Cory Stillman
When Spider-Noir dropped on Amazon Prime on May 25th, the series was available in both color and black-and-white, allowing audiences to experience the show’s film noir roots in more ways than one. But for sound designers Andy Sisul and Ethan Beigel, those distinct visual options had a surprising impact on the show’s noir-tinged soundscape.
“We experimented with using old recordings of sound effects, being very selective with what sounds we would hear, and giving them an effect that set them in that era,” says Sisul. “But when you switch to the color version – even though it’s color timed to look more like an older colorized film – those old recordings didn’t always work. So the approach was to experiment to find where that line was between old and new in a way that would match both versions.”
With just one chance to create a mix that functioned effectively in both the black-and-white and color versions of the show, Sisul and Beigel turned to a diverse set of influences. While noir classics like The Maltese Falcon certainly shaped the duo’s sonic approach, they were particularly interested in crossing those films with more modern examples like LA Confidential, Miller’s Crossing, and even Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Of course, this is a superhero show as well, and so the soundscape had to occasionally heighten beyond its more traditional noir trappings. As supervising sound editors, Sisul and Beigel credit their mixers Ryan Collins and Nick Offord with achieving that balance.
“They accomplished this by making the noir scenes more mono and they would EQ and filter the mix to have a hint of older technology, like it was playing off analog magnetic tape,” says Sisul. “When we got to superpowers and action scenes they would remove those filters and spread the mix so it would fill the room and be big and powerful like a modern superhero movie.”
Beigel also hopes audiences listen closely to the background voice actors and crowd noise that help flesh out the world.
“We recorded a lot of the crowd sounds two ways, one as a non-descript, generic background track, and a second pass where the voice actors did a more Cagney-like vocal style and we could choose which background felt the best in the scene,” he says.
Hi Andy and Ethan! Spider-Noir invites viewers to experience the series in either black-and-white or color. Did this unique approach influence your sound design philosophy at all? Do you feel as though sound is more responsible in conveying information or emotion to viewers watching in black and white?
Andy Sisul: The two visual versions absolutely influenced our approach. We only had one shot to create a mix that worked for both the B&W and color versions. We knew we were making an old school noir genre film and we wanted to match the B&W visual style with the sonic style of the era. We experimented with using old recordings of sound effects, being very selective with what sounds we would hear, and giving them an effect that set them in that era. But when you switch to the color version – even though it’s color timed to look more like an older colorized film – those old recordings didn’t always work. So the approach was to experiment to find where that line was between old and new in a way that would match both versions.
Ethan Beigel: Sound is a tool used in all sorts of ways to impact the story. It’s definitely used to convey information. At the end of the Episode 1 fight scene between Ben and Flint, we need to hear the elevator off screen that brings Cat Hardy to the scene. Otherwise one might wonder if she was there watching the whole fight.
And sound is, as importantly, a tool to create immersion for the audience. We wanted to immerse the audience in this film noir aesthetic so the mix of the early scenes is more mono, and a little more ‘canned’ to let the audience know what genre we’re going to be living in. When Cat sings “Dream a Little Dream of Me” the mix gets very lush, allowing the audience to sit in Ben’s point of view of this dreamy moment in full fidelity. And that was a moment we applied a more emotional use of sound to help tell that story.
AS: The fascinating result of the experiment is just how differently the same mix feels when watching the B&W versus the color. The brain game effect that happens between the two was cool to see in real time for us on stage. When people ask which they should watch, we suggest both. Because each is a uniquely different aural experience with the brain processing the image in two separate ways, even though they are played with the same mix.
How did Nicolas Cage’s performance influence your sound choices for Ben Reilly?
EB: In the show, we learn that Ben Reilly speaks the way he does because he’s really a spider cosplaying as a human. He’s watched old movies and learned how to speak by mimicking the actors of the time. Ben’s speaking voice has a very distinctive cadence, in a way no one else in the show really does. Even with added voices, like radio announcers, we didn’t want to go too far into the Cagney voice because we wanted Ben to stand out as unique. We had to then consider how Ben would speak when he dons the Spider mask. Would his voice be so recognizable that anybody who’d ever met Ben Reilly would immediately know he was the Spider? It was a fun, yet complex challenge to find the right amount of alteration for the voices to distinguish Ben Reilly from the Spider.
How did you sonically distinguish Spider-Noir’s version of 1930s New York from the version seen in classic noir cinema? Did any noir films serve as inspiration for this world?
EB: This was actually a really difficult needle to thread. Obviously, we have much better technology now and our instincts might be to make the show sound as full and as lush as possible. Since this is still a super hero show, we definitely wanted to have that fullness audiences are accustomed to with those types of films from today. But it’s also a Noir show. So we wanted to honor the genre by not playing EVERY sound you might hear in a modern movie. The overarching philosophy was “what if sound professionals had better tools when they were making these kinds of films in the 1940s?” And we ended up mixing and matching older sound theory with modern expectations. Imagine mashing the sonic ideas of The Maltese Falcon with more modern noir films like LA Confidential or Miller’s Crossing. And since this is also a comedy, we may have tossed in a little Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
What did early conversations around this project and defining the sound of Spider-Noir sound like?
