filmsound daily

NEW SOUND INTERVIEW SITE

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:03:00 +0000

Michael Coleman and co. have been busily launching a site that will continue to feature his great video interviews. soundworkscollection.com hosts all of his previous interviews as well as a new one profiling some of the sound crew from "WATCHMEN".

VIDEO INTERVIEW: G. I. JOE: THE RISE OF THE COBRA

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:58:00 +0000

The below video is an interview with supervisor Per Hallberg and director Steven Sommers from this Friday's "G. I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra". Featuring a slick look and some fun info, I wish more studios would crank out this kind of publicity for films that can afford it, I'm looking at you at you, every summer tent pole!!!

YOU TOO CAN WORK IN POST!

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:16:00 +0000

Saw this over at Brent Herber's excellent Pro Tools blog, had to post because it hit so close to home. Have a few Q and A's in the pipeline, should be up soon.

INTERVIEW: NOAH TIMAN

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:19:00 +0000

KIDINTHEFRONTROW.COM interviewed New York based production sound mixer Noah Timan recently. Timan who wrapped on Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" a while back, is very honest and forthcoming with his answers one of which is abridged below.

KITFR: "Do you ever find times when the director chooses something visual, or a performance, over the importance of the sound recording. And how do you deal with that? It must be frustrating, I'd imagine. Can you think of any instances where your work has been compromised against your better judgement?"

NT: ...There is often a very dismissive attitude on set toward the production track. Other crew members, like you yourself have suggested at one point, have often bought into this idea that a high percentage of the film is going to get looped, no matter what. So they say, “Well, why I am going to make sacrifices of my own work for the sound department when their tracks are not going to end up getting used anyway?” Or they say, less thoughtfully (and based upon zero personal experience in the realm) “this can be fixed in post.” Sometimes, in the latter case, they are right — but they are often completely unaware of how much work is involved by the post team to accomplish that, as opposed to far simpler solutions that often exist on set if there is some small semblum of patience and cooperation...

KEEP READING HERE

THE IMAX PROJECTOR SOUNDS OFF!

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:28:00 +0000

Film Sound Daily reader slash IMAX projectionist Derek Helmer, sent me a link to his blog which features some posts in and about the IMAX projection booth he works in (I've posted some of my favorites below). I am a huge fan of feature film presentation in IMAX, even with the recent hub-bub about their retro-fitted theaters, hopefully IMAX gets that screen size discrepancy and proper charge therein sorted out. Regardless, I am anticipating an IMAX screening of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" in the coming weeks and you can currently see "Transformers 2" featuring a longer cut and "to-scale" robots in some shots. Anyway, enjoy some IMAX projection glamor below.

A recording of the IMAX projector doing work.

A shot of the 70mm platers used for "Transformers 2".

An IMAX print of the "The Dark Knight" given the run-through.

IMAX Montage from Derek Helmer on Vimeo.

VIDEO INTERVIEW: ICE AGE 3: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:19:00 +0000

This month's Michael Coleman produced video interview features Randy Thom's work on "Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs". Thom a connoisseur of sound for animated features, has 2010's "How to Train Your Dragon" and Bobby Z's "A Christmas Carol" next on his plate.

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" Sound for Film Profile from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

TRANSFORMERS 2: INTERVIEW ROUND UP

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:41:00 +0000

I planned on interviewing some of the post sound crew from "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" but there are so many great interviews out there already about the great work they did, I might as well be a blogger in disguise and just link to them.

AUDIO-MEDIA magazine: Interview with Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van Der Ryn, and Greg Russell.

EDITORS-GUILD magazine PT.1: Q and A with re-recording mixers Gary Summers and Greg Russell.

EDITORS-GUILD magazine PT.2: Q and A with sound soups Ethan Van Der Ryn and Erik Aadahl.

PRO SOUND NEWS PT.1: Overview of the post sound process on the film.

PRO SOUND NEWS PT.2: Interview with supervising dialog editor Mike Hopkins.

PRO SOUND NEWS PT.3: Interview with dialog and music re-recording mixer Gary Summers.

PRO SOUND NEWS PT.4: Interview with sound soups Ethan Van Der Ryn and Erik Aadahl.

PRO SOUND NEWS PT.5: Interview with sound effects re-recording mixer Greg Russell.

SCORING SESSIONS.COM: Great pictures documenting the Sony Stage's scoring session, (thanks Dan!)

VIDEO INTERVIEW: TETRO

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:51:00 +0000

What it must be like on the sound crew for a film like "Tetro". I'd be nervous as hell to go and mix with Walter Murch then again I'm not re-recording mixer Pete Horner who chalks up this film as his second with Walter. In the following colemanfilm produced interview, Horner does a great job detailing what they tried to accomplish in the new Coppola film.

"Tetro" Sound for Film Profile from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

VIDEO: THE SOUNDMEN

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:51:00 +0000

Couldn't resist posting this 1950 documentary short TCM has been airing. Simply called "The Soundmen" it documents the trip sound took from production to print back in the day. I love that last quote from the dapper looking production mixer.

