Noise As Pain

Scoring and Sound Design for Raging

For the film Raging (2025), Ryan wanted either radio static or tape noises incorporated into the score as a metaphor for Eli’s pain, confusion, and trauma. We attempted to push the metaphor to its limit, and produced some interesting results. Let me share some cues:

1. Gamu-Gamo

Eli is at the dinner table at night, bothered by gamu-gamo — winged termites — swarming around the light. He swats at them with his hands, but they never go away. This scene alludes to the trauma he can’t shake off. The pain is subtle but ever-present. We synced the static to the movements of his hands. Each swat triggers a burst of noise. The effect suggests a connection between his internal state and the external world — as if the disturbance isn’t just around him, but inside him.

2. A Song In His Head

Eli has lost his Walkman. He puts on his headphones anyway, connected to nothing. In his head, Dandansoy plays faintly — then disappears into static.

3. Nightmare

Eli is under a pile of bodies in mud — buried alive. A storm rages. Static roars. In the background, Dandansoy plays faintly again. He tries to escape but can’t. The song distorts, then is eaten up by static.

4. Can’t Wash This Off

Eli goes to the river to wash. There’s quiet — relief, after the violence. But the static returns. It echoes his movements, punctuates the sounds of nature, grows louder. He can’t wash the trauma off. It consumes him.

Raging (2025) • Directed by Ryan Machado • Original Music by Erwin Fajardo