The title The Hunt is somewhat misleading. This film is much more about relationships with others and the main character’s inner turmoil than the actual hunt. If it were that literal, it would not be nearly as interesting. The Hunt is a psychological thriller, one that follows a married man’s journey into the wilderness and his experience becoming the prey in another hunter’s predatory game. The main character has discovered his wife, naked in bed while another man is showering. While out in the wilderness on his hunt, he attempts to persuade a woman (speaking to her on the phone) to have an affair with him as a way to “even the score.” He discovers someone has set a gun stand aiming at his tent. As the hunter investigates he hears voices of another hunter’s activity in the forest. As his would be assassin approaches him he flees but is accidentally caught in his own trap and is hung by the noose he had set up earlier. The hunter struggles frantically for his life while the killer runs towards him. He untangles himself and fires his rifle at the other person. He follows the painful moaning of the killer in order to discover the person’s true identity, only to find that it was an elk. As realization occurs, he kneels in front of the dying elk and starts to cry as the rain falls down and washes over the forest. As the film ends, we see him driving away from the forest in the heavy rain as he calls off the meeting with his (potential) mistress. The hunter returns home to his wife and lets her attend to his wound in silence.” Even though the majority of the film is tense, the conversation is quite sparse. There are sequences which are fairly long in which the hunter looks around in an attempt to figure out his surroundings. What he hears makes him alert. It’s a thriller in which a lot things are happening off screen. Because of this, Zhang could use this ambiguity to create this “unknown” character. Often what we imagine is more frightening than the danger we can actually see. Even more pleasing to Olivia was the fact that this situation created a space in which she could actually create a plot via sound. It was a rare opportunity for sound editor to write plot through designing, which is challenging and rewarding at the same time. The footsteps which the hunter hears are ambiguous enough to make the audience wonder if there really is a person pursuing him or if he’s just paranoid. Rather than being obvious about what is happening, Zhang used less intuitive factors. She notes, “For The Hunt, I used many elements of nature. One time the protagonist is looking around because of a distant gun shot, the next time it is because of a woodpecker, or the ice melting loudly in the lake on the other side of the bushes. These sound elements are used to tease and alert the hunter and were carefully crafted at the moment where tension is about to rise. Secondly, silence is often a great tool in sound design. We hear lots of trees undulating in the wind, then gradually, the forest quiets down and becomes deadly silent; leaving only the hunter’s breath to be heard. When he is in the middle of the forest with so much of his field of sight obscured, the dead silence is sometimes like a ticking bomb, especially when there’s something hiding and waiting to kill him. The audience becomes more concentrated because they want to hear something. They want to know who is out there trying to kill him, and where is the killer hiding? It’s a mind game and silence helps a great deal with that because it doesn’t give the relief the audience is constantly seeking.” Even though The Hunt was just released in 2016, it has been lauded by critics and audiences alike for its achievements in creating suspense and tension in a very unorthodox manner. Xiao’ou Olivia Zhang is proud that her “unobvious” work has gotten so much obvious attention.
