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Yahoo
27-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
To Make ‘Toots,' My Sensitive Film About Aging, I Needed the Perfect Fart Noise
Chris Evans is a Shreveport, Louisiana-based filmmaker whose latest film, "toots." is on a festival run that has recently included Indy Shorts. In the piece below, he discusses the importance of sound. The amazing Phoebe Waller-Bridge once gave me some advice (via an Instagram reel, but still): 'Disarm an audience with comedy and then punch them in the gut with drama when they least expect it.' I applied it to my short film, 'Toots.,' the story of a devoted son grappling with the responsibilities of caring for his aging mother with Parkinson's. Where's the comedy, you ask? It lies in an extended flatulence scene that sets up a heartbreaking finish. Risky: Because the success or failure of the scene depends, in part, on the sound of the flatulence. Related Headlines Lisa Dahl: Blessed by Grace Recounts a Mother's Journey From Tragedy to Nourishing Others Sean Connery as 007: 12 Behind the Scenes Images of Bond at His Best 11 Shameless 2000s Comedies That Just Don't Care If You're Offended Folks loved the script, but you can't hear a script. I had a strong sonic concept of how it should play out, but I didn't know exactly how to compose it in the sound design, or communicate it to the production team. Also Read: 11 Films of the 1940s That Are Still a Pleasure to Watch The fart sounds you find in sound packets on the internet just don't cut the mustard. I had a small budget of $1,500 for sound design — which we went over — and a strong sense of what the laughing/tooting scene should sound like. 'Toots' Director Chris Evans on the Quest for the Perfect Flatulence Our lead actress, Pam Dougherty, was on board to play the aging mother. In Pam's 'fart scene,' her character would have a laughing fit, which would stimulate a symphony of toots meant to harmonize with her laughter, as if her diaphragm was pushing out both ends. When Pam and I talked this scene over, prior to filming, she said, 'I can laugh on cue no problem. But I'm not sure I can fart on cue.' I assured her no practical flatulence was required. First, we had to film the scene. I needed reactions from the son, played brilliantly by Logan Sledge, as well as rhythmic laughter from the mom. We wanted clean audio of her laughs without the toots, so we could add them in later. In early takes, I threw out 'brrnnhh' noises, but it just didn't work. Pam looked at me one time and said, 'What does that mean?' She wasn't used to her director speaking in onomatopoeia. The next problem I didn't foresee was that the sound designer needed a long time to get things perfect. I had to get placeholder audio in for the editors, and needed an edit so the composer could get to work. None of them would have the final sound design while they worked. People were really frightened. The early placeholder farting was truly cringe. At one point an editor took out the farting sounds and replaced them with music, so the viewer would see the scene and hear the laughing, but not the toots. For a moment I thought she was onto something — maybe we wouldn't be able to pull this off. The composer, Lucas Lechowski, was touched by the story, but understandably nervous about the heavy-handed farting that was in the edit he was working with. Lucas tried ever so subtly to ask me to dial it back. I reassured him that his instincts were in line with mine, and that I was still working on the sound design. Enter the real hero of this story, sound designer Gregory C. Vilfranc. Gregory and I had a long talk before we agreed to work together on this, and thankfully, he also was touched by the story. We talked about ways that the farting cadence could mimic the laughing cadence. 'Is that even possible?' I asked. He answered with some very long and technical jargon that sounded like a 'yes.' We went back and forth trying to find just the right balance. Each time we would dial the farts back, or cut a couple out, or replace the position of where they landed. Everything had to sound real, not cartoony. It had to satisfy the moment in the story that symbolized a return to fonder days between the mother and the son. The fart scene also had to set up a final scene in which the son finds the mother after she has peacefully expired in her sleep. Oof, heavy. If we didn't get it right, this film was going to be an embarrassment. I found myself giving Gregory notes like, 'They need to sound more demure' or, 'They need to sound like they are slipping out instead of being pushed out' or 'They need to sound more