Ryan & Heidi Browne’s Filmmaking Challenge

Carlos Bolivar relies on sound to create a delicious scene, winning this creative duo’s challenge for his efforts

Compared with stills photography, filmmaking has its own unique set of considerations. Notably, as outlined in Ryan & Heidi Browne’s challenge, sound design often goes overlooked. The creative pair asked entrants to do more with ambient audio – and Carlos delivered in enticing style.

“I studied a few semesters of filmmaking in 2009, though I didn’t keep it up and stopped creating videos altogether for a while,” he reveals. “In 2016, I got an associate’s degree in social media marketing, and rediscovered my love of production. I’m not necessarily the best at expressing myself through words, but feel more comfortable using imagery.”

This short’s inspiration was as simple as it was effective.

“When I heard their challenge, I thought, ‘What if I make sound the protagonist of the video?’ I thought of sounds that are so common we often ignore them, but distinctive enough that they conjure strong images without the visual context. Cooking fit perfectly. I wanted to make people see the process only using their imaginations.

“I wrote a list of actions, then filmed and edited the video. When I knew exactly what sounds I’d need, I recorded them separately and added them to the timeline for a final film.”

Naturally, such an unusual process posed dilemmas. For Carlos – a one-man crew – it was quite an undertaking.

“I hadn’t made a film like this before, so I had to experiment a lot through the process,” he reveals. “Lighting was one difficulty. I had to make sure I had enough light coming through the windows because I don’t have anything artificial. Recording was postponed a few times, until the kitchen was bright enough again.

“I wanted to keep the movements simple, and because I filmed myself, the camera had to stay on a tripod. Also, I didn’t want to add more motion in the edit, to let viewers focus more on the sound. The pleasing and simple camera angles give the video a feeling of calm. The food I was making is, to most people, breakfast food – and, for me, mornings are peaceful. That’s reflected in the cinematography, while still being entertaining to watch.”

Sharing insight into their selection process, Ryan & Heidi comment: “We love what Carlos did with Bon Appétit. The sound design and mix were used in an integral way to the overall piece, becoming part of the actual narrative. The use of J-cut and L-cut audio transitions also helped sequence the clips together. Overall, it was a unique idea, and we’d even love to see Carlos further explore this concept in a longer-form piece!”