Star Trek and Star Wars' Current Sound Design

[Winter]

This is something that Linkara brought up in his Tweet Review of Star Trek Discovery Season 3 but it stuck with me as it's a an issue I've had with both series for a while now. The sound design SUCKS!!!

There are a lot of issues in terms of ST and SW from a meta point that I haven't been overly found of. The way both have been shot, the way both series look and, of course, the sound design. If I was to show you a random image from any Star Trek series until the 2009 film you would be able tell that was Star Trek and the same thing goes for Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Dragon Ball. One of the reasons that I love the look of the world of Raya and the Last Dragon is that it's ALREADY very visually distinct which is a plus IMO.

And, a lot that is lost with both Star Trek Discovery, Picard and the Kelvin Timeline. You could argue that this isn't the case for Star Wars but for me it changed just enough to... bug me.

But it's the sound design that annoys me more then the visuals because the unique sound effects of both have been replaced altogether or altered so much that they might as well have been replaced. Case in point, let's look at one of my favorite moments from The Disney Sequel Trilogy, the Falcon Chase scene from The Force Awakens and contrast it with the scene from A New Hope where Tie-Fighters attacked the Falcon.

Here's A New Hopes scene.


youtu.be/mSvPxNopdHs

And now here's The Force Awakens Scene.


youtu.be/8sarFZJl3h0

Now again, I actually like the scene from TFA as it's very well directed and is something we haven't seen before in the films, a battle between Space ships on the planets surface. It's exiting, the actors really sell the action and it's just fun.

But the sound of the laser fire is just generic Pew Pew Pew Sci-Fi noise. It sounds nothing like the Original which is all the more glaring when it's side by side with the sound of the targeting system which is fairly accurate, key word being fairy as it's slightly altered.

But back to the laser fire. This is something that both ST and SW have been having issues with for a while, the original sound effects that were unique and recognizable have been swept out for something that you could put in any series and it wouldn't be noticed.

Let's take a moment and look at another series that has changed it's single most iconic sound effect but has been still mostly well received. The 2014 Godzilla movie.

The iconic roar of Godzilla was altered, likely to give it booming but for the most part it's still the old Godzilla roar that we all know and love and even when the original roar is heard, (such as in Godzilla King of Monsters when the G Man himself shows up in Boston to fight Ghidorah again) the two are still mostly sound like each other. You can tell which one is which but they're still a Godzilla Roar.

Then we have a sound that was completely replaced which Godzilla's atomic breath. To be specific we get a new sound effect of Godzilla charging up his attack which sounds like a motor charging up before Godzilla unleashes his atomic breath which now has a completely different sound from the original.

For comparison here's the original.


youtu.be/3b3wtFdn-oY

And here's the new version.


youtu.be/k99jjRk0oxo

New but still rather distinct. By putting both the charging sound before the blast it creates a sound that is something you wouldn't be able to just put anywhere and still have it work. You might be able to use them separately but their unique enough that most people hearing them will be able to tell where they came from.

Even the other roars of the monsters and still mostly like that of their originals with the only exception being Ghidorah who has a roar that is, sadly, a rather generic monster roar. But still, the sound design of the Monster Universe is largely on point and very well done.

But ST and SW has been REALLY dropping the ball on the sound end of things. SW has started to turn things around with the Mandalorian but we're still getting a few bits of the newer sounds that really bugs me.

I do want to note that the sounds aren't BAD they're just generic and, IMO, that's worse then being bad. At least if it was bad it might still stand out but this is run of the mill sound effects and the argument they can't just recreate said sound effects is nonsense. And I know this is the case because FANS making their own films are able to recreate the sounds either by reusing the sound effects from the original or by readying up how said sound was made or finding sounds that are similar enough to be almost indistinguishable.

If someone can recreate the same sound with no real budget at home on their laptop then what exactly is ST and SW's excuse when they have a multi-million dollar franchise and studios backing them?

[Al-1701]

Actually what makes the Falcon's laser sfx even more glaring is the TIE Fighters' laser sound like their laser. They couldn't spend the three minutes to watch to the scene from Episode IV to listen to the Flacon's lasers?

I think Star Trek's problem is the old sfx sound "dated" and "cheesy" according to the people in charge. However, they're iconic, and with their blatant nostalgia pandering with going back to the mid 23rd century so many times, they should just embrace it.

[technobabbler]

there's a German word that relates to OP's observation--- gesamtkunstwerk.

Which can be loosely translated as "the totality of art"----movies/television are just about the visuals, yes they are about the audio too. Chuck talks about sound design often---in his case background music "sound design."

Contemporary pop culture (post-2010) stinks in so many different ways and lazy sound design/soundtracks is one of them. Makes Rick Berman, Jeri Taylor, Brannon Braga, and the typical Voyager soundtrack look like geniuses.

My guess is blame the directors and producers. They just don't care enough to prioritize, and pay for, good sound design.

[Thebestoftherest]

there's a German word that relates to OP's observation--- gesamtkunstwerk.

Which can be loosely translated as "the totality of art"----movies/television are just about the visuals, yes they are about the audio too. Chuck talks about sound design often---in his case background music "sound design."

Contemporary pop culture (post-2010) stinks in so many different ways and lazy sound design/soundtracks is one of them. Makes Rick Berman, Jeri Taylor, Brannon Braga, and the typical Voyager soundtrack look like geniuses.

My guess is blame the directors and producers. They just don't care enough to prioritize, and pay for, good sound design.

Yeah, there are movies and TV shows where they care more about star power than anything.