Real Machetes and Retro Tech: How 'They Will Kill You' Forged its Kung Fu Sound
6Reduced, this headline gives 6. It sits on The Care with the rest of an obligation.
Forget digital bells and whistles. For the kung fu-inspired action-comedy "They Will Kill You," sound designers Jeff Pitts and Duncan McRae went gloriously analog, even using a real, razor-sharp machete to craft its unique sonic punch.
Pitts, the supervising sound editor, revealed he recorded the film's hero machete by hanging a legitimate, sharpened prop on a mic stand. He then proceeded to whack it with his own butcher knife. The result? His butcher knife bent and broke, while the movie prop remained largely unscathed. This dedication to authentic, physical sound capture is a testament to their craft.
Beyond a weapon's durability, Pitts also leaned heavily into vintage gear. He pushed nearly every sound effect through a TASCAM 4-track cassette deck, an old-school piece of equipment that allowed him to manipulate playback speed and create unique Doppler effects. This gave the film's sound a distinct, almost retro texture, fitting its 1970s kung fu cinema homage.
“He recorded the film's hero machete by hanging a legitimate, sharpened prop on a mic stand and whacking it with his own butcher knife.”
More Stories
McRae, the rerecording mixer, highlighted the team's relentless pursuit of variety. Each fight sequence in the Kirill Sokolov-directed film was designed to feel different, avoiding any sense of repetition. The final creature fight, for example, required extensive tweaking to achieve the perfect menacing tone, balancing intense music, dialogue, and hard-hitting effects. Earlier brawls often stripped away music entirely, showcasing director Sokolov's willingness to experiment with the soundscape.
Working on "They Will Kill You" reawakened Pitts's appreciation for classic kung fu sound design, a style he now hopes to explore further. That raw, impactful style, often imitated with vocalizations, has a rich legacy, and this film embraced it fully. The film, also starring Zazie Beetz, Tom Felton, and Patricia Arquette, is available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, DVD, and streaming on HBO Max.
Reading the six
Set against the Pythagorean table, the headline totals 294. Reduced, that is 6. The weight sits in “Forged”, which carries 37 on its own and reduces to 1.
Its named subject, Jeff Pitts, reads as a 3 (creative communicator), so the report and the thing it describes are pulling in different directions. The number's contribution is care, community, and the weight of duty — and with it the 6's pull toward responsibility, care, and the people involved, which is the thread the reference follows here.
Beneath the 6 sit two smaller figures: 8 in the vowels, 7 in the consonants. Power underneath, inquiry on the surface. The gap between them is where the story is most interesting.
Read on the 6's terms, this report asks you to name the people this was answerable to. The 6 smothers. The same instinct that protects a readership produces the paternalism several of these entries document. The other reports that reduce to 6 are collected on The Care.
Catzye Take
This level of hands-on sound design is truly inspiring, especially when studios are often pushing for faster, more digital workflows. Fans of classic martial arts anime and manga will appreciate the deep cut to kung fu's sonic heritage here. It's a reminder that sometimes, the best tech is the oldest, or just a really good machete. On this reference that reduces to 6 — the care, where an obligation is kept.
Newsletter · today is a 3
A week, read by its numbers
Once a week: what was added to the reference, and which shelf it landed on. Today the reference reads as the telling — craft, voice, and the machinery of putting a story across. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
Want to learn more?
Read our complete Manga guide →You May Also Like
Finn Jones Eyes Shang-Chi Showdown for MCU's Iron Fist
Kaiju Girl Caramelise: The Monster Within Is A Powerful Metaphor
KPop Demon Hunters Crash the Squishmallows Party