Hiding in plain sight; that is sometimes the best place. For Xiao’ou Olivia Zhang it might be more appropriate to say hiding in plain hearing. As an accomplished and respected sound designer, Zhang is often called upon to bring the action onscreen to new heights. While most movie goers don’t notice the sound (unless it involves huge explosions, spaceships, or dinosaurs) in a film, they would immediately be aware of its absence. It helps to think of sound in a film like teeth in a smile; when something is missing…it is immediately present. Being involved in a career which is not celebrated so openly by the general public has never been a negative aspect for Olivia. She loves the work and gets more than enough praise from the filmmakers whom she works with. Sound design can often be an isolated career. These professionals are often required to work by themselves and do so silently, it’s demanded due to the very essence of their role. Zhang finds herself always listening for new influences and sound scapes with which to expand her supply of sonics. The Hunt is a film which was especially attractive to Olivia because of the lack of dialogue involved. This gave her the chance to challenge herself to create and add a great deal to this production. The Hunt’s director Kyle Smithers approached Oliva with the proposition that she work on the film as its sound designer. He communicated that he required someone who would take a proactive role in being creative and give forward momentum to some of the long dialogue deprived scenes. He needed a sound designer who would create tension by implying action off screen, often in a very psychological manner. Smithers explains, “A story like The Hunt is a particular challenge for a film production because of how much its single character is alone for long periods of time. Typically, a filmmaker can utilize dialogue with other characters to flesh out ideas and convey the thoughts and emotions of the protagonist. But for most of this film, including its emotional climax, the hunter is alone with no one to talk to. As collaborative filmmakers we had to think creatively to make this story work. Without question, the best tool for this in The Hunt was sound design. Olivia brought a vast host of experience, technical expertise, and raw talent to help us make this story a success. She saw things the rest of us didn’t, and through her assistance, elevated this film to a previously impossible standard. She has the enviable skill of being able to translate multiple directions and ideas into a unified vision, and then execute that vision with technical and emotional polish.” While Smithers was attracted to Zhang’s previous work and creativity, Olivia was enticed by the vast space and opportunities The Hunt and its director afforded. She comments, “Kyle treated me as a creative partner instead of just a sound editor putting in sound to a picture. There was great mutual respect and exchange of creative ideas during the sound design process. Kyle made me feel welcome to give him suggestions. We explored many ideas together. Working with filmmakers like him always inspires me. It motivates me to look for more and try harder every single day. It was a wonderful collaboration working with Kyle.”
The title The Hunt is somewhat misleading. This film is much more about relationships with others and the main character’s inner turmoil than the actual hunt. If it were that literal, it would not be nearly as interesting. The Hunt is a psychological thriller, one that follows a married man’s journey into the wilderness and his experience becoming the prey in another hunter’s predatory game. The main character has discovered his wife, naked in bed while another man is showering. While out in the wilderness on his hunt, he attempts to persuade a woman (speaking to her on the phone) to have an affair with him as a way to “even the score.” He discovers someone has set a gun stand aiming at his tent. As the hunter investigates he hears voices of another hunter’s activity in the forest. As his would be assassin approaches him he flees but is accidentally caught in his own trap and is hung by the noose he had set up earlier. The hunter struggles frantically for his life while the killer runs towards him. He untangles himself and fires his rifle at the other person. He follows the painful moaning of the killer in order to discover the person’s true identity, only to find that it was an elk. As realization occurs, he kneels in front of the dying elk and starts to cry as the rain falls down and washes over the forest. As the film ends, we see him driving away from the forest in the heavy rain as he calls off the meeting with his (potential) mistress. The hunter returns home to his wife and lets her attend to his wound in silence.” Even though the majority of the film is tense, the conversation is quite sparse. There are sequences which are fairly long in which the hunter looks around in an attempt to figure out his surroundings. What he hears makes him alert. It’s a thriller in which a lot things are happening off screen. Because of this, Zhang could use this ambiguity to create this “unknown” character. Often what we imagine is more frightening than the danger we can actually see. Even more pleasing to Olivia was the fact that this situation created a space in which she could actually create a plot via sound. It was a rare opportunity for sound editor to write plot through designing, which is challenging and rewarding at the same time. The footsteps which the hunter hears are ambiguous enough to make the audience wonder if there really is a person pursuing him or if he’s just paranoid. Rather than being obvious about what is happening, Zhang used less intuitive factors. She notes, “For The Hunt, I used many elements of nature. One time the protagonist is looking around because of a distant gun shot, the next time it is because of a woodpecker, or the ice melting loudly in the lake on the other side of the bushes. These sound elements are used to tease and alert the hunter and were carefully crafted at the moment where tension is about to rise. Secondly, silence is often a great tool in sound design. We hear lots of trees undulating in the wind, then gradually, the forest quiets down and becomes deadly silent; leaving only the hunter’s breath to be heard. When he is in the middle of the forest with so much of his field of sight obscured, the dead silence is sometimes like a ticking bomb, especially when there’s something hiding and waiting to kill him. The audience becomes more concentrated because they want to hear something. They want to know who is out there trying to kill him, and where is the killer hiding? It’s a mind game and silence helps a great deal with that because it doesn’t give the relief the audience is constantly seeking.” Even though The Hunt was just released in 2016, it has been lauded by critics and audiences alike for its achievements in creating suspense and tension in a very unorthodox manner. Xiao’ou Olivia Zhang is proud that her “unobvious” work has gotten so much obvious attention.
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