This week I have privilege of being invited by Jodie Bell at Goolarri media in Broome to make some unique recordings of the songs of the local seagrass meadows. Broome is known for its huge tidal movements which exposes the delicate grasses for a few hours during these king tides.
We were working with Broome seagrass expert Fiona West, and senior cultural advisor Dianne Appleby, a saltwater person of Yawuru and Karajarri descent who have intimate knowledge of the grasses and the country we were filming in.
I have been luck to have come to Broome many times over the past 25 years, working on films and documentaries. I always do my sound design work with Goolarri in their own studios here which allows us to work with full consultation with the community. We have done some great work over the past five years and this latest documentary is no exception.
The exposed seagrass gives Director Gary Hamaguchi and DOP Torstein Dyrting the opportunity to see the grass from a unique perspective, which they have complimented by using drones, underwater cameras, and macro photography. I needed to match this intimate perspective with sound, which lead me to bringing hydrophones, and ambisonics microphones to capture the unique sounds of the seagrass environment from within the grass itself.
The results so far have been spectacular, and I am looking forward to coming back to Broome in early 2019 for the sound design and mix.
Andrew Belletty 