Iconic Sound Design in Film: Three Case Studies
A sandworm's swallow, a score played through a human skull, and a baby elephant's scream — the biggest screen sounds usually come from the most unexpected sources.
An iconic sound design usually isn't born from advanced technology — it's born from following an unusual idea all the way through. The three examples below show the creative process behind some of the most talked-about sounds in film and game history.
Dune (2021): A Monster Born From a Throat
To create the sandworms' swallowing sound in Villeneuve's 'Dune', sound designer Mark Mangini tried traditional animal recordings — lion, tiger, elephant — but all of them carried a wet, watery texture. On Arrakis, water is sacred and scarce; a monster's throat sounding wet broke the internal logic of the world. To solve it, Mangini put a microphone down his own throat and took a deep breath; that recording was stretched and enlarged in the studio into the sound of an imaginary 400-metre oesophagus. Hydrophones were taken to Death Valley to capture sand movement, and creaking bark and twisting vines were layered in for the worm's motion.
Inside (2016): A Score Filtered Through a Skull
In Playdead's 'Inside', composer Martin Stig Andersen was after an atmosphere that felt disturbingly, uncannily familiar. His idea: why do people find their own recorded voice 'foreign'? Because normally we hear our own voice from inside our skull, via bone conduction. Andersen simulated that 'hearing from inside' sensation by routing synthesised music through a real human skull using transducers and contact microphones, then re-recording the result. The outcome was a musical texture players couldn't quite explain, but never forgot.
Jurassic Park (1993): Three Animals Inside the T-Rex's Roar
To create the T-Rex's roar, sound designer Gary Rydstrom didn't rely on a single source — he blended three different animals. A never-before-heard trumpet sound from a baby elephant at the San Francisco Zoo, one that even the handlers were startled by, gave the roar its high-pitched character; a tiger's roar filled in the mid frequencies, and an alligator's growl provided the low, threatening foundation. Because the baby elephant refused to repeat that exact sound, Rydstrom reused the same recording for every T-Rex roar in the film.