James Harrison (‘Blitz’ sound designer) on immersing audiences in ‘chaotic and overwhelming’ audio

The new film “Blitz” opens with “terror and carnage” according to supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer James Harrison. Bombs have just devastated London streets during World War II, flames roar through hollowed out buildings as a team of firefighters struggle to control a water hose that’s come loose from their grasp. The hose whips and bangs angrily through the street, adding even more chaos to a scene already full of sirens and screams. This aural assault was a key ingredient to establishing director Steve McQueen’s vision for this war film. “He wanted it to be quite messy, and chaotic, and overwhelming,” reveals Harrison. We spoke to Harrison as part of our Meet the Experts sound designers panel.  Watch the video interview above.

“Blitz” is unique in the pantheon of war dramas in that the story is told from the perspective of civilians, rather than soldiers. Thus, the sound design is one of sharp contrasts which lure audiences into the unpredictability of a warzone. Quiet, peaceful scenes are suddenly interrupted by an assault of bombs and sirens. The audience is never safe. “That sort of intensity, we found, really started to create an emotional response in the audiences,” explains Harrison, “When it stops abruptly, as an audience member, you get this slight relief and then you go: oh, what just happened?”

SEE ‘Blitz’ director Steve McQueen on telling a WWII war story through a child’s eyes

Whether the story is following Rita (Saoirse Ronan) or her young son George (Elliott Heffernan), the story is always told from the perspective of someone who is helpless to stop the violence raining down on them. “Everything that’s bad that’s happening is up above you,” notes Harrison of how this perspective is apparent in the sound design. “Whether it’s the planes, the sirens, or when you’re in the shelters: the cracking of the ceilings and the bombs.” With the world literally coming down around the protagonists, Harrison utilized the “pinpoint accuracy” of Dolby Atmos for the audio mix. This system allowed him to create the proper sense of overwhelming dread as explosions threaten to breach underground shelters or when George narrowly escapes a fiery airstrike. Harrison says it is all about ensuring that the audience was “immersed in those spaces and were having the right emotional response.”

Harrison is an Oscar and BAFTA nominee for his work on “No Time to Die.” The Motion Picture Sound Editors have nominated him 12 times for their Gold Reel Awards, for “King Arthur,” “Kingdom of Heaven,” “Chicken Little,” “Casino Royale,” “Quantum of Solace,” “In Bruges,” “Captain Phillips,” “The Martian,” “1917,” “No Time to Die,” and “Napoleon.”