After finishing the editing process, including rearranging clips and adjusting the lighting and color grading to match our intended look, the next step was sound design and music. This stage was extremely important because it brought everything together and made the film feel complete. While visuals establish the story, sound is what enhances emotion and makes the overall experience more immersive. Once we added sound, the opening felt much more polished and aligned with the rom-com genre.
Finding the Music
From the beginning, we knew we wanted a soft indie instrumental for the opening. The goal was to create something warm, calm, and slightly romantic without making it feel too obvious or overdone. We originally wanted to use music from Clairo because her style is very soft and relaxed, and we felt that it matched Audrey’s character really well.
However, this created a major challenge. Because of copyright restrictions, we were not able to use that type of music in Adobe Premiere Pro. The audio either would not import correctly, would fail to download, or would interfere with other audio in the timeline. This made it clear that using copyrighted music was not a realistic option for our project.
To solve this issue, we switched to using royalty-free music instead. Even though it was not exactly what we originally planned, we were able to find an indie-style track that still created a similar mood. The track we chose had a light and contemporary feel, and it built naturally toward the title card without needing heavy editing. Overall, it still supported the tone of the film and helped establish the genre effectively.
Use of Music and Transitions
Another important decision we made was how and when to introduce the music. At first, we considered playing the music while Audrey was still speaking. However, we realized that this would take away from her moment and make the dialogue feel less personal. We wanted the audience to focus fully on what she was saying without any distractions.
There were also some technical challenges when trying to layer the music under dialogue in Adobe Premiere Pro, especially when balancing volume levels in a way that sounded natural. Because of this, we decided on a different approach that felt more effective both creatively and technically.
Instead of overlapping the audio, we used a fade-out on Audrey’s voice once she finished speaking. As her dialogue fades, the music gradually fades in. This creates a smooth transition from her personal moment into the running sequence. It almost feels like a shift from her internal world into the beginning of something new, which supports the narrative.
The music is then reintroduced more clearly during the moment when the two characters come together. This helps emphasize the emotional significance of that scene and makes it feel more impactful. By controlling when the music appears and disappears, we were able to guide the audience’s focus and strengthen the overall storytelling.
Using Sound Effects to Enhance the Scene
Another important part of the sound design was using sound effects to improve certain moments, especially the collision scene. When the characters first crash into each other, the raw footage felt slightly awkward and unnatural. This was mainly because real-life movement does not always translate smoothly on camera, and without any added sound, the moment lacked impact.
To fix this, we decided to include subtle sound effects to make the interaction feel more natural and less uncomfortable for the audience. Instead of leaving the moment completely silent or relying only on the original audio, we added a light impact sound when they collide, along with the sound of the ball and headphones hitting the ground.
These additions helped “soften” the awkwardness of the moment and made it feel more intentional. The sound effects also added a slight comedic tone, which fits the rom-com genre. Rather than the scene feeling stiff or accidental, it comes across as playful and engaging.
Overall, this showed how sound design is not just about realism, but also about shaping how the audience perceives a moment. By carefully choosing what sounds to include, we were able to improve the flow of the scene and make it feel more natural within the story.
Link of sound effects:
One of the biggest technical challenges was dealing with wind noise from the park scenes. Because the filming was done outdoors, there were sections where the audio quality was affected.
To improve this, I used tools in Premiere Pro such as Enhanced Speech to make the dialogue clearer. I also made manual adjustments by lowering certain frequencies to reduce the harshness caused by wind. At the same time, I had to be careful not to over-edit the audio, since that can make voices sound unnatural. The goal was to make it sound as if it had been recorded cleanly in the first place.
Sound Design Details
Beyond dialogue and music, small sound effects were added to give the scenes more realism. For example, ambient park noise was included during the running sequence to make the setting feel more natural. The sound of the headphones being knocked out during the collision and the ball rolling on the ground were also emphasized.
These details may seem minor, but they help ground the film in a believable environment. Without them, the scenes would feel empty or artificial. Adding these layers of sound made the world feel more complete and immersive.
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