Gawr Gura - Shark'd (Sound Design Commentary)

Preface: In the interest of upholding prior agreements, I will not be discussing anything related to my experience working with clients or any other professionals involved in any of the projects featured on this blog. This is purely about detailing my personal creative decisions while working on the project.

Hey there! KSD (Kickback Sound Design) here! Thanks for checking out the newest addition to my site!

I thought it might be fun to start a blog that focuses on deconstructing some of the creative direction aspects of working on sound. I'll be talking mainly about some of my longest and most involved projects from the past, using screenshots of scenes to annotate and provide relevant commentary. Hopefully you find it interesting! So with that said, today we're going to be revisiting the Sound Design of Gawr Gura - Shark'd!

CREDITS:

Sound Editing

Sound Mixing

Sound & Vocal Direction

Project Info & Video Link:

https://www.kickbacksounddesign.com/animation/gawr-gura-sharkd

0:17: (Bedroom To Beach Transition)

It was clear from the direction of both the visuals and music that this was going to be a large and sudden shift from the quiet bedroom ambience in the previous shots. I wanted to honor that intention while also allowing the sounds of the ocean to gently bleed into the bedroom before the cut, giving a brief indication of what's about to come. For the transition itself, I wanted to give the impression of exiting a long tunnel and being enveloped by sound.

1:14: (Dress Up Scene)

Scenes like this are a great example of how Sound Design presents challenges beyond simply matching sound to an object on screen. Sometimes you have to create sounds that represent a feeling or a vibe, or in this case: an outfit. Trying to capture that in less than a second for each outfit was pretty fun. The surfer/cool outfit uses a record scratch for example, which while not directly related to any of the elements shown, in this context it gives off the vibe of someone who's trying to come across as cool using older established trends.

2:34: (Sudden Screams)

After we planned out what vocalizations to include, It was obviously important that all of them fit the animation perfectly, and that meant a few that I knew would be inherently funny. The scenes specifically where Gura trips, as well as the beginning when she's hit by the wave, really had to match the kind of abrupt comedy that you can only get with a sudden shrill scream. I really wanted people to laugh like it was a knee-jerk reaction.

2:41: (Magical Transformation)

Being one of the main highlights of the animation, I wanted to do this transformation justice as best I could. I started by breaking down every individual piece of motion and experimenting with different textures. Water takes up a majority of the frame in most shots, so it was clear that should be the core of the sound. I focused on loud sloshing and sounds that brought swirling motions to mind. Capping off the final transformation of each body part with some more traditional anime style synthy sounds. Gura also provided some chomping sounds for the visual of the hairclips as they transform by biting onto her hair.

2:59: (Dramatic Entrance From Screen Right)

It's a small segment, but I really love this kind of overexaggerated action in animation. It's always fun to find equally as silly sounds to match the energy. It's also a good chance to utilize panning to emphasize the speed at which something is coming into and out of frame. The large whoosh followed by the excessive crinkling leather and chair wheels rolling out of frame make it really comical I think.

And that's it for today! I know it wasn't a particularly long read, but I hope you enjoyed hearing about the creative process nonetheless. I'll likely be back with another post some time soon. See you next time!

KSD