2024 · Student animation

Akantilado

Akantilado is a student animation about two cats in a jungle. As its sound designer and mixer, I created the creature sounds and jungle ambience, then delivered stereo and 5.1 mixes.

Sound design and mix · 4 months · REAPER · foley · 5.1 · Score by Noah Bots

Watch the film

The orange cat on the jungle floor beside a large golden filigree ball, with leaves and a tree trunk behind

Sound design around the score

I assembled and edited more than 200 sounds for the film. Noah Bots composed the score; I handled the remaining audio and both mixes.

The finished film with my sound design and mix.

Ambience follows the camera

Five background layers move with the shot. Close shots bring forward insects, leaves and claws on bark. Wide shots open into wind, water and distant animals, and stay under the music.

A wide view of the jungle: thick branches and hanging vines, with the orange cat high on a limb and the pink cat on a branch below

Wide shots leave more room for the surrounding jungle.

Telling the two cats apart

I matched paw steps, branch grips and moving plants to the animation, and separated the two cats by weight so they are easy to tell apart.

Close on the orange cat behind the golden filigree ball, its head turned to one side

Orange

Heavier steps, lower voice

Close on the pink cat crouched low on a fallen log, looking down at the ground

Pink

Lighter steps, quicker vocalisations