The Nerdist scored a long and interesting interview with Star Wars: The Force Awakens supervising sound editor Matthew Wood and supervising sound editor and sound designer David Acord (also known as the voice of a meme-famous Stormtrooper), who are now Oscar-nominated for The Force Awakens‘ sound editing. Mild spoilers ahead, but you should have seen this movie by now.
In the interview, Wood and Acord discuss many topics, including some of the strangest sound sources they used for the movie. The sound of Kylo Ren’s force rumble, for example, came in part from David Acord’s cat purring, heavily pitched and slowed down. This isn’t because Kylo is an emo little kitty cat (although…), but rather because of the “raw power he has that’s not quite formed. He’s not well trained, but he’s extremely powerful. It’s a little wild and dangerous.” Meanwhile, Rey’s force rumble is more measured and serene, as she is, “more smooth and rhythmic and like a heartbeat.”
Another weird source for sounds in Star Wars: The Force Awakens? The entire Lucasfilm sound library. Remember the scene on the Millennium Falcon when Han and Chewie flee from an escaped rathtar? If you thought it sounded like that rathtar was rolling, not running, through the corridors of the Millennium Falcon, you weren’t wrong.
Acord tells Nerdist, “I put in the sound of Ben Burtt’s boulder roll sound from Raiders of the Lost Ark when the boulder is chasing Indy.”
This isn’t the first time Star Wars and Indiana Jones have crossed over. R2-D2 has made several cameos throughout the Indiana Jones series.
Here’s the Indiana Jones boulder scene for sound reference. We can’t believe we never noticed the huge Star Wars: Force Awakens reference in this scene. They must have had this planned for decades. See if you can spot it…
Okay, here’s the real boulder scene. But we like this one better.
(Via Nerdist and Games Radar)