"The talking motion picture of today has brought to the screen new heights of expression, and we the sound men will continue to perfect our medium in an effort to bring better entertainment to you."

UP

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:19:00 +0000

Pixar's "Up" was the first ever animated film to open the Cannes Film Festival. Though screened out of competition I believe it could have easily won the Palme d'Or. The film mixed up at Skywalker Sound with Michael Semanick and Tom Myers on dialog/music and effects respectively. Myers also shared sound supervising credit with Michael Silvers and the pair both worked on director Pete Docter's previous feature, "Monsters, Inc." Riding along with Pixar since 1995's "Toy Story", original dialog mixer Doc Kane shot the film's actors on his ADR stage located at Disney's Burbank lot. Coffey Sound, a rental house in Los Angeles interviewed the man last year for the Summer edition of their quarterly magazine, "The Coffey Audio Files". "Up" marked the first film Michael Giacchino composed without Brad Bird directing, Giacchino scored Bird's last two films "Ratatouille" and "The Incredibles."

UPDATE: A local Bay Area newspaper reports on the use of police dogs for the sound in "Up"

I wanted to thank foley artists Jana Vance and Dennie Thorpe for the following Q and A.

FSD: In terms of cues that the Foley supervisor delivers to the stage, what info is important and helpful for you guys, and what can be left out?

DT: We appreciate all the descriptions we can get. For instance:
• "We'd really like this character's shoe to have a squeak.”
• "We're going after a very hyper real feeling in this particular shot so please make sure every creak, squeak, texture and nuance is covered."
• "Please don't make the footsteps sound too tappy."
• "Production sound was great here so we don't need you to do these particular sounds."
• "The director really wants this surface to have a deep, heavy sound as well as to play up the texture that is visible."
• "This creature weighs about 400 pounds--make it heavy, but please also make sure we hear the grit and we want it to sound SCARY.”

Those are just a few examples but that's the kind of information that help us create a character's personality and help us to establish the mood of each scene, what elements to play up in the environment, and what elements to play down.

FSD: Do you ever have to present "proofs" to sound supervisors for specific sounds?

DT: We definitely present specific sounds or "proofs" for the supervisors and designers to listen to. We generally give them a choice of about four to six different versions. They will NOT know what we used to create the sound or which artist performed it to make sure it's completely objective and they can concentrate only on the sound. It's uncanny how often they pick our favorites!

FSD: There are a lot of dogs in "Up"; How did you create their footsteps? Did you shoot feet for the dog stampede?

DT: I did Dug, Rotty and the bulldog. The information was that Dug should have NO nails and be friendly and have a soft, padded sound. Rotty and the bulldog could have nails. They weren't supposed to be as friendly--they were supposed to be more menacing. Their body language also creates their emotional qualities and we support that sonically. We did shoot feet for the dog stampede. We shoot those kinds of scenes working together in a format where we concentrate on the left side of the screen, then the center and then the right. Depending on the shot, we will definitely also concentrate on close, medium and far.

FSD: What type of movement or prop usage is the most challenging to shoot? What is the most fun?

DT: Quiet sounds can be challenging. You really want to make sure all the details are distinguishable and correct. They're often scenes where maybe nothing else is going on and it might be Foley that's carrying most of it. I like doing hi-tech scenes where someone might be taking something apart very carefully or assembling an intricate mechanism and there are little teeny creaks and slides of components, parts turning, odd scrapes and nervous, twitchy sounds.

Two of the fun things for me, mostly after they're completed, are gooey, squishy, slimy sounds--they just sound fun even though they make a big mess--and big crashes. The crashes can be very exhilarating.

JV: I think body falls are the hardest. Trying to cheat the weight and boniness of a human body takes a few tries and is physically straining; particularly if there are many to do!

FSD: An important trait Foley artist is one who knows how to use his or her instruments of sound creatively. In "Up", what are a few examples of creative prop usage? (Where the audience would never guess what made the sounds…)

DT: One thing that comes to mind [in terms of creative prop usuage] is Carl's cane. Sometimes you have to break down a sound since you don't have the actual prop, particularly if it's an animation! I held three tennis balls in one hand and a device for a car roof rack in the other. The tennis balls would hit the surface Carl placed the cane on and the roof rack device was the "movement". Then I used an aluminum walking stick to add to the impact sound on another track; Then a third track for handling. This is very helpful to the mixer because then they're allowed the freedom to emphasize or de-emphasize the different components a particular sound--in this case the cane. I was very happy to hear the cane almost everywhere Carl used it!

Another example was a toy lawnmower I used as part of the leaf blowing machine Carl used at the beginning of the movie by his mail box.

JV: The effects crew had procured an actual weather balloon somewhere and had passed it on to Foley thinking we might use it for the footsteps and body movements on the Zeppelin. Instead, the giant balloon became a great prop! It became one of the sound components, for the multiple, balloon-string vibrations in the fireplace. It also helped “launch” the tent over the canyon when Russell is trying too hard to put it together. One of the Zeppelin surfaces is a painter’s canvas.

