Many thanks to Robert Sephton for taking time out to do this Q and A. This next week marks the three month anniversary of this thing. I am quite pleased with the way it is going so far, but I would love any comments or suggestions about where it could go. I want this to be interesting not just to people within the sound community, but to people who have an interest in film in general. So any improvements I could make to achieve that goal, please feel free to email me or comment... So without further ado, on to the fun!
FSD: Though the dog is voiced by Jason Lee, what approach was used in handling the dog foley and vocals?
RS: First off, the foley was done at Fox Studio's Foley Stage thanks to Stacey Robinson and the crew, Alicia and Dawn ( Best Dog feet I ever had!) and Dave Foley, the Mixer. Great Job!! As with all animal movies I've dealt with you have tons of trainers in the production track, so foley was extremely important, I.e.texture, surfaces and such. Mark Pappas was my supervisor on this and did a great job. We had tons of different dogs and CGI so foley with certain design FX were very important and mixed by Dean Zupancic who handled all the FX foley and BG's. The vocals went through various treatments (all done by Terry Porter): There were dog to dog conversations that humans heard as dog barks, also when he was just thinking we heard him out loud, and of course when he got his powers he was able to talk with humans. Jason didn't have to alter his readings to go from one to the other.
FSD: Did his FX change after he gets his superpowers?
RS: Not as far as the foley or vocals; as I said, we now see he can communicate out loud to humans in English.
FSD: Are there any dog-specific sound jokes in the film?
RS: He farts when he bounces on the ball in reel 5 and we took the edge off the fight scene a little with a few cartoon type FX but most were line jokes and also stuff through the end credits.
FSD: I saw Rob Nokes is credited as FX recordist on the film. Did you guys have any fun experiences out in the field?
RS: Usually I'm too busy to go with Rob. He's my favorite to go to for field recordings because he always delivers the goods and we have many movies under our belts together and more to come. Rob has an unbelievable passion for doing this; he is almost obsessed to the point of [me saying] "Rob I've got enough-its all great!!! Stop already!!!!" We are really good friends going on 15 years at least. I know he has fun because its pretty much his favorite thing to do....(Plug).... he runs the Internet Sound Effects site Sounddogs.com, a good source for gotta have [sounds].....!!!!!!
FSD: I always wonder how designers conceptualize the sense of speed while in flight. I mean, Underdog has a cape and that helps sell speed visually but how did you go further with sound?
RS: Well, first and foremost most of the flying effects started with very organic sounds: winds, whooshes, Doppler's, etc. We then added hi pitched speed sound, i.e. fighter jets, F1 racing cars and such, which were processed and used as sweeteners for certain shots. When he is in cruise mode with Polly, it's all cape and winds.
FSD: On films like these where lip-sync is paramount to selling the animation, how early are ADR editors brought on to facilitate the need?
RS: Very, very early. [They start] during the production reads. Jessica Gallavan was my ADR Supvisor and one of the best in town: Ton's of film experience, great personality, very hard worker and a perfectionist. She was on the longest and at the end we went away for 2 weeks while the final muzzle shots were being rendered for final output. We then had to go through the whole show one last time to verify final CGI shots for lip-sync and sound effects. We made fixes and then updated stems and then printmastered.
FSD: What was your first gig like?
RS: Interesting. I did and still do dabble in music. I was one of the first to be a digital gunslinger with my own Pro Tools (we'll let that part go). Version 1 was pure Hell. I had done a lot of small things in film-low budget stuff. The first gig that showed me the direction I wanted to go in ( if not music) was sound design, and that happened when I was hired to do a digital sound job on a movie called New Jack City. I was set up with a guy cutting dialogue on a Wave Frame and another editor on a Synclav. It was a disaster way to early for a feature, i.e. 1990-91. The whole crew was fired! Though, since I was sleeping on the floor and cutting 20 hours a day for 500 dollars a week!!!!!, the Post Super kept me on and I transitioned to the new sound editorial team and actually got in the union and funny, I almost tripled my pay in straight time to $1300.....WOW!!!!! Though long ago, I always remember that time and experience as so valuable a lesson, even today!
"Underdog" marks theaters August 3rd. Helping give the four-legged superhero's barks and growls life is Sound Supervisor Robert L. Sephton. Sephton, no stranger to canine audio, supervised "The Shaggy Dog","Snow Dogs", "Homeward Bound II" and was an effects editor on 1994's "Iron Will." F. Scott Taylor, a long time assistant sound editor for Sephton, was the Assistant Sound Supervisor on the show. Dean A. Zupancic and Terry Porter mixed the film at Disney's Main Theater on the Burbank lot. Together the team has mixed almost all of Disney's traditional 2-D animated films since 1995's "Pocahontas." Separately, Porter has been mixing them since the reemergence of Disney-animated theatrical hits starting with 1989's "The Little Mermaid". Production mixing duties rolled over into Tom Williams' lap. Williams is currently shooting location sound on Jonathan Demme's next film, "He Comes in Peace." Continuing his collaboration with man's best friend, Williams was the mixer on The National Geographic's "Dog's with Jobs". Randy Edelman composed for the film at "Hear No Evil Studios" in London. Edelman, an established musician/songwriter in his early years, has composed for over 60 films.
