The Sound Design of John Wick Chapter 4

John Wick Chapter 4 was delayed nearly two years from its original release date, which generated high expectations that resulted in the first three films joining the franchise's iconic modern action set pieces that influenced several productions in many ways. All of this paved the way for John Wick 4 to become a huge box-office success upon its release. With an impressive first weekend in the U.S. of $73.5 million, the Keanu Reeves film left all of its competitors behind, reflecting the franchise's good health and remarkable progress. This is, by far, the best action film of our time. 

While Reeves' acting, script, special effects, and score stand out, among other things, the sound is THE standout aspect of this production. As we have mentioned several times before, the sound is often an overlooked part of the cinematic experience, even though it is crucial. In the John Wick franchise, the soundscape enhances the audience's sense of immersion and evokes visceral reactions to events on the big screen, making it an important aspect of modern Hollywood.

The action saga is a dizzying mix of voiceovers, from gunfights and car chases to boxing and background noises, which add atmosphere and intensity and are vital to the overall impact of the film, like bullets, explosions, falling dead bodies, and spilled blood.

In the fourth episode of the series, the character of Vic took on a rather conservative role, as actor Keanu Reeves reduced his lines to just 380 words. Therefore, sound design plays an important role in conveying the tone, character development, and pacing of the film itself. This is key. The importance of it relies on the endless action sequences, the different types of weapons, and the number of shots - and it means, of course, a huge amount of work. Also, aspects like how these shots were tracked and how to find the perfect sound for each weapon that appeared on the screen, were the result of surgical decisions made by a group of professionals.

Led by senior sound editor Mark Stockinger, the sound team, including rewrite mixers Casey Genton and Andrew Koyama, as well as the designer Alan Rankin, created a mesmerizing soundscape that dazzled audiences with gunfire and explosions. Their meticulous attention to detail and collaborative approach when working with the rest of the team is an invaluable assets to the franchise's success. Stockinger, Koyama, and Jenton gave several interviews to explain the sound design of John Wick: Chapter 4, focusing on bringing realism to Wick's epic battles against his enemies, and what original sound effects will not be heard in the franchise according to their professional criteria, in which, by the way, it is sometimes more important what is left out of the design than what the viewer actually hears.

In one interview, Stockinger explained that the ideal voice is the one that "feels right". Since John Wick uses a different gun in most of the shootings, the shots had to change and adapt to him. So, instead of sticking to the classical theory that heroes always have the biggest guns, it's better to find a palette of gun sounds that sound good but are different from each other. Ultimately, the focus is on finding what's right for the project, and not on simply being realistic, Rankin said. To give each gun its own unique sound, several layers of sound are used to differentiate the characteristics of each gun, especially caliber and barrel length.

The film has countless wonderful scenes that are vividly presented with sound. For example, one of them takes place in Japan, where John Wick is lying on broken glass and trying to be quiet so Kane won't hear him. Creating these sounds was painstaking and detailed work. Koyama explained that for this particular movie, unlike most action films, most of the sounds recorded during production were kept in the sound mix. Because of the constant sounds of action and stunts, leaving them together adds realism to the scene, making it more exciting and visceral. In short, they prefer to keep as much production audio as possible to increase the authenticity of the film.

You don't have to be an expert to say that the blockbuster John Wick 4 owes a lot to Mark Stockinger's meticulous and collaborative design. The sound team focused on finding what was most appropriate for the project rather than aiming for a perfect imitation of the real thing, which helped give each weapon a unique sound and added an engulfing atmosphere. John Wick is an example of how sound design can greatly enhance the cinematic experience.

If you want to read the full interview, check out this link.
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*The images used on this post are taken from Pexels.com