Sound designer shares inspiration behind award-winning film

Lu Lu, the sound designer behind the award-winning animated film Wild Animal, recently shared behind-the-scenes insights with China Daily.

The 12-minute movie won the Best Sound Design Award at the 15th Beijing International Film Festival's ReelFocus section, a competitive category aimed at spotlighting young talents, in late April. This year, the category received 1,280 short films vying for 11 awards.

Set in Inner Mongolia autonomous region's vast wilderness, Wild Animal follows a father teaching his son to hunt wolves to protect their livestock. However, the boy hesitates to harm animals. When he tries to save a wolf pup, he gets lost in a snowstorm — only to be surrounded by a wolf pack before a majestic white wolf appears.

Lu, a former lawyer, said she has always had a keen sensitivity to sound. "Films have been my greatest passion, and I've always focused on how sound conveys emotion and builds worlds," she said.

After leaving the legal field, Lu — a Tsinghua University law graduate — pursued film and television production at the University of Southern California. There, she honed her skills under Oscar-winning mentors and worked on several independent shorts.

Wild Animal's sound design drew inspiration from Lu's childhood in Inner Mongolia, where wind and snow had distinct sounds. "The wind's tone shifts with temperature, and snow creates different sounds when it hits surfaces. The film's emotional depth gave us rich material to work with," she explained.