CHECK BACK THIS WEEK FOR A Q AND A WITH SOUND SUPERVISOR ROBERT SEPHTON!
THANKS GO TO SOUND SUPERVISOR GWEN WHITTLE FOR TAKING TIME TO DO THIS Q AND A!
FSD: During the dubs, were there donuts on the stage?
No! I'm glad though because I would have eaten them. We had them during editorial at the ranch one Sunday when we were working. Our fabulous assistant Josh Gold brought them in for us.
FSD: The Simpsons TV show editorial was done by Skywalker for a while, right? What differences in approach and detail are there between the TV show's sound and the film's?
No, we only did "The Movie". It was a challenge though expanding the track for a big screen. A few classic effects are straight from the show - Maggie's pacifier for instance. But 99% of the effects are fresh for the film.
FSD: What are your favorite sound moments in the film?
Hmmmmm. There are a few. Is it cheating to reveal them before the film is released? I love the "Bambi" feet in Alaska; The "bloop" sound as the silo sinks under; The bomb dancing on top of the dome; Homer pulling the arrow out of his head...those are a few of my favorite sounds!
FSD: Lucas spoke at the MPSE awards a few years back. He expressed interest in having sound crews on earlier to help the picture editorial's creative process along; How early was your crew brought on?
We were brought on about 10 months after the picture editor John Carnochan started. This film didn't really call for early involvement from us. We would send FX to LA when requested.
FSD: I read in your Editor's Guild interview that you guys had four temp dubs. Do you think that editorial will continue in the direction of multiple sprints rather than a long distance pace? Does this workflow hinder the creative process?
This type of animation makes it possible to do super quick picture changes. The temps came every three weeks. It was fast, and the changes didn't stop just because we were in the middle of a temp. The "brain trust" of the Simpsons think very quickly and don't like to wait for things to be implemented. This type of schedule pleased them, so we made it work for them. In this case, the creativity was spurred by the temps. I don't see it being like that for all shows. Comedy needs an audience that's fresh to see if it's working on the funny level. Live action is limited by the footage you have on hand. You can't reconfigure characters out of nothing in the real world the way you can in "Springfield"!
FSD: Did any sound mixed during the dubs add to creative decisions made in the animation?
Yes. I think they changed things when places weren't working as a whole - sound included. The music also played a tremendous part in solving issues "the trust" were having with certain scenes.
FSD: How long have you been at Skywalker Sound? What was your first gig like?
A long time. I was very young when I began :-). I started so long ago that I know how to cut sound on Mag. I was an assistant editor working with Ben Burtt, Richard Hymns, Gary Rydstrom, and many other talented folks. I was lucky to have such a very inspiring start! [My first] film was "Willow" - one of the first shows to edit and the second to mix at the Tech building. On a personal note, during that film I spent some quality time with the transfer department, and I met my future husband while waiting for an effects transfer from Ben's library!
"The Simpsons Movie" does the Bartman into theaters July 27th. Helping bring the sounds of Springfield to the big screen are Supervising Sound Editor Gwen Whittle and Sound Designers Chris Scarabosio and Randy Thom. All fixtures at Skywalker Sound, the trio have each worn numerous hats in post sound. Each person has done a big film this year, Whittle Supervised the ADR on "Zodiac" and Scarabosio designed on "Pirates 3",while Thom has kept it low key by supervised AND mixed "Ratatouille." Though the four temp dubs mixed at a few different stages around LA,(read the editors guild article HERE) the film finaled on the Fox's Howard Hawks stage with Andy Nelson and Anna Behlmer. This duo already has a big 2007 with "Shrek the 3rd"and "Live Free or Die Hard". Behlmer, one of the only female mixers in LA and has been nominated for nine Oscars, all of which have been during the mixing team's ten-plus years together. Original dialog on the film was shot by Greg Zimmerman at the Todd-AO West's Stage A. Zimmerman a busy ADR mixer shot 20-plus films already this year. This great scene from one of TV show's 400 episodes illustrates turmoil on an ADR stage....
The score was recorded on the Newman Scoring Stage at Fox. Hans Zimmer fresh of "Pirates 3"composed for the film and is lending his talents to my most anticipated film of next year "The Dark Knight."
CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR Q AND A WITH SOUND SUPERVISOR GWEN WHITTLE!
Here is a little video interview with Re-Recording Mixer Gary Rizzo about his work on "Sicko". Rizzo mixed Michael Moore's Last film "Fahrenheit 9/11", too.
Thanks to Co-Sound Supervisor Elmo Weber for taking time for this Q and A!
