Designing the Sound of Gore for ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey’ – with Supervising Sound Designer Ryan Hatton

What happens to a child’s favorite toys when the child grows up? Pixar answered this question with their animated Toy Story film franchise in which the toys accept their fate as forgotten playthings. They don’t begrudge their growing child’s changing tastes in pastimes and entertainment. They just try to stay together and away from the landfill. But Director/Writer Rhys Frake-Waterfield came up with a darker answer to this question in his film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. When Christopher Robin leaves for college, he leaves behind his forest friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, and Owl have to fend for themselves, and they don’t fare so well. Driven by feelings of extreme hunger and revenge for their former caretaker and friend Christopher Robin, they go feral. The Hundred Acre Wood is no longer safe for humans.

Here, supervising sound designer Ryan Hatton talks about creating a nightmare realm for the Hundred Acre Wood using the woods near his studio for inspiration, how he created the signature sound for Pooh using foot stomps in the LFE channel and animal vocals manipulated via Krotos Dehumaniser, what went into the sound of specific gory-heavy moments, how they got the most out of the mix by working with dynamics, and much more!

WINNIE-THE-POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY (2023) | Official Trailer | Altitude Films

When did you get involved with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey? And what were director Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s goals for sound on the film? Was there a certain scene or specific sound that he wanted you to tackle first?

Ryan Hatton (RH): As we approached the summer of 2022, I became involved with Blood and Honey. May/June 2022 I was actually away on vacation when I heard the news that the film had become viral; the excitement from this immediately brought on a wave of ideas to include within the project.

We discussed which direction to take the sound for Blood and Honey. This began by agreeing on wanting the soundscape to be very visceral and overstated for the gore elements, rather than realistic and understated. Our inspiration really drew from films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Scream.

There was also a conversation regarding comedic elements of the film: do we accentuate any sounds to provoke humor? Or do we avoid that altogether and really push the violence?

There is one scene in particular where Pooh is torturing one of the women in the film, ending with him slapping her as the screen fades to black. Rhys was curious to know how it would sound if we were to include some more comedic slap sounds. Whilst we had a chuckle in the studio watching it back, we decided that highlighting the humor too much could affect the audience’s immersion and so we decided to stick with visceral and violent.

We wanted to really push the shock factor. The humor in itself is what you see on the big screen — Pooh and Piglet roaming around hacking and slashing. It’s so ridiculous and fun!

 

What went into the sound of the Hundred Acre Wood? Did you capture any custom ambiences to use in the film? Were there any helpful sound libraries that provided interesting raw sounds that you could craft into the sound of this fictional location?

RH: We decided early on that Hundred Acre Wood would have an eerie silence, with no wildlife, as we wanted to convey a dark and desolate ambience when deep within the woods, near Pooh’s home.

I’m very lucky that my studio is surrounded by lots of woodland, which gave me the opportunity to…listen to sounds to incorporate into the film.

I’m very lucky that my studio is surrounded by lots of woodland, which gave me the opportunity to really take in the ambiences and listen to sounds to incorporate into the film.

There is actually a really cool shot where the camera slowly moves into the woods and we wanted to have the sound follow the camera movement whereby wood creaks, cracks, and some tree top movements pan from front to back, through the surrounds, drawing the audience in with both visuals and sound.

 

What went into the sounds for Winnie-the-Pooh? What were some of his key foley sounds? What about his vocalizations/vocal processing?

RH: We wanted Winnie-the-Pooh to sound very heavy with his footsteps. One example of this is during the scene where Christopher and Mary are hiding in Pooh’s cabin. Pooh enters and slowly walks into frame and you can hear heavy thuds on old creaky floorboards, with small intricate creaks and stresses. We wanted this to sound very menacing as this is the first time you see Pooh and I worked very closely with the extremely talented Andrew Scott Bell, who composed the score for Blood and Honey, and he pulled back the music to allow the footsteps to drive the intensity of this scene.

The majority of the chase scenes were in woodland or on grass so I layered the low stomps, which were sent to the LFE channel…

This is also similar to the chase scenes; Rhys wanted Pooh’s footsteps to have a really deep stomp which kept a rhythm every time he was on screen. The majority of the chase scenes were in woodland or on grass so I layered the low stomps, which were sent to the LFE channel (this really boomed at the theatre) alongside some grassy layers.

When discussing how Pooh was going to sound, we knew that he wasn’t going to be much of a conversationalist, so it became clear that animalistic sounds were to be explored. There are some amazing national park libraries online that have all sorts of beastly sounds, such as bears and bison, which I used to craft Pooh’s sound. This was mostly manipulated using Krotos Dehumaniser, with the addition of more layered organic sounds.

 

Did you have any favorite scene(s) for sound? What went into it sound-wise?

RH: The most enjoyable scene I worked on was the ‘Killbilly’ scene. This is the scene where the girls run into the group of guys after being chased by Pooh. This scene was actually the first scene I worked on and I wanted this to set the soundscape for the rest of the film.

…there are lots of dead wood creaks and stresses along with some cold wind nicely layered underneath.

Within this scene, I started off with creating the signature Hundred Acre Wood ambience, so there are lots of dead wood creaks and stresses along with some cold wind nicely layered underneath.

The scene gradually escalated into a full-on brawl, in which each member of the ‘Killbilly’ squad has their own signature weapon, ranging from a crowbar to a sledgehammer and fists! (Not sure that’s going to work against ol’ Pooh Bear!) This section was particularly enjoyable as it was great experimenting with various metallic impact sounds of each weapon and also layering various gore sounds! We wanted these to hit very hard in the theatre, so a lot of attention was given to balance out the punch of the impacts as well as the bone cracks and fleshy impacts.