FSD: Though Pixar films have had different directors and sound supervisors over the years, their Foley artist has remained the same. With that long of a relationship under your belt, what are some sounds you know Pixar likes to hear in their mixes and what are the sounds you know to avoid?

DT: I've been fortunate to work on every Pixar feature. The quality of their work is inspirational because they devote attention and care to every aspect of every single project they get involved with. They want you to dig deep and create a texturally sonic world for their characters to live in. They allow for R&D to make sure everyone involved in the film, i.e., the director, producer, supervisors and designers love the sounds being created. That kind of creative environment only brings out the best in people. There really aren't any particular sounds to avoid--it's a matter of making sure all the sounds are appropriate to the entire feel of the project.

FSD: What is one of your favorite props? How often have you used it in your films?

DT: Some just get used more than others depending on the need. I've found that props are everything in creating good sound effects. I have a collection I've been adding to over the years. There are some I won't loan out or let anyone else use when I'm not there because if they get damaged in any way they're irreplaceable. All Foley artists have their treasures and they don't always have a name or a clear use and they almost never look pretty, but they always make good sounds whenever you need them to.

JV: It only becomes a favorite prop if it works! I try to vary my props as much as I can for each movie. I think my favorite prop is my couch which holds me up every night after a day on the stage!

As an added bonus, here is a video about some of Dennie's work on a little known dinosaur film from 1993.

CONAN DOES FOLEY

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:08:00 +0000

Another timely video(Q and A with the "UP" Foley artists on deck, should be up next week). Relocated to Los Angeles, Conan O'Brian takes us on a tour of one of the Universal lot's Foley Stages. Dean Minnerly is our guide.

UPDATE: I got word that non-United States vistors can't view Hulu.com videos so I reposted this direct from NBC.com. Sorry about that guys.

and part 2

VIDEO INTERVIEW: UP

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:55:00 +0000

As another year goes by Pixar again gets me excited to go the movies and conveniently, Michael Coleman posts another video interview. Sound designer and re-recording mixer Tom Myers and re-recording mixer Michael Semanick discuss their work on "Up" this time around. Stay tuned next week for my Q and A with the foley artists from the film.

STAR TREK

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Tue, 26 May 2009 02:16:00 +0000

On May 8th J.J. Abrams boldly went where 10 men have gone before by directing a Star Trek film. In his reboot of the waning franchise, Abrams re-recruited a lot of sound folk he used on his past feature efforts. "Star Trek" dubbed at Fox Studios crediting four re-recording mixers with their services, Paul Massey and Andy Nelson on dialog/music with Dave Giammarco and Anna Behlmer heading up the sound effects. One can only imagine with the amount of films the two teams mix that work had to be divided up at some point to accommodate Trek's expanded schedule. Sound supervision, which included the oversight of eight sound designers was handled by Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin from Soundelux. Production mixer Peter Devlin handled the location sound, shooting all over socal including the Budweiser plant in Van Nuys. Michael Giacchino served as composer tracking the score at Sony's Culver City stage. Dan from Scoringsessions.com has a great set of photos from the sessions, HERE.

FSD: Early in the film, Captain Pike's fight halting whistle nods to a trademark sound(intercom alert) harking back to the original series. Were there other sounds familiar to fans that had nontraditional roles in the film? How were other recognized sound effects(on the bridge, beaming, phasers, etc.) updated for this Star Trek?

MS: First off, I would like to make sure that the mixers on this film get the immense amount of credit they deserve in creating this soundtrack. Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson, Paul Massey, Dave Giammarco and Jim Bolt. It was an amazing effort to mix this film and deal with all the material and logistics along with presenting a point of view and ideas that helped make it the track that it is.Before the film even started shooting Alan Rankin sent me a link to a “Star Trek” fan website where somebody asked if “they” (us) were going to use the sounds of the door from the original series. Based on that comment, even before talking to JJ, it was pretty evident that we would have a devoted fan base to please. Having grown up with the original series, I was a fan of those iconic sounds myself but knew we needed to not only modernize them but make sure they were representative of the sounds that have been part of the franchise ever since the beginning. Pike’s boatswain whistle is just an example of our idea to sneak in nautical references every chance we got. Other sounds were basically inspired by what JJ had done with the visuals - either “Star Trek” staples - (buttons, communicators, and tribbles– anything with previous history) or sounds where the visuals changed (hand phasers, The Enterprise, transporters, the look of the bridge, etc). More often than not, classic sounds were made fresh and modernized for fidelity and detail. Care was taken to maintain that 60’s analogue feel that made them so familiar. Some things did change. In the original series the hand phasers acted like a ray gun that shot out a continuous beam and in this Star Trek they recoiled like a firearm. Harry Cohen made tonal sounds with a concussive element that served what the phaser was doing along with adding a version of that neo classical space phone-like element that Ben Burtt provided to give the phaser roots in the franchise along with adapting it for the current film. If you listen to TOS’ (The Original Series) sounds you can get a good idea what was used to create some of those sounds and so we would make button pushes and electronics out of bird calls, phone rings, animals screams or comedy effects as the originals were. These sounds “felt” the same yet had their own individual characteristics. The transporter was challenging because we all wanted it to have characteristics of the original musical sound yet modernize it as well. The visual fx of the transporter kept changing from the classic beam to a crystallization effect and finally the swirling light rings. Ann Scibelli created sounds specifically for each version as the visuals changed. The end result visually, was a combination of the swirl of light and the vertical light beam (as it was in the original series). We essentially blended the sounds of both visual styles into the sound of the transporter. One very important aspect of the sound for “Star Trek” was the human aspect. We felt it was very important that the interior of the Enterprise, though high tech, had to have a human element throughout. To that end we spent quite a bit of time with group ADR to achieve the constant hum of “business as usual” throughout the film. We also really wanted to have both the Vulcan and Romulian language spoken where possible. Romulian was the sole background language in the Narada and we were even able to use a Vulcan choir transitioning to the Amanda and Spock scene.

