes, where each new stage corresponds to a higher quiz level, the main theme of this show (playing in the end as well) is stronger because it needed to feel convincing and catchy, contrasting with the rest of the action.

Final Product

You can watch the full video bellow:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nuno | NPC Audio (@npcaudio)

Sharing an alternate version of a music work I did for a private client. Made a “mockup car commercial” using stock footage, to fit the song in, as well as the creation and design of the “Hephaestus” logo and punchline.

Some sounds, like the engine roar, car passing by and other nature elements were added to make the video more realistic, since the original footage didn’t contain these sounds.

Watch the video:

About

For this project I was involved as a sound designer of the anime trailer “The Ones NFT” for the company Only 1.

All sounds, including sfx, foley and score/music, were recorded and composed, except for the VO, which was recorded by other member hired by the company.

Process

The trailer has 3 distinct scenes or parts, which the music and sound effects need to follow.

A first one, in a forest like scenario, which called for the use of wind chimes (for trees/leaves dropping) and slight breeze sound, where the main character is working in a laptop, accompanied by electronic sounds and typing sounds.

The second part comes with the arrival of an “evil” character, with the sound of a high energy laser burst, which changes the mood completely. Sinister music enters, there’s a steady rise of energy sounds, leading to the delivery of “bad intentions” through the speech and change in music to a more darker feel.

The third sequence is characterized by a very brief silence followed by the main character leveling-up, with sounds from energy/waves, disrupting many elements surrounding her (leaves, small rocks, etc). A confident/battle theme music starts, signaling an epic confrontation between the two characters.

Designing sounds

Final Product

This anime trailer was part of a promo campaign by Only 1, NFT-Powered social platform built on solana, backed by Alameda Research. The trailer was published by Only1 at their twitter account (watch here) and later on Youtube.

One of the artists involved in this project used to animate for Toei Animation and was one of the animators for One Piece Anime and Dragon Ball Z.

About

“A Tragédia do Rei Ricardo III” was a theater play in which I was involved as a Sound designer, composer and live operator.

The play, by William Shakespeare, was directed by Pedro Galiza and Inês S. Pereira and produced by Núcleo de Expressão Dramática d’A Filantrópica, at Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal.

Process and Goals

The music of the play was very dark and sinister, to convey the feel and spirit of the character Richard III, across the different acts of the play.

To compose the soundtrack, I recorded many sounds, some from instruments played in “unusual ways”, in order to create atmospheric textures. These textures would then be bent, with changes in pitch, some reversed and other with a couple of delays on top for a dronish feel.

Final Product and Teaser Video

Listen to the main theme or Ricardo III:

The trailer of the theater play: