Thor: Love and Thunder | The Sound Design of Mjölnir!

Sound designers, sound editors, foley artists, and sound mixers work together to create the soundscape for every scene in a movie-a kind of worldbuilding all on its own. Adam Savage recently visited Skywalker Sound where Samson Neslund, one of the Sound Designers of Thor: Love and Thunder, broke down the layers of sound effects that make up a key scene in the latest Marvel Studios blockbuster.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now streaming.
Shot by Joey Fameli and edited by Norman Chan
Additional video and audio courtesy of Marvel Studios and Skywalker Sound
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Ryan Kiser / ryan.kiser
Josh Self / puppetflesh
Kristen Lomasney / krystynlo
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Thanks for watching!
#thorloveandthunder #adamsavage #behindthescenes

[@tested]

Thor: Love and Thunder is now streaming. Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks: kzbin.info/door/iDJtJKMICpb9B1qf7qjEOAjoin

[@TwstedTV]

He wouldn't feel comfortable giving that suggestion to the movie producer and director because the production company would drop him and get someone else. The movie is edited & cut in a certain way by the director of the movie, he must find a way to place the sounds in the film no matter what. he is just an employee, and has no pull or say so on how the movie should be edited or formatted. He can give some suggestions, but he has to be very careful not to overstep. He doesn't have the strong type of relationship to start giving opinions on how they should edit the film. This is a sound effects production house. Once all the sounds are completed it gets sent to the BIG mixing stage the size of a movie theater where the director goes to it gets professionally mixed and mastered by other mix and mastering engineers with at least 4 decades of experience as head audio mix engineers to complete the movie mixing the visual with the audio. Its just like someone creating a sound track for the movie. You have to go through the music director only, and you rarely talk with the movie producers or directors, as they are way above the pay-grade to be talking to music producers. The producers and directors of the movie instead talk directly to the music director. music director is in-charge of getting musicians to produce the music for the film. they will work for the music director not the film director himself. The music director participates in the big meetings and shows the different music the music director has assigned to musicians to the director of the movie, the director of the movie then chooses which music he likes best then those get chosen to be placed in the film. Same thing goes for contracted studios like Skywalker sound , they are contracted by the sound design director of the movie to make sure what goes into the movie. they have to go through the sound director and rarely talk to the film director himself of the movie. They are just hired to do the sounds for the movie. Its just like ILM studios (Industrial Lighting and Magic). They are contracted to make and create things for the film. hired as contractors for the film. A production house. A film can have a total of up to 5 production houses working at the same time for a particular film.

[@cdnaudioguy]

That was perhaps the deepest "behind the scene's look" into an aspect of creating a motion picture that I've never thought about. Thank you so much to the Tested team for creating and sharing this!

[@tested]

Thank you for the kind comment! We appreciate it!

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

@@tested Could you by chance turn that into a full on series with 10 or 12 main components of filmwork? Too bad that chance is now probably over, but something like the preparation and filming of Rings of Power would have been ideal with your Weta connections...

[@reizig]

@@tested People like you and the Corridor crew guys demystifying the filmmaking process has been amazing. Giving people to opportunity to talk at length about the details of their craft gives an incredible amount of insight. I remember watching behind the scenes documentaries as a kid and being like, "No wait, go back ask that guy at the computer/prop table like, 1000 more questions." It's so great to be able to learn from guys like this these days.

[@merchillio]

Great video but especially very good questions. Adam is really great at walking us through the process but also guiding someone who’s great at their work but at the same time isn’t a trained professional communicator.

[@brennanruiz1803]

The skill of over a decade as a show anchor, interviewer, and science communicator; as well as his experience in the movie industry before that.

[@tested]

Appreciate your comment -- we'll pass on to Adam!

[@AdrianPowersFilmmaker]

Agree. Adam did a masterful job in giving Samson the right questions to translate the material for the audience.

[@EricMyungjinChung]

Agreed! I was JUST coming here to comment on the great questions!

[@MrBrokenwrenches]

The sounds of the shards coming back together as the hammer was beautiful.

[@Darkside_C7]

All the hard work paid off because this was one of the best sounding Marvel movies in Atmos I've heard. Those little details were so satisfying.

[@delsydsoftware]

One thing I love about this channel is the fact that both Adam and Norm ask intelligent and insightful questions during interviews.

[@tested]

Really appreciate that ... Thank you for the kind words and the time you took to say them!

[@jrpipik]

Everyone I've ever met who is involved in sound is very soft spoken.

[@rarewhiteape]

Maybe you haven’t met the sound recordist I worked with on a film. He was the loudest guy in the room, and wouldn’t hesitate to yell out if a plane was flying far overhead in the stratosphere 🤣

[@Naf623]

My favourite sound "effect" of all time remains the cement truck from Mythbusters.

[@jamiethomas18]

VFX always get the most attention behind the scenes specials but sound design is just as important, even more so for the visually impaired who rely on an aural language of distinct sounds to establish key details, characters, props and environments. Great tour, thank you team Tested.

[@tested]

Thanks so much for the kind comment! We really appreciate it.

[@Eremon1]

My biggest pet peave in sounds from movies/tv are car sounds. Engine sounds rarely match the car on screen and also tire screeching in scenes where they're on gravel for example. Some times the sound work isn't good. But when it is good, man do sounds enhance the scenes we all love so much.

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

It tends to be generic sound libraries and not dedicated recordings of the real cars on a soundstage/test stand.

[@tobiasreif]

I've used samples of my 80s 4 cylinder volvo for so many different cars on so many different projects over the years 😆

[@michaelhenderson9754]

They're designed to be less literal, but more dramatic. An angry engine for the villian, gravel and skid sounds indicate urgency and panic, etc. Very little of what you hear is supposed to actually match, academically, what you're seeing on screen. Filmmaking at its core, is illusion. After all, in Star Wars, you wouldn't be able to hear anything in space at all, right? But what story would it tell without it?

[@PilotPhteven]

yea.. same for motorbikes.. they have "4 cylinder sport bike engine" sounds plastered onto a 2 cylinder low chugging adventure bike.

[@acidhermit]

Great video! I cannot avoid thinking that the sound quality coming out of those speakers in those sound mixing rooms, are an audiophile delight. You know you are sitting in front of millions of dollars invested to make something just sound great, and to be able to hear every little detail.

[@JesseCohen]

Not having watched much content regarding bts on sound design, outside a bit of foley work, and a few pieces related to film score, I have this takeaway. All films are puzzles, an act of piecing together a cinematic vision made of disparate but similar tiles. Without sound, that image would come across very 2D, hollow, lacking important color and depth. So in essence, the work of the sound teams is very much a complex, and intense game of connect the dots, where-in we also get a quite a lot of paint-by-numbers. That’s the simplified version of what this interview left me thinking about. Thanks so much for this, it’s really a joy to come along on these “industry curtain pulls”. 👍🏻

[@danielland3767]

Between this and Ghostbusters: Afterlife I genuinely love that Adam brings us into the making of a movie the "makers" in the entertainment industry as you will. The unsung heroes that make our favorite media come to life. In my short prerequisite for college for flim studies we where told to watch a movie with & without sound to see the difference. This is what makes Tested such a special channel

[@legod1717]

Was up there in 2009 and got a great tour of the facility. The main recording stage was fantastic and state of the art, along with the foley rooms. Got to hear their work reel in the Stag Theatre and the sound was incredible! Great video and interview!👍😎

[@jerryyu583]

When I was watching this film, the most memorable sound effect is the reassembled Mjolnir’s sound, that’s pretty amazing, feels like real.

[@avj317]

Sound is an under appreciated art form. Sound design is just like shooting a scene, it has different layers and can have its own life if done correctly.

[@tested]

#Truth

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

Well but it also is kind of art in that it does not try to match reality too close, but more to fit the mood. Like what food photographers do for advertisements. Where the "cheesemelt" could well be glue that is half hardened and pulls away consistently, where cheese might lose the right effect way faster if not cooked to the second right. They feed our expectations, even if they have to go to weird places to get there. Cocosnuts and such ;)

[@SiliconRiot]

I was an animator on this sequence for a few weeks, even us animators didn't know what the final creatures would look like.