FSD: Scenes like the space dive seemed to convey either Abram's competency with sound direction and or trust in the ability of his sound crew. What was Abrams like to work with in regards to sound?

MS: JJ is great to work with because he is in tune with what sound can do to help tell the story along with the visceral experience sound can offer such as this one. He is also aware of the software we use and how it works to manipulate and create sounds. In the space jump JJ wanted the characters to be ejected out into silent space (at one point the concept was to play space in the entire film as silent) and then re- enter the atmosphere, building up sound as we went. We broke down the physics of what might actually take place. In re-entry an object would want to skip off the earths’ atmosphere or at least try to fight to break through. JJ's direction with sound was very descriptive as they enter the atmosphere. He wanted the sound to convey a ripping through re-entry that builds as our characters enter the atmosphere. There are many other contributing factors in the space jump that make it an exciting sequence and highlight the collaborative effort. Ben Burtt added tracking sonars and wind velocity sounds. Ann Scibelli created all the rippling/tearing re-entry sounds and the sonic boom that thrusts our character into earth’s atmosphere and Kerry Williams worked with the actors to perform the labored breathing through their masks, plus the foley team of Tom Small, Sarah Monet, Randy Singer and Robin Harlan made unique clothing and parachutes sounds for each of the three actors to make each cut unique and different. JJ’s ideas and suggestions along with everybody’s collaboration really helped make this a very unique sequence.

FSD: While in space, it seems easier to establish the "star-date" with futuristic and otherworldly visuals. Back on earth where the audience relates easier to what's on screen, what did you and your team do to make it sound like the future?

MS: Actually, to create more contrast with what the film would sound like in space we only concentrated on making the sounds of motion, electronics and machinery on earth futuristic and left everything else as normal as possible.

FSD: Sitting through the credits it seemed like a very collaborative sound editorial process. In addition to all the other great sound designers on the film, what was Ben Burtt responsible for on the film? What in the mind meld sequence was done by Mangini and Binder?

MS: When Alan and I first started making sounds and planning “Star Trek” we always thought that as the demand for the delivery of sound design and sound effects intensive scenes escalated, it would be great to bring on various sound designers to help us on specific design intensive tasks. Little did we know!!!!!...besides Alan and myself, the primary sound effects team was Ann Scibelli and Tim Walston. Additionally, Harry Cohen, Scott Gershin, Ben Wilkins and David Barbee spent time on the film as well. Ben Burtt came to the film after the visual fx and picture cut were finished to lend an ear and create sounds for certain sequences that were not yet finished at the culmination of our first mix. Mark Mangini and Mark Binder came on to design the “Mind Meld” sequence where Spock mind melds with Kirk in the cave on Ruhra Penthe.

FSD: It's been said "in space no one can hear you scream" though in most films you can hear everything else. What rules were established for what the audience would hear in space? Did those rules differ scene to scene?

MS: As mentioned above, there was a concept floated at one point that we would not hear sound in space but after experimenting with an early cut of the Kelvin attack we realized that this was not very interesting in a dynamic sequence like that, (filtering, muting, etc.). However, that idea could come into play in some unexpected moments such as the crew member being ejected through the Kelvin or at the beginning of the space jump. Other than that the only rule was to serve the story while being dramatic and dynamic.

FSD: What was your first gig like?

MS: My first gig was working as a runner with Bob Rutledge on a TV movie “The Scarlet and The Black”. He asked me to go to the ADR stage (loops at that time) and record some actor who just came in from Italy for two additional lines. I knew nothing of what to expect and was just supposed to walk away with the ADR recordings. In walks this dashing guy with two beautiful gals hanging all over him and all three of them gave me (this stranger to them) a hug and a kiss on each cheek. It was definitely my “Toto we’re not in Kansas anymore” moment!

