birdhouse
Directed by: Moritz Valero
Produced By: Jo Sargeant
Executive Producers: BFI
Production Company: Hot Coals Productions
Photo: Jessica Sansom
Overview
Birdhouse is a short film from Hot Coals Productions exploring the harrowing practice of organised crime gangs “cuckooing” vulnerable people’s flats in London. The story is told through the perspective of a character living with hyperacusis — a heightened sensitivity to sound — making audio central to its narrative. The film will premiere at the BFI London Film Festival 2025.
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​Challenge
The script embedded sound cues and perspective shifts throughout, making it a sound design-heavy film. Recording took place in a small London flat with multiple crew and complex blocking, including Steadicam shots that spiralled through tight spaces. Wireless transmission was difficult in thick-walled buildings, and planning was essential to balance production capture with future sound design.​​​
Approach
Pre-Production
• Worked closely with the director and producer from the script stage to identify sound cues and plan workflow.
• Began explorative sound design, collecting long, slow-moving EMF tones and textures to emulate the subjective experience of hyperacusis.
• Upgraded kit to a Sound Devices 833 recorder with wireless systems.
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Production Sound
• Used plant mics strategically in the confined set.
• Recorded ambiences by hanging a mic over the balcony for the duration of the shoot, capturing the constant soundscape of a London estate.
• Captured dialogue with close coordination between boom op and camera team.
• Documented additional wild tracks and FX.
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Post-Production
• Dialogue editing, ADR (recorded by Nick Roberts at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea), and cleanup.
• Built soundscapes using EMF drones, estate ambiences, and organic sounds (e.g. scraping ice, processed to mimic blood rushing).
• Blended realism with subjective shifts, letting audiences hear the world as the character did.
• Collaborated closely with director and producer, integrating feedback from access coordinators and the deaf community.
Photo: Jessica Sansom
Photo: Jessica Sansom
​​​Collaboration
With around 75% of the crew DDN (deaf, disabled and neurodivergent), Birdhouse was made on one of the most inclusive sets we've worked on. Communication was respectful, sign language was widely used, and access coordinators guided how hyperacusis was represented. This collaboration ensured that the sound design was both creative and responsible.
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Outcome
Birdhouse demonstrates Noise and Order’s ability to deliver the full sound pipeline — from early design through production and post — while handling challenging environments and sensitive subject matter.
To us, it represents attention to detail, subtlety in blending sound worlds, and the power of close collaboration in telling stories where sound is central.
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