Post 7: Audio Production for Animation

In stop-motion animation many kinds of audio recording are needed as there are no natural sounds to come from the environment because all filming is done in a sound stage. All sounds must be recorded, designed and synchronized with the visuals.

The musical score is one of the last things added to a film as it is often not to important to the story so is not a priority when it comes to production there is more stress on the dialogue and effects associated with movement rather than the backing track. Adding this last also means that it can be synced up perfectly with the movements of the characters especially in musical scenes with beat drops etc.

Sound effects are one of the most essential aspects in bringing an animation film to life as there are no natural sounds like in a standard film where wind and cars passing the characters can be recorded
simultaneously, in animation all sounds must be created in order for the actions to seem realistic, it is also important for the sounds to be in perfect time with the motions of characters and objects.

The dialogue between characters is recorded by voice actors before it is animated and filmed this is so that they can lip sync the models mouths to the time of the audio otherwise it would be out of sync.
The sound department work with the script as well as the footage that has already been filmed to synchronize the music with the visuals perfectly, the orchestra conductor for example will be watching a screen with the scene that is being scored to make sure timings are met. 

The sound production for 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' started when Elfman was hired to score the film, Elfman said that most of his scores were done within 12 weeks at this time post-production was almost concluded and Elfman was cast as Jack Skellington by Tim Burton as Elfman had both written and used his own voice to write the first drafts of Skellingtons songs so had grown attached to the character. (Vulturecom. 2019)