(Fig. 1 – David Farmer)

David Farmer is known for his work on massive productions such as “The Lord of the Rings”, “World

of Warcraft”, “The Hobbit” and many, many more.

In a brilliant interview by Miguel Isaza, David Farmer talks about the way he designed the high-

pitched scream of the Witch King for “The Lord of The Rings”: “The Witch King scream in ROTK. I

can’t quote it here but it said something about the rising pitch that eventually went out of the range

of human hearing. That was a 14 second scream, and it took a lot of tweaking to get the elements to

blend together as one & also rise in pitch without sounding fake. To get that sense of “beyond the

range of human hearing”, I had to increase the speed of the pitch change quickly right at the end,

because a gradual pitch increase wouldn’t have had as much energy and would have had a less

dramatic effect.” (Isaza, 2015) In the same interview David Farmer explains the methodology he was

following when working on such a demanding project. What is incredibly fascinating is the way he

managed to work under pressure and under very strict deadlines. Often times the job of every sound

designer is the hardest because a lot of the special effects and final scenes are not ready until the

very end, which makes his work so dependent on the vision of the director. (fig. 2)

David Farmer also recorded his own voice and manipulated it in order to achieve interesting sounds.

“The most vocal FX I added went into the wraith screams. Once I found that flavour that Peter liked,

that centre piece, we were able to do a few more like it using Fran’s screams. But those alone

weren’t quite screechy enough. I already had a lot of inhale screams I’d done myself, so I started

pitching those up and adding to Fran’s screams, and that worked a lot better.” (Isaza, 2015) The idea

that one can use their own voice and edit them to fit to their brief is very freeing. After all humans

have complex voices and are able to imitate complicated sounds without the need of additional

instruments or objects.

(fig 2 – David Farmer)

It is indeed very hard to come up with sounds for abstract ideas or cinema shots, David Farmer used

a lot of recordings of rocks, for instance, when designing the sound a Balrog would make.

“Throughout most of his career David has specialized in creature sounds, creating the strange and

horrific noises made by the likes of Freddy Krueger, the Incredible Hulk, and the Balrog from Lord of

the Rings. These characters have no real-life counterpart, which is where the art of sound design

comes into play, as David blends different audio elements he records in the field to create an organic

“voice” that fits each personality.” (University, 2015)

What makes David Farmer extraordinary is the thought process he follows when designing a sound.

He might see a concept piece for a creature and depending on its features he can come up with

different sounds. But the true mastery lies not in mixing different sounds next to each other, but

blending them into a whole new sound that encapsulates everything required by the brief. ““You

wind up finding sounds everywhere,” he says. “One of the elements of Freddy Krueger’s knives was

an ironing board at a hotel room I was staying at. I just closed it up and it was this ancient screeching

thing. Then the Balrog was a particular favourite. The things that went into making it were dragging

a concrete block along a hollow piece of oak plywood. Then I actually used some donkeys and horses

in there. You’re trying to breathe life in a real tangible way that complements the film but doesn’t

pull the audience’s attention off the screen.” (University, 2015)

Images:

Fig. 1 - University, F. (2015). David Farmer - Hall of Fame 2011 : Full Sail. [online] Fullsail.edu.

Available at: http://www.fullsail.edu/grads/hall-of-fame/2011/inductees/david-farmer [Accessed 13

Feb. 2015].

Fig. 2 - Designingsound.org, (2015). [online] Available at: http://designingsound.org/wp-

content/uploads/2013/02/David_Farmer_Oregon.jpg [Accessed 13 Feb. 2015].

Bibliography:

Isaza, M. (2015). David Farmer Special: The Lord of the Rings [Exclusive Interview] | Designing Sound.

[online] Designingsound.org. Available at: http://designingsound.org/2010/09/david-farmer-special-

the-lord-of-the-rings-exclusive-interview/ [Accessed 13 Feb. 2015].

University, F. (2015). David Farmer - Hall of Fame 2011 : Full Sail. [online] Fullsail.edu. Available at:

http://www.fullsail.edu/grads/hall-of-fame/2011/inductees/david-farmer [Accessed 13 Feb. 2015].