26 August 2026
3 min read
Sound first: why we record the room
Thirty seconds of nothing, recorded before anyone starts work.
Before the first shot we ask everyone to stand still and record thirty seconds of the room. The fridge, the street, the extractor fan. It sounds like nothing and it holds every edit together.
Why it matters in a short
A short has ten or more cuts in twenty seconds. Without a bed of room sound each cut clicks. With it, the cuts disappear and the pour, the knock or the scrape sits on top.
What we do with it
The room goes under every short from that day at a level you would not notice. Take it away and you would.