CRANK 2: HIGH VOLTAGE

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Thu, 14 May 2009 02:07:00 +0000

What do a grip of prosumer HD cameras, a high voltage film star, and a greenlight to follow up a successful action film have in common? They all converged to produce, “Crank 2: High Voltage” which quickened audience's heart rate's April 17th. Re-recording mixers Joe Dzuban and Bob Beemer set up shop at Todd-AO's Hollywood local while Sounddelux's Scott Martin Gershin served as supervising sound editor. With greater Los Angeles as its backdrop, “Crank 2's” location sound was mixed by Robert Sharman the only sound department carry over from the first film. Going in a bold new direction, directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor tapped Hard Rock Avant-garde musician Mike Patton to score the film who comments on his work in the video below.

I wanted to thank production mixer Robert Sharman for putting up with my work schedule and still delivering this great Q and A.

FSD: This month's American Cinematographer quoted your DP Brandon Trost with prepping sometimes 100 set-ups a day, “There was an improvisational vibe on the set,” Taylor enthuses. How did this translate to your job? What was one of the most challenging set ups?

RS: Getting quality sound with no rehearsals and three cameras pointing in every direction at any time was a real challenge. More than 90% of the time I was unable to see what was happening. We had no video wired or transmitted from the cameras, and due to the fact that most sets were 360 degrees., I was always blind to what the action was. This made mixing on set challenging, since part of the art of mixing is knowing what mics (combination of lavs and boom) to bring up on the mix and when. Seeing the physical relationship of where the actors and cameras are is very important when using such non-traditional shooting techniques. It’s especially important on an action movie where one actor might be doing some movement that creates noise on his lav, and using another nearby actor’s lav or boom might be better. I didn’t have this luxury.

I relied heavily on my boom operator, Rich Bullock, to communicate after each take what was happening in the scene, and how things were changing after each take. He was able to stay out of shots by hugging the back of the director/operators. Even at times when he was unable to boom a scene, he was there to communicate with me after takes, as well as being there to keep an eye on the actors’ wireless mics. It was a critical relationship, and I can’t thank him enough for his contribution.

I also had to rely on knowing that the dialog editors and mixers in post would be able to piece together my work. It was important to get them a production track with all levels and “perspective” equal for all takes regardless of changes in action or camera position. I used a multi-track recorder to keep all actors on their own isolated tracks so post could use my mix or create their own from the isolated tracks. Typically, on a traditional film, a production mixer likes to use a combination of techniques to match the perspective of sound to that of the camera. We feel the location and have an organic sense of each scene and of the film as a whole. I believe this really translates to a greater sense of reality for the audience, and I like to capture that on all of my production tracks. In this case, however, that was something I was comfortable foregoing in lieu of getting the highest percentage of usable dialog in a very short production schedule. Shooting a big action movie in 32 days is not easy!!

Almost every set up was challenging. We had VERY noisy locations and picture vehicles and stunt vehicles and police Harleys all the time. But probably the hardest set up to get usable sound was one of our only indoor locations, the strip club. Lots of guns and action and dialog in the same takes, and the location was mostly unboomable due to lighting and camera positions. We could not put lavs on Amy or Bai Ling due to “wardrobe restrictions”, and there was shoving between Jason and Corey. It was also day 2 of the schedule, so we were all still feeling things out.

FSD: With working on the first "Crank" was there anything you got an opportunity to fix and or avoid for the sequel?

RS: Every film is different, including each of the “Crank” movies. About the only advantage of having worked on the first “Crank”, was knowing to some degree what to expect from Neveldine/Taylor. The first “Crank” used only two cameras mostly and sometimes just one. The main cameras were either tethered to a monitor for HD purposes (more necessary a few years ago), or the large HD deck was strapped to Neveldine’s back, seriously slowing him down. It somehow seemed a little more “controlled” than the second one, but not in a filmmaking sense, just in a restrictive equipment sense. But I must confess, not having mixed the first one, my friend Steve Morrow might tell a different story from his perspective. Both films were very hard from a physical standpoint, but were so much fun to do, that I don’t remember any mental anguish in hindsight. To use a silly analogy, it’s much like why I suspect women have more than one child…they just don’t remember the pain part of the birth, only the joy.

FSD: "No one is more acutely aware of what a collaborative art filmmaking is than
a member of the sound department," stated Production mixer Mark Weingarten in Coffey Sound's latest newsletter. During production how did other departments collaborate with you? Were there any situations where you had to otherwise comprise your track to location, lighting, camera, catering, etc.?

RS: Typically Mark’s quote is very true, but “Crank: High Voltage” was not typical in any sense of the word. It was collaborative in that we all had to do our jobs to get the project done. It was not collaborative in the sense that we worked together, like a crew might do on a more traditional film. I don’t mean this in a bad way. We were a very close crew. We all got along. But we were there to bring to the screen what Mark and Brian decided to shoot that day, their vision. The crew on a film like this needs to rely on their own expertise, and we simply didn’t have the time to “plan” how to help each other. We all had to think on our feet and react to the constant change. There was constant compromise in every department, but we knew that “Crank” is more about the experience in the theater, and less about the small details. Mark and Brian used to joke that you can’t bring your ’A’ game to “Crank”, or you’ll just be in the way. The reality is that we just had to bring a different kind of ‘A’ game.