FSD: With so many physical comedies under your belt, how hard is it to find the perfect sound that complements the wackiness?
EW: When working on comedies, no matter what your job is, it’s important to have a good sense of humor. Every project is different. Your success depends on not only understanding the humor of each film, but also knowing your place in the “big picture”. Most of the time I find myself playing the “straight man” when it comes to comedy sound design. Don’t over-do it. The comedy is mostly in the hands of the writers, actors, and directors, so create realistic sounds that support and don’t distract. Then when your sound moment comes, make it count. The most important rule is to never make a moment un-funny. Then it’s back to the old sci-fi action and academy awards for you.
FSD: The public understands sound effects editing and mixing in movies like Transformers because the visuals demand heavy editorial and mixing to work. Every film needs sound, so what can be said about sound's role in comedies?
EW: I don’t think the public will every fully understand the true function of post-production sound. Regarding sound for comedies, if we really do our job well, then no one will notice. We’re like the airline mechanics that don’t generally cross people’s minds unless the engine catches on fire. In my view, every picture is unique and the true art of sound lies in the details, whether those details create an exploding robot or a quiet moment where the ADR matches the dialogue from three different takes.
FSD: Re-recording mixers/supervisors impress me, though the majority of you guys also have gigs like this one, where you only do one or the other. What prompts you to mix and cut verses just cut?
EW: I love sound editing and I love mixing. When I get the chance to do both on the same project, it’s always the most fun and the most rewarding experience. I respect both as separate arts; not every editor would make a great mixer and visa-versa. As a supervising sound editor I’ve had the privilege of working with some fantastic mixers and I’ve learned a great deal from them. I began mixing FX early in my sound career and I know that it has made me a better editor. I started mixing dialogue and music in 1998 when I opened my small facility in Burbank. It was great building my dialogue mixing chops on documentaries and independent films, which seem to have the most challenging dialogue and schedules. I sold my facility a couple of years ago, but I’m very excited to be mixing around town at the major studios such as Sony and Warners.
FSD: I'm not sure why I haven't asked this question yet in all my interviews, but you can break this one in: What was your first gig like?
EW: My first sound-editing gig was on “The Lawnmower Man”. I was working as a composer for Frank Serafine when one morning in 1991 he came in and asked me if I wanted to do some sound design for a sci-fi film. I replied, “I don’t think so. I don’t know anything about sound editing.” Frank then says, “I’ve got a scene with a monkey driving a virtual tank and battling laser-firing robots. The director will be here after lunch to check it out, so get busy.” That job was an incredible experience for me. An experience I hope to never repeat. :)
FSD: Whats your favorite sound moment in the film?
The big fire scene in which Sandler and Kevin James save a 400-pound man. That sequence has some great sound opportunities. Sound FX Supervisor Derek Vanderhorst did an incredible job designing a threatening environment engulfed by flames with creaking and crashing all around. The foley team of Catherine Harper and Chris Moriana brought wonderful detail into the soundscape with the firemen gear, boot steps on debris, and chopping through walls with axes. The mixing team of Jeff Haboush and Bill Benton very skillfully brought it all together. I’d also like to acknowledge my co-supervisor Dave Bach, ADR Super Russell Farmarco, Dialogue Editors Cameron Steenhagen and Hugo Weng, FX Editors: Marc Glassman, Paul Berolzheimer, and Piero Mura, and my illustrious Assistant Editor: Matt Hanson. Without me they’d be nothing…uh, I meant that the other way around. Freudian slip.
"I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" gets carried over theater thresholds July 20th. Veteran Happy Madison Co-Sound Supervisor's Elmo Weber and David Bach promised to have and hold the sound editorial. Weber and Bach have been working together since 1995 and Happy Madison, ever the loyal prod. company, have utilized them consistently since 2001. Re-Recording Mixers Jeffrey J. Haboush and Bill W. Benton helped marry the sound to picture, with the majority of the mixing taking place on Sony's Kim Novak dub stage. The two are fixtures on the Novak and are fresh off this April's horror film "Vacancy". Production mixing was handled by Thomas Causey. Causey has also been in a long term relationship with Happy Madison, shooting the production sound on five of their last nine films. The film took Rupert Gregson-Williams hand in composing. Tracking took place on Sony's Scoring Stage. A great little article on the sessions can be found HERE Currently, Williams has been pollinating this fall's "Bee Movie" with score.
CHECK BACK LATER THIS WEEK FOR A Q AND A WITH SOUND SUPERVISOR ELMO WEBER!