[@tested]

Wow!

[@michaelhenderson9754]

Yeah... as a sound designer, we're so separated, but in the end, we have the stress of constant change in common. I feel for you buddy.

[@SiliconRiot]

@@michaelhenderson9754 Anyone in Post pretty much deals with similar issues.... It's where the Magic Happens ;)

[@visualartsbyjr2464]

That was an amazing interview. One never gives it much conscious thought of how a prop may sound until it’s “wrong/different”. The viewer would instantly be pulled out of the movie experience.

[@TheCreatorMatt]

This was an invaluable interview and walkthrough of this process! Great questions from Adam and interesting insight from the Sound Designer, Samson. Thanks Tested team!

[@JustinTOsburn]

What an awesome video! I'm a live audio enginner and music producer and I've always wondered how my experience ties in with the film world. Wicked cool video dude.

[@jesseholalde5670]

Thank you SO much for making this video! As always, great work!

[@fennburcham5739]

Really nice to get an sound design video, I hope you do more!

[@philips3236]

Nice to see Adam Driver's younger brother making his own way in the film industry.

[@MovieJunkieOfficial]

Awesome. He’s asking the exact kind of questions I’d ask.

[@ia5662]

I say this ALL the time about Ben Burtt - he designed so many iconic sounds and goes largely unsung. He's the guy behind the lightsaber and blaster fire, enough said! I think sound designers should be getting as many accolades as a director or a composer - they are vital to the feel and success of any film.

[@ExperienceExplorers]

Loved this - so cool that timing for sounds is not always in sync - because of the musical rhythms wanted by the sound designers - that’s truly amazing! Great video - great interview!

[@rarewhiteape]

I wonder if they ever add little Easter egg sounds into these films. We all know about the Wilhelm Scream, but I’d love to hear about other hidden sounds of note. The Skywalker Sound library must have heaps of files that have been used multiple times to create different iconic sounds.

[@farmerdave33]

A little Joey in the background is always nice!

[@mrwhatcanido4942]

the hammer sounds were so cool in this

[@metashrew]

yessssss please more sound design videos! the internet needs it.

[@jacobisalemon]

Thanks for going out of your way to learn a bit about the wonderful world of sound design and from some of the best minds in the business. You really picked up on one of the most important aspects of the job and it's rhythm. You can't just pile on sounds, you've got to have some space and let it all connect which is super hard to do especially in those massive chaotic scenes. You would really do a great job at sound designing if you ever wanted to try.

[@JohnVK5JAK]

I’d be interested in the logistics of keeping track of 100’s of thousands of individual sounds in the library. The file naming scheme must be amazing.

[@PWN_Nation]

And the storage, mixer boards, midi, various software... ...and that's hoping everyone else in production has the correct versions, updates, and rig power to make it all work!

[@forsterruhl4153]

A far cry from the foley artists of old ! Amazing work.

[@SeanBlader]

Having a second person is a thing in programming too. Not like pair programming, but having to explain what you're doing and what you need help with often allows you to come up with a solution before the second person has a chance to say anything. It's happened to enough programmers over enough times that it has a term, "rubber duck programming." The idea is that if you were to explain your issue to a rubber duck it would be the same as bringing in an actual person. So much so that I got me and a teammate actual rubber ducks for our desks, not that we actually talked to them, but more for moral support, heh.

[@BeyondResolution]

Thanks for this Adam! Not many people know how much work sound design is! :)

[@Taijifufu]

I love that even Skywalker Ranch uses what looks like the Akai Mini mk3 here. Looking forward to the video on the huge database they have of the most iconic movie sounds.

[@Nekotaku_TV]

Thank you for spelling it with the umlaut (ö). Yes I did love the sound when the pieces went back together.

[@officialrachi]

As a sound designer I appreciate this episode for shedding some light on sound designers importance in filmmaking. Much Love Adam and the Tested team

[@x1984x]

Now I know that sound design is the most exhausting part of film making.

