Sound designer / composer for an AI short film: a soundtrack made from the ship itself
Budget / Salary$30–250
TypeFreelance project
LocationRemote
Posted2 hours ago
I’m finishing "The Captain’s last Walk", a 5.3 minutes AI short film. It’s 1889, and Captain Nemo, ill and alone aboard the Nautilus, walks through his submarine one last time before he dies. The film has almost no dialogue: a few lines from the captain, his recorded message, and the voice of the ship. Sound has to carry the story.
What I’m looking for
I don’t want a traditional score. I want the diegetic soundtrack to be built entirely from the sounds of the ship and turned into music. The deep hum of the engines, the ticking of gauges, the groan of the hull under pressure, steam valves, the creak of the wheel, hammock chains, water dripping: these sounds should be recorded, designed, tuned, layered and rhythmically arranged until they become the film’s score, while still sounding like they belong in the scene. Think of Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Chernobyl score, built from recordings inside a power plant, or the ticking watch in Dunkirk.
On top of that, the film needs a complete, realistic sound design:
- Ambiences: a distinct room tone for every space (command room, chart alcove, corridors, crew quarters, engine room, salon, ice cavern) that shifts with camera position.
- Foley: footsteps matched to each floor (wood, iron grating, rug), cloth, breathing, hands on brass, paper, leather.
- Effects: doors, levers, the iris shutter of the salon porthole, the rising vault, electric arcs, the submarine surfacing.
Nothing exaggerated. The music should rise out of the ship and sink back into it, so the audience never quite knows where sound design ends and music begins.
Quality expected
- Cinema-grade quality.
- Original or properly licensed sounds only. No stock music, and no generic library ambiences used as is.
- Clean, natural dialogue integrated into the mix (the lines and the voice of the ship are provided).
- The existing AI-generated audio in the clips is a rough guide only, to be replaced.
- A balanced, dynamic mix: true silences, real low end for the engines and the hull, nothing harsh.
Workflow
1- I send the locked picture (H.264 reference, [24] fps, with timecode burn-in), the guide audio and my spotting notes, shot by shot.
2- You work in your DAW of choice.
3- Two review rounds: a first pass on the overall approach (the “ship music” concept on one or two sequences), then the full film.
4- Final delivery, plus one round of small adjustments.
Deliverables (to be placed directly into my Premiere Pro edit)
- All files WAV, 48 kHz, 24-bit, each starting exactly at the first frame of the timeline (00:00:00:00) and running the full length of the film, so they line up when dropped onto the Premiere timeline. A sync pop 2 s before picture start is welcome.
- Full stereo mix: −14 LUFS integrated, true peak −1 dBTP.
- Stereo stems that add up to the full mix: Dialogue & voices / Foley / Effects / Ambiences / Ship music (the musical layer).
- M&E version (mix without dialogue).
- DAW session plus an AAF/OMF for archive.
About you
- A portfolio of film sound design, ideally with musical or experimental work built from recorded sound.
- Clear communication and reliable deadlines: the estimated delivery date is November 20.
- Please include a link to work you’re proud of, your rate for the whole project, and your estimated timeline.
I can share the edit and the spotting notes right away.
What I’m looking for
I don’t want a traditional score. I want the diegetic soundtrack to be built entirely from the sounds of the ship and turned into music. The deep hum of the engines, the ticking of gauges, the groan of the hull under pressure, steam valves, the creak of the wheel, hammock chains, water dripping: these sounds should be recorded, designed, tuned, layered and rhythmically arranged until they become the film’s score, while still sounding like they belong in the scene. Think of Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Chernobyl score, built from recordings inside a power plant, or the ticking watch in Dunkirk.
On top of that, the film needs a complete, realistic sound design:
- Ambiences: a distinct room tone for every space (command room, chart alcove, corridors, crew quarters, engine room, salon, ice cavern) that shifts with camera position.
- Foley: footsteps matched to each floor (wood, iron grating, rug), cloth, breathing, hands on brass, paper, leather.
- Effects: doors, levers, the iris shutter of the salon porthole, the rising vault, electric arcs, the submarine surfacing.
Nothing exaggerated. The music should rise out of the ship and sink back into it, so the audience never quite knows where sound design ends and music begins.
Quality expected
- Cinema-grade quality.
- Original or properly licensed sounds only. No stock music, and no generic library ambiences used as is.
- Clean, natural dialogue integrated into the mix (the lines and the voice of the ship are provided).
- The existing AI-generated audio in the clips is a rough guide only, to be replaced.
- A balanced, dynamic mix: true silences, real low end for the engines and the hull, nothing harsh.
Workflow
1- I send the locked picture (H.264 reference, [24] fps, with timecode burn-in), the guide audio and my spotting notes, shot by shot.
2- You work in your DAW of choice.
3- Two review rounds: a first pass on the overall approach (the “ship music” concept on one or two sequences), then the full film.
4- Final delivery, plus one round of small adjustments.
Deliverables (to be placed directly into my Premiere Pro edit)
- All files WAV, 48 kHz, 24-bit, each starting exactly at the first frame of the timeline (00:00:00:00) and running the full length of the film, so they line up when dropped onto the Premiere timeline. A sync pop 2 s before picture start is welcome.
- Full stereo mix: −14 LUFS integrated, true peak −1 dBTP.
- Stereo stems that add up to the full mix: Dialogue & voices / Foley / Effects / Ambiences / Ship music (the musical layer).
- M&E version (mix without dialogue).
- DAW session plus an AAF/OMF for archive.
About you
- A portfolio of film sound design, ideally with musical or experimental work built from recorded sound.
- Clear communication and reliable deadlines: the estimated delivery date is November 20.
- Please include a link to work you’re proud of, your rate for the whole project, and your estimated timeline.
I can share the edit and the spotting notes right away.
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