Sunshine beams into theaters July 20th. Glenn Freemantle supervised the sound editorial and co-sound designed on the Danny Boyle sci-fi epic. Freemantle has worked on Boyle's last three films and is currently finding a barring on this winter's "The Golden Compass". A longtime collaborator, Sound Designer Tom Sayers returns to Fremantle's editorial crew. Sayers has been with Freemantle since one of his first gigs in 1997. Mixing took place at England's Pinewood studio's theater one with Richard Pryke and John Hayward manning faders. Their last mix together was on 2005's "V for Vendetta". Production sound was navigated by Tim Fraser. John Murphy, another repeat Boyle collaborator scored the film, Murphy already composed for another Boyle related property this year with May's "28 Weeks Later". The band Underworld is also credited with original music on the film. Already established score contributers, they have provided music for films from "Vanilla Sky" to "Batman and Robin"
Today CHUD.COM found youtube footage of a concert composer Alan Silvestri conducted with the Corporación Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) Orchestra. In addition to performing Silvestri composed themes from films like "Forest Gump" and "Back to the Future", he and the RTVE previewed passages from this fall's animated epic, "Beowulf". Though not great in quality, it is cool to find video of this so early! You can find part two of the preview HERE.
Yesterday, I went to see Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix at a local theater chain and to my delight the soundtrack defaulted down to the stereo mix from the third reel on. I was obviously a little annoyed so I decided to talk to the manager and let them know that the film in their biggest theater was playing back in not so optimum conditions. They nodded and awarded my effort with lip-service about how they would "look into it." I always get empathy but no action. They want to make me feel like they care about how the film is presented, but unless a majority of patrons file out of the theater to complain I don't think anything will change. So, what do we do as a community? Is there anyway to champion a campaign to remedy this plague of bad sound? I mean I am sure if the picture looked crappy audiences would be up in arms. I asked Randy Thom about this epidemic recently and he had this to say:
"The two weakest links in film sound have always been the script and the exhibition. Neither of them has ever taken sound seriously except for occasional isolated cases. The picture and sound quality in most movie theaters sucks. In an era when exhibitors should be more worried than ever about competing with home theaters they have shown very little awareness of how important it is to exhibit the film accurately. The popcorn machine is almost always better maintained than the projector and sound system. True, the profit center of most theaters is the concession stand, but if people stop coming there won't be anyone to buy the soft drinks and popcorn. For a huge number of movie lovers going to a well maintained and beautiful theater to see and hear a film with others who share their admiration for great film storytelling is a secular form of going to church. It's an experience that isn't duplicated at home, no matter how wonderful a home theater system you have. The fact that most theater owners are too lazy, ignorant, and/or greedy to make sure the movies sound and look first class is a shameful thing. Filmmakers everywhere have to demand better performance from exhibitors, and we need to set up mechanisms to make that happen."
-Randy Thom
I agree that if the filmmakers knew that this kind of disregard for their films was going on regularly and everywhere, that something might happen. I would love to walk into a theater and not worry about how my craft will be presented.
I have been getting a lot of comments recently about the inclusion of "sound designers" in my posts. Initially I decided to only include the supervisors, mixers, and composers because it was relatively easy to consistently find info on those craftsmen for every film. As momentum and interest has grown for the blog , I am going to be more mindful about posting about designers, too. Their role is important. Still, I am more then aware there are countless others that I still don't include who are paramount to a soundtrack's quality. I will eventually be able to include more info on their specific disciplines and I wanted to thank all of them for the hard work and dedication that has made my day job possible! With that said, on to the fun! I just wanted to thank Sound Designer Andy Kennedy for this brief Q and A! I know he must feel like he's working in "the stone age" currently, so I appreciate his time.
FSD: So first off, what stage did the movie final in @ De Lane Lea?
AK: The Mix schedule for 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' took place at studio one at De Lane Lea London. Pre-dubbing from the end of march till mid April and the Final mix over four weeks from mid April till 13th 'ish of May 2007. The foreign versions (27) continued right through June. A generous schedule even by blockbuster standards.
FSD: As sound designer on the film, what were your duties?
AK: I started on the picture September 18th 2006 at the Leavesden Studios were all the Potter films have been filmed - most of the big key scenes for the end of the movie still had not been shot at this stage and I started working on early animatics and previs sequences. James Mather the supervising sound editor thought I would be a good choice for sound designer as I have worked on the previous 3 'Potter' movies on effects. This was an opportunity for an all british sound crew to rise to the challenge. Aside from the first film - Harry Potter II, III, IV Have always been headed by American supervisors and designers. David Yates the director had only made one previous feature film and his other work was mainly in television, so I guess he felt more comfortable dealing with James and myself ! He proved to be a discerning director with clear views on how the movie should sound. James and I tried to get as many recordings as possible - I nearly got blown up during a fireworks recording session with special 'attempts' department that went a bit astray - We also recorded Glass bowls shattering for a scene that had yet to be shot and existed in only previs form. 2nd Unit effects shoots were recorded extensively - A Tesla machine and high powered hoses were recorded during a visual effects session and Impulse responses from the sets were collected. I worked on designs for the fireworks or Thestrals which we could get the director to check on in the evening after shooting finished for the day or I would fold down 5.1 sounds to stereo mixes for Mark Day the editor to include in his assemble cut for David to listen too during editing. This soundtrack evolved over quiet a while and David Yates made time in his busy schedule to be involved in the audio process all the way.