airy.' The real magic came in this back and forth communication. I really feel like we could've kept fine-tuning forever, but at some point you have to call it finished. For me, that point was when the 'laughing scene' elicited more of a smile than a full belly laugh. Just enough humor was perfect. Too much humor would be detrimental. A little bit of feeling sorry for the mother was perfect. Feeling grossed out would be detrimental. The real key was when the death scene felt truly heartbreaking. It's a magical thing how edits to a prior scene can completely change the feeling of the ensuing scene, especially when you're not changing the ensuing scene at all. Through strong conviction and excessive communication, the right balance of sweetness and silliness was found, and a touching story of caring for each other was preserved. Main image: Pam Dougherty and Logan Sledge in "Toots." Courtesy of Chris Evans Related Headlines Lisa Dahl: Blessed by Grace Recounts a Mother's Journey From Tragedy to Nourishing Others Sean Connery as 007: 12 Behind the Scenes Images of Bond at His Best 11 Shameless 2000s Comedies That Just Don't Care If You're Offended Solve the daily Crossword
Web Release
27-06-2025
- Business
- Web Release
LSEG child ID theft documentary takes centre stage with international film festival selection
One In Fifty, a short documentary film from LSEG Risk Intelligence on child identity theft has today been officially selected for the Indy Shorts International Film Festival 2025, marking the film's World Premiere. The documentary is one part of a campaign which includes a data-rich white paper on child identity theft, It Takes an Industry. Together, these weave B2B focussed financial crime insights with powerful, cinematic, corporate storytelling. The trailer is available on YouTube. The documentary, directed by Haley Watson, involved marketing and research teams from LSEG alongside the production and technical capabilities of production house, Indigo Slate. The 15-minute film follows Renata Galvão, an LSEG employee whose identity was stolen at the age of six in Brazil. Her stolen identity was used to create companies, and when those businesses collapsed, young Renata – listed as the legal owner on paper – was left with over USD $400,000 in alleged debt. Indy Shorts is one of the world's leading dedicated to short-form storytelling and is an Academy Award, BAFTA and Goya-qualifying festival. It will host the premiere on Thursday 24 July 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA with the documentary available globally via YouTube thereafter. Renata Galvão, Channel Partner Manager at LSEG Risk Intelligence and subject of the documentary, comments: 'I was only six years old when my identity was stolen and for years, unknown to me, I was already labelled as a fraudster. Sharing my story in this documentary is my way of ensuring no one has to go through what I did. David White, Global Head of Product & Data, LSEG Risk Intelligence, comments: 'We wanted to cut through the typical product positioning and bring audiences, unfamiliar and familiar with LSEG, closer to the human impact of financial crime and the power of data for good. 'It's very rare for a corporate to be selected for a film festival and validates the team's creativity and vision in bringing this to life as well as Renata's bravery in opening up.' 'Short films harness a special power to deliver powerful messages in impactful and creative ways,' said Heartland Film Artistic Director Greg Sorvig. 'Haley Watson's 'One in Fifty' is one of those stories we're thrilled to premiere at Indy Shorts, a short film that empathetically and intimately exposes a major issue impacting vulnerable communities – in this case financial crime and childhood identity theft – and reveals a hopeful light in what first felt like infinite darkness.' It takes an industry The white paper calls out the impact of child identity theft, the risks to financial institutions, and highlights the growing threat of synthetic identity fraud. It outlines practical actions financial institutions may adopt immediately such as identity, age and third-party verification together with transaction monitoring for child-linked accounts and multi-layered security. Key stats from the campaign: 1 in 50 children in the U.S. were victims of identity theft in a single year (Javelin, 2025). 73 % of child-ID-theft cases involve a perpetrator known to the victim. Synthetic-identity fraud cost U.S. lenders an estimated $6 billion in losses, with children's credentials a primary target (U.S. Federal Reserve). Watch the trailer for Renata's story on Youtube Download the full report.
