Although the rhythm of actions is central in this Mon Oncle clip, the ambience is equally important in shaping the overall atmosphere. Tati’s visual world is usually clean, structured, and uncluttered, and he avoids dense or noisy environmental layers. For this reason, my approach to the ambience needed to strike a balance between “being present” and “not drawing attention away from the actions.”
I divided the ambience design into three spatial layers:
(1) Background layer:
Typically, a courtyard scene might include distant city noise or light traffic. However, I believe this film aims to emphasize the contrast between a hyper-controlled modern environment and the protagonist’s more playful, human presence. For this reason, I intentionally kept the background layer almost silent, allowing the artificial quietness to highlight the unnatural rationality of the space.
(2) Mid-ground layer:
This includes the acoustic features within the courtyard itself, such as soft wind noise and the subtle presence of water. The area around the fountain should with a gentle flow, even when nothing visually dramatic is happening.
(3) Foreground layer:
These sounds sit closest to the characters and include low mechanical hums or standby tones from the modern devices in the house. Such sounds carry comedic potential, especially when they appear overly engineered or rhythmically repetitive.
The biggest challenge in this process was ensuring that the ambience did not overpower the action. Since Tati’s comedy relies heavily on precise and clearly articulated Foley, the ambience had to remain light and complementary. I used EQ to reduce mid-range frequencies, making the ambience more “transparent” so it would not mask footsteps or mechanical interactions. Additionally, to maintain the cold, modern feeling of the architecture, I slightly widened the stereo field, giving the space more openness without adding excessive reverberation.
Leave a Reply