FSD: With more and more spell casting in these films, what motivates the sound design?
AK: Before we moved to De Lane Lea in Soho, London in November we did a mini mix for the head of Warner Brothers when he visited the studio at Levesden. I had to 'temp' up some wand effects for the scene where harry 'teaches' other students defensive spells. This proved invaluable in getting a sense of what David 'didn't' like. He had a problem with explosive or dynamic elements and wanted to use 'natural' sounds (the term organic was used but I really don't like it!) He wanted to turn down the Thunderous elements in favor of warped water and feed back blips with a touch of airy whoosh. I did try to create a wand language based on familiar styles of sounds from the other movies, but if the director wants you to make an original sounds with no bearing on what's gone before you have to follow his lead! Alfonso Cuaron on HP III had the same desire to have wands sounds completely different to the other two films and got a very individual soundtrack. The kids spells during Harry's classes start with Neville making a blunder of his spell and the wand spins and vanishes into the mirrored wall - This change very little from my first layout but essentially it had a comic firework feel about it but the rest of the spells within this section went through many forms. The warped water I made on my old Synclavier and the feedback wumpfs, built by James Boyle my co-sound designer, for the adult wands during the dual in the atrium. I felt there should be a sonic connection between the two scenes even if it's subtle one. The airy whooshes came from light steam jets phased with a couple of other sweeteners added or deducted during the final mix dependent on completed visuals.
FSD: What was your favorite sound design moment in the film?
The room of requirement door forming was a glutinous - rocky - wooden - metal morph combo. It was more abstract on our temp version but in the end David preferred a quieter and more natural sound so we added Foley dust grains and metal to fit the CG image and favored the 'real' elements more. Grimmuld Place was also fun but I think the sub-harmonic element got a bit overdone. I also really liked the effects James Boyle designed in the wand battle with Dumbledor and Voldermort. A very cool power suck to a pin head of silence and blast back wumpf which shatters all the windows of the ministry. This sequence was outstanding and the only section in the movie without music so it gave a chance to let the sound effects rip.
FSD: Many different crews and directors have worked on these films. Is consistency an issue? What established sounds did you guys have to use and what sounds were due for an update?
Each of the Potter films retreads familiar sonic themes, fortunately this one didn't have the proverbial Quidditch match which incidentally we have always used the sound designs from HP I made by Martin Cantwell for the Snitch, Qwaffles and Bludgers. Broom sounds have been a common reacquiring sound effect and I think each time we try NOT to make them sound like jets but under the barrage of complex orchestral music they color up like A10 fighter jets. Randy Thom established the Pheonix sound in HP II and it makes a brief fleeting appearance in HP V and the producers were keen to reprise this sound. Richard Beggs created a tonal bell sound for the 'Lumos' constant illumination from the wands in HP III. I took this and 'Pure Pitched' it down so it did interesting things against the slow'd Glass Harmonica / Water-phone background sounds in the Hall of prophecy.
FSD: Have you ever worked in the States? Are there any differences in work-flow or technique from across the pond?
I haven't worked in the united states - It's difficult for us Europeans to work on a movie in the US without a green card or union ticket! Although I have had the privilege of working with excellent technicians from the US on movies over here. Randy Thom and Dennis Leonard came here to do HP II and IV and we had a fantastic time on both movies. We proudly won an MPSE award for 'The Goblet of fire' for Best Sound Editing in Feature Film: Foreign. Nearly all the sound designers/fx editors are working 5.1 over here. I've been plying my trade this way since working with Randy and Dennis on 'Chamber of Secrets' and developed a common Busing I-O within pro-tools with other sound crews in the UK over the 5 years since. So when I did 'Goblet of fire' again with Randy and Dennis, the technique had developed were it was possible to keep every piece of automation on the effects from temp to final mix using the 'virtual' method. Mike Prestwood Smith has refined the technique for dialog premixes 'in the box' and works from his home 'Liondubbs studio' in Somerset and has pre-dubbed some great films this way ('Flight 93 - Constant Gardener - Casino Royal and of course Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix') James Mather and myself with Mike and Mark Taylor our effects mixer, decided to go for a total virtual mixing method for the film before our first temp. So from the start in post and during the mixing all parts of the soundtrack were kept virtual: Production dialogue with ADR - Crowd - Backgrounds with foley and sound design and hard effects where then played back from five pro tools rigs. Three D commands and two command 8's were used for internal balancing within pro tools during the mix - The VCA faders in the pro tools 7.2 software provided overall bus output control which made it conformable during changes for visual effects and re-cuts during mixing. We were completely flexible during the whole editing, design and final mix process and we never conformed any 'stems' because there weren't any! So I am proud to say our team of audio wizards produced a fantastic end result and at the cutting edge of muggle technology.