FSD: Sometimes in post we feel like we are victims of our own technology as in the faster and more efficient we work, the less time producers give us to do that work. Is that theory the same on set and how do you guys adapt to it?

RS: It’s exactly the same for production. Shooting schedules have become shorter. “Crank” and “Crank: High Voltage” were shot in 30 and 32 days. Editing styles have something to do with this. With less time per edit for the audience to “notice” things, the small details are forgotten. “Crank” is a feeling, a ride, pure fun. Details matter less.

While I wouldn’t say this about many films, sometimes sacrificing the details to get a movie made is completely worth it. The “Crank” movies ARE worth it.

FSD: How has the adoption of video in the past couple of years changed the way production mixers work? Did it affect you at all on this show?

RS: Using more cameras to shoot a scene is the greatest detriment to a quality sound track. The lower cost of video cameras makes using more cameras easy. And now, with file-based systems making recording media and media storage cheap, and being able to achieve a high quality image from prosumer cameras, multiple-camera shoots are the norm. Shooting wide and tight shots at the same time eliminates the use of techniques to match sound perspective to picture perspective. Cross coverage with multiple cameras limits traditional lighting techniques that make booming a scene possible. When you watch an older film, a wide shot might have an actor in the background talking and appropriately he sounds like he is where he is. These days, an “extra” camera on set might use a long lens to grab his close-up at the same time. A boom mic creates a much higher quality recording than a lav, but we are forced to compromise quality to accommodate shooting wide and tight coverage simultaneously. The audience these days has become used to the absence of perspective sound, so often we find no alliance in any department, including the director or producer. Often we must simply “get the words” without slowing down production. If we are able to get it right, then that’s a bonus. I try to get it right on EVERY project, so it can be very disheartening when I simply can’t. I must confess that when I am hired on a small movie shooting on film, and they can’t afford to shoot with two cameras, I get very excited. I may only be 40 years old, but I love old-school filmmaking.

FSD: What was your first gig like?

RS: I have bounced around a bit in terms of jobs in the films business. My very first film job was as Pauly Shore’s stand-in and assistant on “Encino Man”. As a kid just out of college, this was the greatest job ever. The sound mixer on that job, Robert Wald, is still a friend to this day. But I soon discovered I liked being a technician.

Eventually it came to be that I started mixing, and now feel I have finally found the job I love. It’s a perfect blend of technical knowledge and artistic contribution. And I get paid for it!

My first film or two as a mixer were “painful” to say the least. I have never seen the first one, for a number of reasons. The second one was a combination of some poor production sound and post-production sound. I felt I was ready, so I wasn’t nervous, but I definitely made mistakes. Part of it came from my lack of experience, and part of it came from the production not being able to afford for me to hire an experienced boom operator. Having experienced “guys” (women included) in my department makes the job easier and the quality of my sound better. From that point on, I have to say I am proud of my work in general, including that on “Crank: High Voltage”.

VIDEO INTERVIEW: THE SOLOIST

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:27:00 +0000

I finally found out who was behind all those great video interviews that Skywalker Sound and Mix magazine posted over the past year, Michael Coleman. Below is his newest addition, a profile of sound supervisor Chris Scarabosio's work on Joe Wright's new film, "The Soloist". You can watch any of Coleman Film's other sound centric videos HERE.

OBSERVE AND REPORT

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Giving audiences a peek at the day-to-day of Mall Cop Ronnie Barnhardt, "Observe and Report" opened in theaters April 10th. Sound supervisor and re-recording mixer Terry Rodman brought along re-recording mixer Steve Pederson for an old-fashioned mixing stake out on dub 12 at the WB lot. The newly redesigned stage is put through a "normal morning" of prep, HERE. Production sound for the film was handled by mixer Christof Gebert which was primarily shot at Albuquerque's lovely Winrock Mall. Loyal to the crew of his first film "Foot Fist Way" and HBO's comedy series "Eastbound and Down", Jody Hill tapped musician and friend Joseph Stephens to write the score. The rock oriented soundtrack was recorded at Fidelitorium Recordings in Kernersville, NC.

I wanted to thank Composer Joseph Stephens for taking time out to do the following Q and A.

Pictured below are Joseph Stephens(left) and scoring engineer Bob Engel(right).

FSD: Director Jody Hill talked about particular 1970's films ("Taxi Driver" and "Shampoo") influencing "Observe and Report;” Did they influence the score too?

No. “Taxi Driver” music was never referenced...or any other film for that matter. Our score is very loud, very in your face. Ronnie, the main character, has a lot of pent up aggression and we wanted the music to be a bit of a window into that side of his personality; an aggressive foreshadowing, a turbulent insight into his internal struggles which is sort of the antithesis of “Taxi Driver”, which, musically, is very brooding, understated, and repetitive. Where “Taxi Driver” went for the narcotic lull of New York jazz, we went for the pounding drums, walls of feedback, and razor fuzz of punk and rock n' roll.