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Another fun part of this scene is when one of the squad, played by the incredible Marcus Massey, smashes a glass bottle over Pooh’s head. This shot takes place in slow motion and this really gave me a lot of creative freedom to explore some interesting sounds which could sound great in a theatre! I shamelessly used a sub drop on the smash as well as playing around with reverb and glass particles which were sent across the surround field.

 

I read about a scene in which Christopher is being held prisoner by Pooh, who brutally whips him with Eeyore’s detached tail… Sounds like that was a fun moment for sound! Can you talk about what went into that scene sound-wise?

RH: Okay I have to admit, this is a brutal scene. So this scene takes place in a dark, cold, and creepy cabin. We had a lot of fun with layering in industrial-type ambiences, metal creaks/rusty hooks, water-dripping sounds, and subtle light flickers. There is honestly so much just in the BG’s alone!

When it came to the whipping scene, we wanted it to be very over the top and gory (drawing some inspiration from Django Unchained!). I wanted the whip to have a huge crack alongside some seriously gruesome sounds of skin tearing and fleshy impacts to reflect the visual shots of Christopher’s back.

 

Did you have a favorite single sound that you created for the film? What was it and what went into it?

RH: I had a lot of fun with so many sounds, but one that has always stood out to me, in particular, is one of the death scenes (I won’t give away who). So Pooh pushes one of the women against a wooden beam and lifts her by her throat and proceeds to slowly impale her with a machete…through her mouth!

I also recorded some stone scraping sounds to replicate the sound of the blade grinding against her teeth.

Due to the nature of it being a slow death, we had the freedom to really sell this shot using sound. I immediately checked my library for various gory sounds, such as flesh ripping, bones cracking, and the sound of a blade piercing the character.

I also recorded some stone scraping sounds to replicate the sound of the blade grinding against her teeth. When in the mixing room with Rhys (Director) and Scott (Producer), we added some ADR of various breathing/choking sounds to really push the shock factor to the next level. I really think it paid off.

It was amazing to hear this scene in the theatre and to hear the reactions of the audience being audibly disgusted — that way I know I’ve done my job correctly!

 

What were your biggest creative challenges for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey? How did you tackle them, or what were the best solutions you found for overcoming these challenges?

RH: The mix!

With so many elements going into the soundscape, we really had to be mindful of each audio food group to ensure that we are communicating the director’s intentions for each scene. Our goal was to go big on the sound and to really push where we needed to, but to also bring things back down when the scene required it.

Our goal was to go big on the sound and to really push where we needed to…

This was especially the case towards the last act which has a lot of louder scenes and whilst we wanted the loud bits to be loud, we didn’t want to overwhelm the audience. Knowing when to bring it down and to control the intensity was extremely important to the mix and maintaining audience engagement.

Having the right tools in your arsenal is vital and my “desert island” plugin would always be Nugen VisLM. This was a huge part of being able to accurately monitor the mix.

 

This isn’t a big-budget film, and sound can add so much to the story without having to put it all on-screen. How were you able to use sound in this film to help the audience imagine the horror so that the director didn’t have to show everything? (Or, how did you use sound to help heighten the tension or horror that wasn’t unfolding on-screen?)

RH: I was extremely lucky to have worked with Andrew Scott Bell, who composed the score for Blood and Honey. We worked very closely to ensure that we weren’t stepping on each other’s toes and to allow each of our respective sounds and music to tell the story for any particular scene. Andrew has an incredible skill for horror and his collection of sounds within the score (that weren’t musical notes) really helped elevate the soundscape.

Andrew has an incredible skill for horror and his collection of sounds within the score (that weren’t musical notes) really helped elevate the soundscape.

I used a lot of LFE sounds such as rumbles and pulses to push the intensity of scenes where there is less action and more dialogue. It was important to get the LFE balance just right so that it doesn’t distract the audience from the dialogue but was just enough so there was something jarring and uneasy going on below the surface. This really helps set the tone and doesn’t allow the audience to get completely comfortable, even when Pooh isn’t in the scene.

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Background sounds were also imperative for the story. Smaller budgets might not necessarily allow for extravagant backdrops so we really needed to tell those stories using sound. There is a scene where Piglet is riding a contraption similar to a bicycle, to generate electricity. We came up with all kinds of sounds to layer in the background to give an industrial feel as if the heart of Pooh and Piglet’s lair is beating and coming alive.

 

How was working on Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey a unique experience for you? What have you learned while working on this film that has changed or expanded your views on the use of sound in filmmaking?

RH: Working on Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey has been an absolutely incredible experience. The concept alone was enough to flood my mind with ideas for where we could take this ‘little yellow bear’ and to see what reactions we get!

Having the opportunity to mix a film like this for theatres was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had on any project.

Having the opportunity to mix a film like this for theatres was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had on any project. Whilst a theatrical mix is no walk in the park, it was great to hear the sound in all its detailed glory.

I was very fortunate to be able to mix Blood and Honey at my old university, Buckinghamshire New University (BNU). It was so lovely to return to where I first learned about sound.

It’s also been a privilege to work alongside such passionate filmmakers who bring in their own influences, ideas, and inspirations. This greatly expanded my knowledge of not only the horror genre but also in regards to using sound as a tool to help with storytelling.

 

A big thanks to Ryan Hatton for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

 

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