FSD: When I go see movies like these I get so excited about working in sound. I love hearing all the unique and interesting work the crews cook up. What excites you about your job?
I have always thought I was lucky to be doing a job that I enjoy - So many people in this world just work to earn the money to live and loath the daily grind of a regular job that they hate. Sometimes in our line of work, we moan and groan about this 'budget' and that 'time-frame' but, some how in the end we get the job done and strive for excellence and satisfaction in our craft. Occasionally we receive recognition for the late nights and long hours in the form of trophies or awards - None the less I am always amazed at mixes, how producers and directors suddenly become experts in sound and rarely appreciate the guidance or advice of the people in the room who do this all day, year in, year out. It makes me laugh when we get notes like: 'make the door louder at 320ft' at he first temp mix and at the review we get: at '320ft make the door quieter so we can hear the dialouge line' but I suppose it's now part of the course to be able to change everything at a whim or a even the click of a mouse. On a final note I would like to thank the whole sound team on 'Harry Potter and the order of the Pheonix' for being wonderful people work with and making the whole creative experience so pleasurable.
DOLBY: In Broken Arrow, there’s this scene where the A-bomb goes off and the ground sort of heaves up in a wave toward the audience.
CB: This kind of thing is always a big challenge, because so often the production wants to arrive at the major climactic moment, and they’ve already brought a freight train of sound. So I have to try to figure out a way to work against that. You can’t be in a battle that’s really loud, and all of a sudden introduce a cannon and make that louder.
There's a great interview over at Dolby.com with Sound Designer/Re-Recording Mixer Chris Boyes. I have to tip my hat to this German blog for the heads up! Boyes is supervising and mixing next year's "Iron Man". Director Jon Favreau has mentioned a mid-air battle against F-22 raptors and Iron Man as one of the major set pieces of the film. It would seem that Boyes and his mics have a date with an airstrip soon.
" Harry Potter and the Order if the Phoenix" materializes into theaters July 11th. Helping to make all those spells sound "wicked" is sound supervisor James Mather. This the fifth Potter flick is Mather's first venture into Hogwarts. Joining an alumni that includes Randy Thom and David Evans, Mather enters a great pedigree of Muggle free sound soups. Sound designers James Boyle and Andy Kennedy join along in the editorial rebellion both of which worked on "Batman Begins" my favorite of the franchise. Mixing took place in London at De Lane Lea's Soho post production facilities, with Re-recording mixers Doug Cooper, Mark Taylor, and Mike Prestwood Smith. The trio comes off a big last year with their work on "Casino Royale" and "Children of Men". Production sound's spell was cast by Stuart Wilson, his first Potter film as well. Wilson shot production on another film I am really excited to see later this year, "Eastern Promises". Composer Nicholas Hooper handled scoring duties. Another Potter "first year", Hooper is the third composer to helm a film in the series. A great little preview of the soundtrack can be heard HERE.
CHECK BACK LATER THIS WEEK FOR A Q AND A WITH SOUND DESIGNER ANDY KENNEDY!
One person I wish I could have, and should have interviewed is FX mixer Greg Russell. Luckily, this month's issue of Mix magazine has a great interview with him and fellow mixer Kevin O'Connell. Greg and Kevin have been partners of the fader since the late 80's and a fixture in Sony's Cary Grant theater for some time now. Check out the interview HERE.
O'CONNELL: What percentage of what we do is artistic vs. technical?
LANDAKER: It's very much artistic––at least 50-50 but more like 70-30 [artistic to technical]. You can have all the chops in the world about faders and EQ, but it's actually the fine balancing act of putting that movie together than makes it a reality. You have to have a feeling for that screen.
Here is a great little bit the Editor's Guild transcribed from the "Sound Behind the Picture" event that took place this spring. The picture above was taken during "The Empire Strikes Back" dub. If you look hard enough you cannot see me in the picture wishing I was there. You can read the rest of the transcription HERE. The academy's sound branch will be putting another event on soon for animated film sound. Keep updated on their calender of events HERE.
Holy Crap! I went to see "Transformers" tonight. I just wanted to applaud all the great work in this film. Too much cool stuff to list! Check it out in the best sounding theater available. Thanks so much to Sound Designer Erik Aadahl for taking some time out to do this Q and A!
FSD: I've read a lot of discussions lately about defining a Sound Designer. What were your duties on Transformers?
EA: The term "sound designer" can mean lots of things. In some cases, a designer is brought in to handle a scene or a concept, with effects editors handling everything else. In other cases, a designer may have a broader role and oversee the overall track. This movie was a little of both--I was brought on by Ethan van der Ryn to design the robots, but as time went by that job broadened to encompass the entire final track. By the end of the final mix, I had plenty of chances to go over the whole film, tweaking details till we couldn't do it any more.
FSD: Ben Burtt has said films don't get released, they escape. As a sound designer, how did you guys decide when a sound design or editorial sequence was "done"? Were they ever "done"?