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

Except the Stuntwork you mean? ;) the bit that really drives people to physical limits of what they can do and sustain to do? ;)

[@aarongingerich1478]

He always says, We, We, We! Not Me, Me Me! That is awesome

[@charliekealoha]

I absolutely freaking LOVED THIS!!! OMG I've wanted to do folly work for so long and finding out how much goes into this one scene is so damn good! My nerdiness can not contain itself. I must know more. So much more!!!

[@Zeno_Evil]

I'd would have loved to learn more on how he organizes the huge number of sound clips so he can actually find individual or groups of sounds that he wants. Or is there a "google search" function available to sift through the library.

[@jacobisalemon]

Generally we use a library organizer like SoundMiner or many of the different ones. That way you can say search for "impacts" and everything with the metadata containing impacts will show up. Really quickens up how fast you can work instead of spending seconds or minutes digging through folders

[@waugsqueke]

Funny they talked about that scene. I totally hear Cylon ships flying around in that sequence.

[@EvanCops]

Its underrated in alot of games too. Elite Dangerous has amazing sound. It's amazing to see how much goes into these process

[@atyuuu]

This was very cool to watch as a sound mixer/boom op!

[@MrChief101]

Utterly fascinating. Lucky guy-- doing a remarkable job.

[@spydirhsd]

All I've ever heard from ppl in film is that there is NO respect for sound on set and everyone just expects engineers to fix unusable recordings in post. Given how little of the audience notices is a real testiment to how good sound designers and foley artists really are at their craft.

[@PARANOOB]

Great video, more like this please Tested crew! 👍👍

[@tested]

We have another Skywalker Sound video coming soon!

[@daalelli]

I know this is old, but talking to Gavin Free of The Slow Mo Guys about sound design for slow-motion capture might be something Adam (and viewers) would enjoy.

[@TrickyZ33]

it would have been interesting to hear Samson's response to the Willhelm Scream, and the decision of if/where/when to use it.

[@erictzogas2580]

Adam asks such brilliant well articulated questions

[@RobertShaverOfAustin]

It's kind of ironic that the difference between the two tracks are not matched. Mr. Neslund's audio is much softer than Mr. Savage's. Not a huge mistake but very apparent to a sound editor. Still, a great subject and I love the depth it covered. *SUBSCRIBED!*

[@RobertShaverOfAustin]

At 4:10, having moved to a different room, the sound levels are now matched better. :)

[@nathkrupa3463]

Great video thank you for sharing Adam sir.

[@Whopcap]

Such good...no GREAT questions!!

[@RoelfvanderMerwe]

Wow. This was awesome!

[@warwickritch]

Really enjoyed that. Thank you

[@Bokooda]

Brilliant. All the hard work these clever people do to blend and mix sounds. Its a lot about the sounds you don't actually hear but are there still, as without them it would have 'something' missing. More of a clunk than clink or a clank or a ting or a tong or a tonk kind of thing...

[@747lch]

This is sooooo good

[@gameplayerabe4248]

This is literal ninja school, sound makes or breaks any performance.

[@craigoneill2216]

Best part about the movie

[@iragladouchuk7014]

As a sound designer i feel seen thank Adam !

[@ConnorHolland]

I thought the monster at 14:59 sounds very similar to the cave troll in The Lord of the Rings

[@EricFoster]

Great video. I could watch stuff like this and Junkie XL all day. Throw in some Hans Zimmer, and I'm set.

[@paddyg4377]

Love this

[@camrynhamme]

One thing I want to know if any sound engineers could answer is where do the sounds come from, is there just a catalog of sounds you pull from or do you have the opportunity to go out and record them or work along side foley artists.

[@LoganPayne-mu2sn]

I love this guy he's fantastic

[@robertlevine2152]

Fascinating!

[@ChristopherHillman]

I'm surprised Adam doesn't get into Regular or Modular Synthesis ...there's soooOoo many Aspects he'd be interested in in that field

[@Bad_Wolf_Media]

I could be wrong, and this is simply an observation, not a criticism, but a lot of the questions Adam was asking seemed more like they were intended for a foley artist/sound creator like Ben Burtt, as opposed to a sound mixer. What seems to be more the case here is this talented young man takes the library that someone like Burtt created and put the pieces together.