FSD: How did you discuss music with Jody? Did you converse in musical language?

JS: Jody Hill and I talked a lot about the music while the film was still shooting. Conceptually, we had a strong idea of where the score was going from a very early stage. While I don't think either one of us really spoke in musical language, we did have a clear understanding about each others musical ideas and tastes. When I described an abstract wall of interlocking, subverted guitars playing only feedback for Ronnie's arrest scene, he got the picture, just as his description of "The Kiss" (dictating hope; describing that ray of sunshine, that perfect moment which suspends and changes everything and doesn't seem to want to end) was succinct and very direct. The language of music is pretty universal and has no set guidelines when you know what you like and don't like and you can communicate your ideas clearly.

FSD: How hard was it to develop a theme for Ronnie? How did it have to change over the course of the film?

JS: Ronnie's main theme occurs at two distinct points in the film. Both points center around his honesty and innocence. The first is at a psychological interview. He tells about his dream of becoming a cop. We wanted the scene to sound sweet and honest and we wanted the audience to get on board with Ronnie's perception of his place in the world, despite what a sociopath he sounds like in reality. The second time we hear this theme is when Ronnie goes to the police station for his first day on the job. The same theme has an uplifting, driving, and “things are finally changing for the better" feel. Here we need the audience to, once again, get behind Ronnie and pull for him. He seems so happy and proud of himself in both scenes.

It actually wasn't that hard to develop. The "First Day on the Job" cue was one of the first pieces written for the film. It was actually submitted as a temp idea with the vocal melody as a place holder for another instrument to be added later. However, the vocal had a certain feel and hook that paved the way for many of the other cues and ultimately lead to the overall feel of the score, (that feel being very melodically vocally driven). We wanted to explore that same Ronnie melody at different points with the psych interview being a logical place to revisit.

FSD: With "Observe and Report" using a lot commercial songs, how hard was it to make your cues blend in?

JS: Not that hard. This score sounds like it was performed by a band. I used instruments that are traditionally found in rock n' roll music; guitar, vocals, drums, bass, keys, etc. Much of the score was recorded and mixed at Mitch Easter's studio, Fidelitorium, which is primarily known for recording bands, not film scores.

There are also a couple "fake songs" in the film; Songs that I wrote and performed exclusively for the film but are meant to sound like pre-existing material from some other artist who licensed the music for use in the film in the same manner that Patto, The Yardbirds, and The Band licensed their music.

There is also the cover of the song "Where Is My Mind?" which was performed by one of my bands; City Wolf. As well, as the end credit song "Babyteeth" by my main band Pyramid.

With me singing "fake songs", cover songs, and an original song; using the same drummer, recorded at the same studio as the score, it was easy to blend into the other licensed commercial songs throughout the film.

FSD: Did this film have a temp score and if so how did that affect the composition process?

JS: We did use temp score here and there. When I saw the first cut I knew I had to get in there fast because they were editing to temp, interchanging temp, becoming attached to temp, etc. I must say that I'm not a fan of "temp love." Some of the temp worked really well but some didn't. After I saw the cut I insisted I get a copy and get to work. The director and editor are close friends of mine so I got involved much earlier than traditional composers. Also, this being my first job with a major studio, I wanted as much time as I could get to work on this. I got home and started sending two or three cues a day, basically facilitating my own temp score. I threw as many ideas at them as I could; trying to get the temp out of picture so they would start editing to my music and become attached to original score. The temp that did remain served as a guideline. I didn't particularly like following these guidelines but when the temp is working well it can be very useful...and sometimes hard to fight.

FSD: Having also composed for HBO's “Eastbound and Down”, in what ways did your approach to writing differ covering a feature verses a 30min episode?

JS: We were on a tighter deadline with television. There were six episodes that each had different time frames. So I moved much faster. I recorded everything for “Eastbound and Down” from my home - strictly "out of the box." The instrumentation was different. I used mandolin, accordion, lots of synths, and female vocals. There was also a significantly smaller budget so renting a professional studio was not economical. Granted the cues were less grandiose so a studio wasn't really needed but this certainly affected my approach. I had to pay closer attention to my mixes because I didn't have a sound engineer or $15,000 monitors to fall back on.

In terms of difference in approach, the “Observe and Report” score was very guttural and raw; Lots of vocal passes and loud guitars, the writing was very traditional and basic, and at times more loose in large part because the score has that rock n' roll feel. There were a lot of happy accidents. The pulse and instrumentation is very familiar and accessible. I think that comes somewhat naturally to me. Same with the TV show, though with “Eastbound and Down” the music went with jokes a little more, although some were quite serious in tone. “EB&D” cues were also shorter.

There were a couple cues on “O&R” that were massive. One had something like 150 drum tracks. Also some cues took a few passes before we got it right. With “O&R” I worked hand in hand with a music editor who helped tremendously in keeping me up to date as the picture cut changed and editing cues as needed. I couldn't have done it without him. I did not work as closely with the music editor on “EB&D” though she was also great.