EA: On this film we were blessed with a healthy schedule. Ethan had been doing military recording sessions starting more than a year ago, and I started on the robots around September. By that time, I had known I'd be doing the movie for a few months, so I had already started getting into the "headspace" of the movie, collecting servos and as much fun-sounding gadgetry I could find. So, the design starting coming together around then, and just kept evolving day after day. Ethan is great to work with in that he's always looking to the next cool concept; something wacky and wild that people haven't heard before--so that was a great challenge and inspiration to me to keep evolving the sounds as far as we could. Because we started early, we could get our sounds into the Avid right away and get those crappy temp fx (the bane of many a sound team) out of the cutting room. So Bay got a chance to hear our ideas early, fall in love with them, and know all our sounds intimately so they could be featured in our mix to the end. We kept coming up with ideas through the very last day. Playing the Dreamworks and Paramount logos with all sound design and none of the traditional music was a last minute decision that we did on the final mix stage. Some of the best ideas appear late in the game! And then suddenly we were printmastering and it was over. All new ideas after that get saved for the sequel.
FSD: How much time did you get to spend on conceptional proofs before going full bore on design and editorial?
EA: It all happened at the same time. The first scene I got was Blackout (at the time his name was Vortex) destroying the Qatar airbase. I had a week to come up with the transformation and weapons and destruction and the shape of that very first pass stayed pretty much intact until the end. After that first week, I had a chance to catch my breath and go conceptual again, spending my days under headphones recording everything that might be useful--scissorlift servos, remote control copters, sliding acrylic sheets, power windows--and then throwing them into ProTools to manipulate them into fun sounds. After a few weeks of that, I had a palette of several hundred fresh robot sounds that I could draw from as the movie progressed.
FSD: Did you guys get to rap with the VFX dept. during editorial about what the finished robots looked like?
EA: ILM sent us full still-frame renders of the robots, which was very useful. Our foley team, John Roesch and crew at Warner Bros, used those pictures to create "robot foley" to sell the robotic sinews and joints for the various characters. FSD: How late in the process did you guys finally see the fully rendered CGI?
EA: One of the nice things about having a really demanding director is stuff gets done quickly. When I started Transformers, it was leagues beyond most big films in terms of finished visual effects shots 9 months before release. Of course shots were pouring in until the very last minute but we were actually very fortunate that ILM had their game together so early. I could design to shots I knew wouldn't keep changing.
FSD: Ethan said his favorite sounding Transformer was Bumblebee. What was your favorite to design?
EA: Bumblebee was my favorite, too. I was a pleasure to give him his voice and act for him. We used our own voices with processing to give him his personality. For the emotional scenes where Bumblebee is in pain, we used the pitch down cries of a baby and even a little bit of vocal that Mike Hopkins performed.
PS: Listen for a vocal from Michael Bay when Megatron flicks an unlucky pedestrian across an intersection-That's Michael going "No ! No! Woooooahh!!!"
Thanks again to everyone that took time to contribute!
Thanks to Re-recording mixer Kevin O'Connell for taking time out to do this brief Q and A!
FSD: With this the second huge film you guys mixed this year(the first being Spiderman 3), how much adaptation is needed working with different directors and sound crews?
KO: We had been in communication with Supervising sound editors Ethan Van Der Ryn and Mike Hopkins for many months prior to the mix strategizing and laying out a game plan for the mix. That communication helped us enormously. As far as working with different directors, having worked on numerous films for both Sam Raimi and Michael Bay really helped to get us where we needed be much faster then if we had not had that luxury.
FSD: Did you guys do anything differently on this film you don't normally do on others?
KO: Yes, we basically mixed the movie with mostly temp music tracks. The final music trickled in throughout the mix and was not all available until late during the final mix. At that point I basically had to re-mix the entire music stem on every reel and Greg (Russell) and the sound effects team had to re-shape a bit as well. Having had the benefit of mixing all of Michael Bays films helped enormously on Transformers. Michael is a guy who knows what he likes but more importantly knows what he does not like and communicates that very well. FSD: In films with such huge set pieces, how do you find a healthy balance between music and FX ?
KO: That is the challenge on all action adventure movies. That balance is the key to a great sound track. You can’t hear everything all of the time so knowing what to hear and when is really the cornerstone to any great mix.
FSD: How were the transformer vocals handled on the dub stage? Is there much processing to their voices?
KO: We processed the entire conversational robot dialog during the dialog pre-dubs. We started by pitching down the autobots (good guys) approximately 1 semi-tone and the decepticons (bad guys) between 2 and 3 semi-tones. Then we fed the track into a small speaker in a chamber in the back of the stage and returned the output to the console and balanced it against the untreated track to add a bit of an edge. Then we took a feed to the lexicon 480 to add a bit of space and reverb to the track. We took another feed and sent it to the boom and adjusted each voice individually to maximize the effect. Then, we spread all of the voices into two, 5.1 predubs to maintain flexibility. As far as the non english speaking robots, they were cleverly processed by sound editorial prior to coming to the stage.
