Capturing the sounds of Saibai Island in the Sound Design for ‘Katele” (Mudskipper) short film which recently took home the Best Australian Film at this year’s Flickerfest
Katele on location Saibai Island: L-R Andrew Belletty, Sound Recordist. Daniel McArthur, DoP. John Harvey, Director. Elma Kris, “Martha”.
I have worked as sound designer and recordist with Katele Director John Harvey and producer Gillan Moodie across multiple projects over the years, and they have always been richly rewarding experiences. Katele gave me the opportunity to record the amazing voices of Saibai Island’s Muyngu Koekaper dance troupe with multiple microphones including ambisonic, stereo and point mics. I love outdoor music recording as each situation presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Sedrick Waia sings and plays the ukulele, leading the singers tremendously powerful voices accompanied by multiple percussion instruments including the log drum- Warup. I also took the opportunity. to record some beautiful multi channel ambience tracks from around the island with the ambisonics recorder.
The mix for Katele was mastered in Dolby 7.1 channel specifically to do justice to the incredible music track. It is always fantastic working with John on the sound design as he really loves the way we can create immersive worlds for the film. John is adventurous and never plays it safe with the sound design, which makes it a lot of fun!
Katele – Mudskipper screens at the Sydney Film Festival 2023
Andrew Belletty 