Sound Design for "The Rule of Jenny Pen" #3 Roomtones and spaces

A series of posts on the sound design for  The Rule of Jenny Pen

Director: James Ashcroft

A sense of enclosure in an oppressive, boring space was a key part of what James wanted to convey; especially from the POV of the central character. Though the residents make the best of their final years, there is no getting away from the dull utilitarianism of the building itself. As such, we recorded many ‘boring’ room tones. Several were taken from the William Booth Memorial Training College building, which now houses the Wellington School of Philosophy. An imposing 1913 complex, its rambling corridors, multiple dormitories, basements, lecture rooms, sleepouts and sheds presented a wealth of great recording opportunities. 

The space was also our recording stage for Stefan’s wheelchair, which features prominently as part of his character. We hired a wheelchair for the occasion, with the help of the sound designer’s mother, who posed (not untruthfully) as a customer seeking to test one of them out for future purchase. 

The traffic hum was distant, the creaks and sighs of the building were notable and the prowling wind was audible from various corridors and basements. Though roomtones are often used to mask noisy dialogue, we managed to get much mileage from these recordings as sound effects in their own right. 

Often a subconscious effect, the sound of the ambient air in the film becomes ‘heavier’ in line with the mood of the plot. An open space is joyous and light when there is plenty of dancing and jollity, but can become depressing when the mood is low; and downright grim when empty and the lights have been shut off for the night. Creating a dull bed for the other sound effects (such as the electrics and laundry) to echo into was the job of our ambience editor, whether it was the abandoned dance hall, the long corridors of the dementia wing or just the spacious breakfast room during times of inactivity. Being able to feed in reverb-triggering sounds via Dolby Atmos made for a very versatile and customisable soundscape, which was able to carry through to the final mix. This allowed James the ability to tweak and refine until the very end.