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The Giants

Director: Laurence Billiet, Rachel Antony
Producers: Laurence Billiet, Rachel Antony
Executive Producers: Helen Panckhurst, Paul Wiegard

The story.

From the Director behind the critically acclaimed documentary, Freeman, comes The Giants – an inspiring biopic about the life of prominent environmentalist activist and the first openly gay member of Australian parliament, Bob Brown. The film shines a light on his leadership in landmark protests against the damming of Tasmania’s Franklin River, and his transformation into a formidable political force and the leader of the Australian Greens Party. With stunning footage of majestic native trees and told in Bob’s own words, the film draws on emerging science and Bob’s experiences to inspire a new chapter in our relationship with the environment.

The forest sequences were not only beautiful but brought the audience into an entirely different natural world, often hidden to the naked eye.

Synchronising the rhythms of life and nature.

The film focuses on integrating the rhythms and stories of Bob’s life in parallel to the ecosystems of Tasmanian ancient forests. The Director asked that we create sounds in the forest sequences that drew inspiration from various parts of Bob’s life. It was important that we were extremely accurate and the forest sound elements were prevalent to those environments.

A glimpse into the process.

We worked with veteran mixer Pete Smith (Happy Feet Two 2011, The Great Gatsby 2013, The Hobbit 2014) at Artisan Post, in the SAFC facility to create a nuanced soundtrack that intricately wove Bob’s life with the natural elements he fought so hard to protect. While also displaying a stark contrast between the thriving natural environments and those that had been destroyed.

Recording the forests.

The forest sequences required emotive, yet abstract, sounds to sonically represent the incredible Lidar imagery captured by the filmmakers. Sound was critical in drawing audience attention to aspects that helped explain the biology of the scene.

Contrasting landscapes and soundscapes.

An important aspect was to highlight the beautifully rich and diverse sounds of the forest against the stark and jarring emptiness of the deforested areas. Sound design here was key to capturing the contrast in these two polarising shots within the film.

Creating a sense of time and place.

For the large amount of archive footage in the film, the vision was to enhance this material with period specific sounds that put the audience right in the centre of the protest movement. To immerse them completely in the gravity and energy of the time.

The Huon Pine trees.

The Huon Pine trees live in water, so whenever we saw them on screen, we wanted water to be present in the soundtrack. This was particularly important to reflect one of the reasons they’re disappearing – water no longer being available.

Nature in surround sound.

The film was completed in Dolby Atmos, so it was important for us to gather as many sounds from location recordings as possible to create a lifelike experience for the audience. Thom travelled to Tasmania with a variety of microphones – including an ambisonic surround mic – to capture Atmos recordings we could fold into the forest sequences. Mixing in Atmos gave us the ability to put the forest above our heads and create an immersive experience that places the audience in the middle of the wilderness.

Lush atmospheres. Complex Soundscapes.

This project was an extremely meaningful one to work on. Bob Brown is responsible for stopping so much destruction of ancient forests in Tasmania and across Australia. We felt privileged to be a part of such an important aspect of Australian history and it was an honour to help bring awareness to such an important issue for our environment and humanity.

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Folklore Sound acknowledge the Turrbal and Jagera people as the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we operate, and that sovereignty has never been ceded. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

We respect that First Nations People have a deep connection to this land, and appreciate the enduring role that art has played on these lands for countless generations, spanning thousands of years. It is a privilege for us to collaborate with artists who carry on the rich creative heritage of one of the world’s most ancient and thriving cultures.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains images, voices and names of people who have passed.