David Blaine

Christopher Walken's voiceover delivers the mystique of a side-show barker from forgotten era of theatre, spectacle and popular entertainment. We revised and recorded the Paul Auster-penned script with Mr. Walken we aimed to develop a sonic narrative that defies place and time period.

David Blaine approached Antfood & Buck to develop an animated intro for his magic special onf ABC and following tour, a palette cleanser to get people excited for a bumpy night ahead.

We dug into references from industrial minimalism, 20th-Century Atonalist techniques, Classical Romantic composers, and Manson-family adjacent psychedelia to craft a sonic hero's journey for David Blaine.

While most of the composition is wholly original, we referenced and interpolated two of our favorite pieces from the Romantic period of European Classical music — Bedrich Smetana’s “Die Moldau” and Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”. Both of these evoke a mysticism and dark fantasy that Blaine’s show and Buck’s visuals work around.

While the melee of audio assets were assembled, edited and meticulously arranged in the digital domain, we tried to create as many sounds as possible in the analog realm, including synthesis, foley, and recording to analog tape as illustrated here

To round out the “Kitchen-Sink” approach of every musical influence conceivable. We included some off-kilter applications of the 20th century atonalists’, such as Arnold Schoenberg, technique of the 12-tone row.The melody evokes a sense of unease, breaking away from the more diatonic themes in other aspects of our score.

Finally, though we drew inspiration from classic psychedelia, rock, folk infused with 19th-century Romanticism and 20th-century war-time abstraction, we chose to culminate in a minimal, electronic industrial palette, grounding the experience in modernity.

Our creative process requires taking risks, experimenting and not being afraid to throw ideas in the waste bin and start over.Here are a few ideas we thought were promising, but ultimately didn’t pan out.

Listen to many of the isolated layers and sounds that sum up to the holistic audio journey.

The intricate interplay between BUCK's animation and Antfood's audio yields a hero's journey that is both a visual and auditory spectacle. The sequence is a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, where the music and sound effects are carefully orchestrated to match the visual transitions and movements, enhancing the feeling of a psychedelic trip into the "spectacle of the real." This synergy creates a mesmerizing experience that captivates the viewer, setting the stage for David Blaine's illusions that follow. It's a palette cleanser designed to excite and prepare the audience for the "bumpy night ahead," as described by the creators, ensuring that the magic begins even before the first trick is performed.

The sound design for "Beyond Magic" is not just a complement to the visuals; it is a narrative force in its own right. The opening sequence begins with a quote from Roald Dahl, setting a tone of whimsy and intrigue, immediately followed by the ominous yet captivating score produced by Antfood. This musical choice serves as the perfect prelude to a psychedelic trip through landscapes that blur the lines between reality and the surreal, guiding the audience through a visual representation of magic that defies explanation. As viewers are led down the rabbit hole, the music shifts and evolves, mirroring the journey through various realms of the impossible, making the experience not just seen, but felt.