How To Sound Design Realistic Punches I Video Editing Quick Tip

Punches are a key component of any fight scene, but how can you make sure they sound realistic? Find out in this Quick Tip demonstration. We’ll be working in Avid Media Composer, but the principles apply to all NLEs.

First of all, let’s consider a bad example of punches in a fight scene. Below is the timeline and audio clip of this scene, have a listen to it and see what you think:

 

Pretty bad, right? The punches sound really fake and cartoony. Also, they basically all sound the same, as there’s not much variety in the hits.

All these are going to need to be sound designed a little bit differently from each other, so that they sound realistic and organic.

What makes a Punch Realistic?

There are four main components that we need to really make a hit feel like it’s actually happening in the scene:

• First, we’ll need a hit that’s appropriate to the type of contact being made
• Second, we’ll need some cloth movement
• Third, we’ll also need a bit of an air whoosh to give a sense of speed as the arm or leg or other body part moves quickly through the air during the course of the attack.
• And fourth, we’ll need some human grunts to give the impression of effort and pain.

It’s obvious why we need whooshes and grunts in our fight scene, so let’s consider why appropriate hit effects and cloth movement are so important.

Where Does the Punch Land?

A lot of people forget about the fact that a hit should sound different depending on which parts of the body and what types of material are making contact.

After all, a punch that lands on the on the skin of the face is going to sound a lot different than a block, where two arms covered in clothing are making contact.

This means that you need to listen to the punch sound effects that you’re using and make sure they are consistent with the type of punch being thrown, and what it’s making contact with.

Cloth Movement

Believe it or not, the swishing and rustling of cloth plays a pretty big role in selling the idea that people are actually moving quickly and violently in a fight.

We’re pretty used to hearing it in films, so when it’s not there, a scene feels a bit empty. Have a listen to some samples of cloth movement in the clip below to get an idea of what I’m talking about:

 

Look at this example below, where I’ve sound designed four punches by layering in some cloth movement along with a couple more typical punch down effects. Listen to how more realistic this now sounds:

Putting It All Together

Let’s go back to our original example. What I’ll do now is make a copy of this fight moment, and I’ll use what we just learned to sound design these punches and hits to feel a bit more realistic.

So let’s listen to the before and after. This first section of the clip below is the fight moment that we started with that has the boring, poorly designed punches. The second part is the same moment after we layered in more appropriate hits, cloth, movement, air bushes, and human sounds like grunting.

 

Pretty big difference, right?

Wrap Up

This is an excerpt from one of Film Editing Pro’s courses, taught by professional editors. To access the full course, or for tons more editing training, head over to our Free Training page to get started with some sample lessons on any topic that you like, from general creative editing, to working with music, cutting action scenes, trailers, promos, and a bunch more.