Volkswagen "Everyday"> Modern technology can make Mozarts of us all, albeit duplicitously, as editing virtuoso Lasse Gjertsen cleverly demonstrates on his popular YouTube video, "Amateur". The clip features footage of Gjertsen hitting a single cymbal or playing a solitary piano key, spliced into split second fragments and then looped to create a song.

Inspired by taking isolated moments of mundanity and transforming them into a pleasing melody, DDB, London decided to build on the technique for their new VW Golf campaign. "Our aim was to show how the VW Golf transforms everyday life into something entertaining, by remixing sounds you get from the everyday driving experience into a track," explains creative Graeme Hall. The agency approached Paul Hartnell, one half of legendary ambient outfit Orbital, to contribute. He developed a simple melody, and working with the creative team and Outsider director Scott Lyon, built a visualization of the spot from the sounds he required. "I plotted out where all the sounds should come from: a newspaper seller, people talking in the car, the car idling along as the bass line... a woman exclaiming things," explains Hartnell. On the four-day shoot in South Africa, Hartnell acted as sound consultant, checking daily rushes to ensure the right sounds - correctly pitched and timed - were captured, as well as directing the actors. "The lead actor would carry a tuning wheel in his top pocket for when we did a take," he explains.

DDB, London http://www.ddblondon.com

Audi "Gymnast"> Gymnasts represent poise, precision and physicality perfected. It's a claim Audi has long had - albeit translated to metal - for its cars. BBH, London's latest spot for the German auto maker conflates those two in "Gymnast", which shows gymnasts performing feats meant to mimic the car's engine function.

"Firstly, using real car sounds was essential in helping the audience get the idea that the gymnasts represent car parts," says BBH, London creative Toby Allen. "Secondly, Audi have acoustically engineered the RS6 to sound like no other car. Finally, by combining a hybrid of car sounds with music we could create the totally unique soundtrack we wanted." To direct, BBH turned to Pretty Bird's Paul Hunter, a veteran of sound design spots including Nike "Freestyle" and "Breathe". "With spots like these it takes a lot of prep," says Hunter. "Once we decided upon the music, I created a pre-viz of the set and characters, allowing us to design all the on-screen movement to each specific layer of sound." Working with Lefitfield's Neil Barnes and Nick Rappacioli from London sound design house Wave, the three worked out a rough outline of cadence, timing and feel, which was sent to the choreographer in Hungary for the shoot. Barnes and Rappacioli attached microphones to and recorded the RS6 "tearing around a track in Essex", building up a bank of 1,000 noises. After film was edited to exactly match the track, the pair then swapped out elements, replacing them with real car sounds.

Wave Studios http://www.wavestudios.co.uk
BBH http://www.bartleboglehegarty.com

Exquisite Corpse "She Walked Calmly Disappearing Into the Darkness"> Jonny Greenwood's Oscar-winning score for There Will Be Blood proved that provocative sound design can become an active presence. Q Department's Drazen Bosnjak found a similar experience, working on Little Minx's filmic version of the Exquisite Corpse parlor game. For Malik Sayeed's third instalment of the series, the gritty urban parable "She Walked Calmly Disappearing Into the Darkness", the director flicks between the poetic internal monologue of the protagonist, a young hoodie-wearing guy who walks out of a building and into gunfire, and him unconscious in a hospital bed. "Honestly, I don't know whether that's sound design or music," admits Bosnjak. "We wanted to create a completely unique sound experience that has no reference but rather was focused on creating a space for this film to happen within." Minimal sound design from a breathing apparatus and sharp beeps for the hospital interludes are contrasted with a raw, menacing music/sound design score for the tense gunfight scene. "We were after guttural, animalistic yet simple and elegant design for sound," says Bosnjak, who achieved that aesthetic using old analog synths and tweaked filters. Part of the approach was designed to create a physical connection for the viewer. "The bass on this piece physically connects you with the screen. We put a lot of effort into making sure that the mix shakes your subwoofers and translates to the laptop speakers."

Q Department, New York http://www.qdepartment.com
Little Minx http://www.littleminx.tv