FSD: On music passes, how much flexibility do you usually like to get coming from the editorial rig(s)?
KO: On these types of movies you have to have as many things separated as possible to maintain flexibility. The more the tracks are separated, the better. FSD: Do mixers usually go to test screenings to see how the temp dub plays in a "filled theater"?
KO: We try to go as often as possible but sometimes they are in different cities or even different states and we generally are in the middle of mixing for the final film and often don’t have the time to go. But when we are able to attend, it helps very much to see the film with an audience. FSD: Though chops and savvy are important. What other attributes must aspiring re-recording mixers possess to make it?
KO: In my opinion, the biggest attribute to being a successful mixer is in how you deal with people. You are often working with many high profile personalities at one time and that can be a bit tricky at times. Being as diplomatic as possible is a good start. I believe every one on the stage deserves to be treated with respect whether you are the assistant or the producer, everyone should be treated the same. Also, using every mixing experience to learn what works and what doesn’t work and applying that knowledge to future projects.
Check back tomorrow for the conclusion of the Q and A's with Sound Designer Erik Aadhal!
"Transformers"explodes into theaters this July 3rd. Collaborating to make those sounds more then meets the ear, are Sound Supervisor's Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins. This is the first movie the pair supervised since winning their second sound-editing Oscar for their work on "King Kong". Sound mixing took place over at Sony with Greg Russell and Kevin O'Connell manning Effects and Dialog/Music respectively. The mixing duo have mixed all of Michael Bay's films and already have a summer hit with Spiderman 3. Peter J. Devlin shot the production sound on the film. Devlin another return Bay craftsmen, has worked continuously on the director's films since "Pearl Harbor". Composing duties went to Steve Jablonsky. Jablonsky has scored all of Bay's Platinum Dune's films, and also composed for Bay's last outing ,"The Island". A great article on the tracking can be found here.
I wanted to thank Sound Supervisor Ethan Van der Ryn, Re-recording mixer Kevin O'Connell, and Sound Designer Erik Aadahl for taking time to do brief Q and A's.
FSD: Had to ask it. Is the signature transforming sound from the cartoon in the film?
Van der Ryn: We used the original transforming sound twice in the film. It is used for one of the largest transformers and also for the smallest. More importantly we were inspired by the original transformation sound in the creation of new sounds. The very first sounds heard in the movie which play over the Dreamworks and Paramount logos are an example of sounds which are inspired by that original transformation sound vibe.
FSD: With all those metal robots sharing screen-time, in what way did you guys give each of them a unique sound signature?
Van der Ryn: We came up with a unique palette of movement and presence sounds for each robot based both around it's physical characteristics in vehicle mode as well it's personality traits in robot mode.
FSD: Out of all the Transformers, which was your favorite sounding?
Van der Ryn: Bumblebee is my favorite sounding Transformer. For me he is the most emotive robot in the film and the emotional center of the film. He manages to achieve this despite or perhaps because he has a damaged voice box which forces him to communicate with a montage of sound fx and songs and old movie lines.
FSD: This by my count is your sixth sound collaboration with Mike Hopkins, how do you two distribute your duties as sound supervisors?
Van der Ryn: I am responsible for supervising the FX/Sound Design and Mike is responsible for supervising the Dialogue/ADR.
FSD: Through the huge films you have worked on, how has your view on sound's role in storytelling evolved?
Van der Ryn: The film that I moved up from being an assistant to being an fx editor on was Terminator 2. On that film I discovered first hand how crucial the sound was in making the pictures, especially the CG elements believable and real in a visceral way. As visual fx and CG have become an increasing prevalent part of modern film making I think that the role that sound plays within these films has become ever more crucial. With the advent of digital editing the possibilities of combining and and layering sounds has become infinite. The limitless possibilities inherent within the new technology have created a new set of pitfalls. People outside the sound world often seem most impressed to know how many different sound elements go into making the complete track as in "it took 555 fx tracks to make up this scene, wow!". What I have learned about sound through the films that I have worked on, is to strive to make the scene work with as few elements as possible rather that as many as possible. Like so many other artistic endeavors weather it be writing or painting or cooking the skill is about combining only the "right" elements that have the most "specific" and unique qualities to create whatever effect or emotion we are aiming to create.
FSD: I am sure you guys got some great FX recording opportunities. What was your favorite day out in the field?
Van der Ryn: My favorite day in the field was a day spent recording helicopters at Kirtland Air force base in New Mexico. Recording the Osprey helicopters; the rotor wash was so strong that we needed to lay down on the tarmac to keep from being blown over, and take our headphones off to keep them from being blown off of our heads. What a blast, literally!
Check back tomorrow for the continuation of the Q and A's with Re-Recording Mixer Kevin O'Connell!
