Magnum In Motion: The importance of sound

When we first started producing Magnum In Motion essays we made the photographer talk about each image - one sound bite with one image. This made the stories quite static and forced us to a very inflexible editing process. Instead we discovered that it worked much better if the photographer talked generally about the subject of the project, and we let the voice and the photographs flow more separately throughout the story. This is also the case when we use ambient sound and effects. We take care not to be too literal, for example by adding a sound of a barking dog behind a photograph of a dog. This tends to take away the poetry and make the story unwillingly comic. Instead we try to create contrasts between the sound and the visuals that make both parts stronger.

Finally there is a more philosophical element to the discussion about adding photographers' interviews to the story. Journalists, historians, sociologists and other interpreters of "reality" try to be invisible mediators of a problem or a topic, to avoid being a disturbing filter in the storytelling. The images are recorded and edited by the photographer, but when the story is put out to the world it should tell its own story whiteout the literal manifestation of the storyteller. The storyteller wants to tell the story but not be present in the story.

Photographer Alex Majoli and Magnum In Motion producer Adrian Kelterborn are looking at the FinalCut project of "Libera Me" and discuss some last minute changes on the back table of Magnum's New York City office. © James Wendell

In the case of "Libera Me" we have a very personal story. But it became clear to Alex Majoli (and the rest of us a little later) that his voice and narration could not drive the story. We wanted to create a cinematic experience with another feeling and tension than an interview with Alex would provide. He was very inspired by a screenplay, so it became clear to us (or actually more to Alex Majoli and Adrian Kelterborn who produced the story), that the obvious way to go was to get actors to speak lines from the play. As we have very small budgets for the stories we produce here at Magnum In Motion, we had to be creative. We ended up using a mix of professional actors who helped us for free and a bunch of good amateur "voices" - even a few Magnum photographers (if you know our essays well, you should be able to guess who they are).

This ProTools screenshot is an example of how a typical sound project for an essay like "Libera Me" looks.

A look into the building blocks of the "Libera Me" essay. This is how the final edit of the story looks inside Apple's FinalCut.

At the same time we worked with three sound designers in Europe – Fabio Barovero, Johan Vandermaelen and Stefan Baumann - who volunteered to help us create a soundscape that could set the mood and drive the story forward. They were contacts of Adrian (producer at Magnum In Motion), and none of us in New York have actually met these two extraordinary talents in person. We worked over Skype and email, and once again it proves how strong the Internet can be in a collaborative process. But that is a totally different story.

Adrian and Alex Majoli did the first visual edit and came up with some directions and ideas for the sound. Adrian also recorded the actors speaking in New York. After this the sound designers started to work on the story, and edits would go back and fourth over the Atlantic, adjusting both sound and visuals to blend together in the right rhythm. Now we were ready to add all the extras, and actually make the story play online. But you will be able to read more about this part in the next post.

Any comments, feedback and suggestions for our work at Magnum In Motion are highly appreciated.