[@Cincinnatus-C]

he is a sound designer.

[@Condor987]

I’m not convinced that the “voice” of that bigger monster was original! It sounded /just/ like the troll from the Fellowship of the Ring.

[@Isotollarock]

Yeah, nah. It is the cave troll from fellowship hahah

[@billyspocketlife]

When I watched TL&T I'm pretty sure they forgot the lightning sound during the battle at New Asgard when the lightening hits the car. I don't know if it's fixed yet, maybe a mess up with the cinema.

[@TassyBudgies]

So so interesting, nice one👍

[@Lion_McLionhead]

How lucky he is to be able to work at such a high level at an age where that kind of movie is still interesting. A 50 year old lion just wouldn't care about yet another marvel movie & just be mixing it for the job. It's still very tedious to manually mix hundreds of sound effects.

[@rozling]

Alternate Title: His Monster's Voice

[@LycaonsMemories]

"then you have the wet fleshy sound" should of been like "and then we used some sounds from the mythbusters soundtrack, not really but we tried" lol

[@yangismproductions4432]

The shards coming back together reminded me of the life points sound effect in Yu-Gi-Oh lol

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thanks.

[@RicardoJunqueira]

Was Samson's microphone turned off? Sounds kinda muffled and far away.

[@DouglasLambert]

I know Lord of the Rings kinda spoiled me, but this is an amazing BTS. Modern films should do more things like that!

[@Isotollarock]

Pretty sure that big monster sounds like the cave troll from fellowship of the ring

[@russwronski7141]

Read the age of the room, Adam. This guy had no idea who Bernie Taupin was! ;-)

[@PWN_Nation]

MOAR please!

[@harbl99]

Samson's job: "I eat an elephant, one * nampfh * audio effect at a time."

[@false-set]

Subscribed for awesome video.. not a fan of Thor movies but I am a fan of audio production.

[@soundbreaker2485]

Avid artist mix. I still use mine with pro tools today

[@BennieBrunink]

Could you guys list some of the gear they use for this ?? ..

[@coopxd11]

OMG YOUR FORM MITH BUSTERS I LOVED THAT SHOW YOU DID SUPER GOOD U BRONG BACK CHILD MEMORYS

[@jjtattooist]

Imagine Adam comparing you and your work to Elton John 😭😭😭

[@Mystic_Christopher]

Adam, visit their CGI dept next! I hear they work in computer sweat shops 😂

[@Lufelo]

Samson you stud!

[@ChristopherHillman]

An Interesting thing I've found is that You can actually Edit the Film to BITS incoherently and it can still worK...as long as the SounD is consistent .... BUT ....if the SOUND gets the Slightest Bit Choppy it Totally makes the film Unwatchable

[@Daniel-pl9ht]

Dude is so good at his job, he has a hard time explaining what's going on.

[@mraycgz]

I thought the movie wasn’t great. It wasn’t for me. I understand they are hitting all kinds of different target audiences with movies like this but I prefer the darker more serious Marvel movies. There were a few scenes that I was like “ oh hell yeah” and the sound and the visuals we’re on par but the goofy angle wasn’t for me.

[@PilotPhteven]

So this is the guy responsible for the dumb screaming goats in the movie? All seriousness though; it's an interesting BTS for sure. It's easy to forget how much goes into the sound! thanks for the in-depth video.

[@ilpoahlfors1118]

Has this kid been alive while mythbusters was in tv?

[@urjnlegend]

don't tell me these are the same guys that did the prequel movies, because the marvel movies are sub par compared to those

[@masonlakephoto]

Great detailed video. Side note & I know I sound like a dick a bit...but ironically the LAV mics sound is sorta bad cause of improper placement....placing it on the rim of the shirt is one of the worst spots

[@Skoopa92]

How do they not make sounds with their mouths to explain what sounds they're talking about? LOL I'd be like "that one sound like "vyyuummm" y'know?

[@bghoody5665]

2K like!

[@powerart1]

Theres a lot of math involved with creating a new sound. We probably only see a fraction of the work they have to do.