AS: The earliest conversations were about establishing the mood and the lore of this universe. We were making a love letter to old noir movies and wanted to make sure we established that. We also discussed making this show feel very grounded and the super powers feel organic. This wasn’t science fiction. Our superhumans weren’t the product of technology or born with super powers. It was darker than that and showrunner Oren Uziel made a point of saying these powers needed to feel painful. For both the villains and for Ben Reilly. When discussing how Flint’s (aka Sandman) transformation should sound, Oren asked us, “What would eczema sound like?” It’s something that feels painful and we wanted to use sound to highlight the pain Flint was feeling.
We also discussed making this iteration of the character as distinct as possible from what we’re already familiar or expecting. Ben is old and needs to sound old. So the Spider’s voice isn’t just a mask over Ben Reilly. The Spidey-Sense sounds are lower pitch vibrations rather than high pitched tones. We were given a lot of freedom to explore new ways to define this character and make him a variant unlike any we’ve seen before.
Noir stories often rely on atmosphere and tension to convey themes, whereas superhero stories are often larger-than-life. How did you balance that crossover sonically?
AS: This was actually a concept that became fully realized in the mix. The show’s mixers, Ryan Collins and Nick Offord, spent a lot of time, especially on Episode 1, experimenting with how to transition between the noir and superhero aesthetics. They accomplished this by making the noir scenes more mono and they would EQ and filter the mix to have a hint of older technology, like it was playing off analog magnetic tape. When we got to superpowers and action scenes they would remove those filters and spread the mix so it would fill the room and be big and powerful like a modern superhero movie.
EB: Editorially, we provided a lot of options for how and where we could go in and out of the noir soundscape. Two examples come to mind. The first time we transition out of noir is when Ben’s Spidey-Sense first activates at the oil depot. The sound design uses our version of a spider web vibration that allowed the mixers to expand into deeper depths out of mono and create a seamless transition from noir to superhero Atmos. Another example is with the loop group – the background voices you hear in crowd scenes. We recorded a lot of the crowd sounds two ways, one as a non-descript, generic background track, and a second pass where the voice actors did a more Cagney-like vocal style and we could choose which background felt the best in the scene.
How do you approach Ben differently when he’s functioning as a detective versus when he’s embracing his superhero identity? Was there a particular sound motif or idea that bridged those two sides of his world?
EB: Since Ben is really a spider cosplaying as human, the idea was when the Spider mask goes on, Ben gets to be his true self. The first question to ask is “What would that arachnid voice sound like?” We researched a lot of different ways spiders make and perceive sound and what interested us the most was that spiders utilize vibrations. They ‘hear’ vibrations through their legs via the webs. Some species ‘sing’ by vibrating their bodies sending sound through the ground that other spiders can hear. For the Spider voice, part of what we did was adding a subtle layer of vibration to the Spider’s dialogue as well as lowering his pitch at points and giving him a little more oomph to make him more intimidating and powerful when needed. And for the Spidey-Sense, we took the idea of web strands of his universe, and in some cases the multi-verse, vibrating and then connected that to Ben.
What were the most sonically challenging sequences for you?
AS: Being that this project was so vastly unique and yet still within a world many audiences are familiar with whether it be Noir genre films or Spider-Man driven films, we would happily say, there were quite a few to choose from here. The opening sequence going from full prologue and a Main Title sequence into a very noir speakeasy and then a street chase, right into full superpowered activation and explosions, was a fun challenge to dial in. It’s the first thing the audience will hear and establishing that motif is so important and one of things that we spent the most time on in the mix.
There’s also a great action sequence in a bar where we had to do a dance between fight sounds, drunken spider grunting, a baseball game playing on the radio, and a very full music track. That was quite the challenge and the final outcome is very satisfying.
What is a detail in the mix or sound design that viewers may not consciously notice that you’d like to point out?
AS: In general, the transitions between noir and modern are very subtle but very cool. More specifically, we are excited to see if people will notice that each Spidey-Sense moment has unique elements that distinguish them from the rest. The guideline we discussed is that Ben is at the center of an invisible web where the strands of the web connect him to the world around him but also as a multi-versal thread that connects him throughout space and time. So there’s a little hint of something – past, present or future – inside of every Spidey-Sense moment. The biggest example being that when the show reveals the origin of The Spider in Episode 5, he is bitten and screams during the bite. That scream is tied into the first Spidey-Sense moments as we wanted to convey the importance of that event being the origin moment for The Spider. After Ruby had died, and he had buried the Spider deep within, it was important to tell the story of The Spider’s re-awakening and that scream was its way of reminding him who he really is. We were very intentional in making sure the sonic elements helped tell the story in front of the audience, while also layering in something deeper.
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