FSD: How does composing music for a film differ from writing music for a band? What do you like more?

JS: The ultimate difference is that writing music for a band is essentially writing music for you. You are your own judge. What works and what doesn't is not up to anyone other than you. When you're happy; when you can say "This song sounds perfect to me"...that's it. You're done...next song. Certainly you want to push yourself and strive for excellence, but other than band mates, you don't have that many people looking over your shoulder or waiting, sometimes impatiently, for the product. With film scoring, everything passes through a variety of stages of approval. It's sort of like putting the music under a microscope. "The director loves it but the producer doesn't think it works." It gets a bit dissected and whittled down...in a good way. When you're scoring something, you’re making music for someone and something else so you can't cling to things. It's all subject to the approval of others. You have to work together and you have to roll with the punches.

There's also the obvious difference of using pictures. Scoring works in tandem with action on screen, dialogue, editing, sound effects, etc. In many ways, these elements do a lot of thinking and decision making for you. Cues have to be of certain length and tone. It has to interplay with a lot of factors that are out of your control. You have to listen for room to move and watch for interference.

I haven't worked enough as a composer to know whether I like it more than writing music for myself. Composing can be very stressful, but it has big rewards. There is truly nothing like hearing your music up on the big screen. It's very unique. However, writing for a band comes from and is channeled back directly into your heart so it's hard to compete with that. I’m very lucky to be in the position to do both.

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:14:00 +0000

"Monster's vs. Aliens" went to war in theaters March 27th. Though, on screen Dreamworks Animation introduced audiences to a new cast of characters, behind the scenes boasted a familiar band of sound craftsmen. Following their work on last year's "Kung Fu Panda", re-recording mixers and Dreamworks Animation darlings Andy Nelson and Anna Behlmer once again rolled their chairs up to the Neve DFC console on the Howard Hawks stage at fox to go to work. Arriving to the stage with edited sounds in hand were supervisors Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl(also "Kung Fu Panda" carry-overs). Original dialog recording was handled by multiple mixers including Michael Miller and Roy Latham. Disney Studio's Doc Kane had this to say about the important role he and other original dialog mixers have in the animation process back in November 2006 Mix Magazine.

ON DOING ADR FOR ANIMATED FEATURES
Doc Kane: "It's actually harder for the actors because it's done so far in advance and they're not working to picture. Usually, they're just handed a sketch of what the character's going to look like. The animation directors can give them their thoughts on where they think the character is going, but they still have to come up with their own original ideas and voice, and I don't know how they do it.
"From our standpoint, with animated films we don't have to worry about matching [production tracks], so we can use the mics we want. Normally, it stays to two microphones: a U87 and the Neumann TLM 170. If we get a little too esoteric and they end up having to grab the actor in Jamaica or some little funky town in the Midwest, 99 percent of the time they're going to have a U87."

Another product of Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Studios, Henry Jackman got his first full fledged composer credit on the film. I wanted to thank sound designer and Erik Aadahl(pictured below with his beloved Neumann 191 and along side the bugle wielding sound supervisor Ethan Van der Ryn ) for taking time out of his busy schedule for the following Q and A.

FSD: When asked about his work on "Ratatouille" Randy Thom dubbed the term "rat (point of view)" in which sounds were exaggerated to accentuate the size of the main character in relation to his surroundings. In "MvA" you have characters that are much larger than they're surroundings; How was sound used to emphasize their size?

EA: Sound is a great tool for conveying size, weight and dimension. Ginormica is nearly fifty feet tall. Her footsteps needed weight and power, yet because of the elegance of her movements the sounds still needed to seem athletic and agile. We did not want her to sound like clumsy ol' Godzilla when she walked (we'd save that for Insectosaurus). One of our editors, John Marquis figured out what a giant rubber sneaker would actually sound like, which became her motif throughout the movie.
There's a fun scene in the beginning of the film where Ginormica wakes up in monster prison. Though she is enormous, we decided to play her a lot smaller for the sequence, making her more vulnerable and apprehensive. To shrink her sonically we featured the vast reverberant metal cavern she wanders into, playing up the massive heavy metal mechanics of the hatches she passes through to get deeper into the facility.

Insectosaurus dwarfs even Ginormica, so his movements and vocals needed to feel the biggest. When recording sounds for the show, we unintentionally overloaded some takes of a hand slamming against an old television set. When slowed, they sounded huge and explosive, like somebody dropping a giant boulder that reminded me of the delicious fat sound of analog tape saturation. That accident gave birth to Insecto's footsteps.

Galaxar's giant alien robot was the biggest character of all. There's a fun scene where we can hear him stomping around Market Street in downtown San Francisco, his footsteps and motors reverberating around the city streets. Sometimes to get the biggest sounds, one needs to closely record small sounds. That was the case with our giant robot, whose feet are washer/dryer door slams, slowed down and bass enhanced. The animators gave us a great little opportunity in that sequence, visually featuring the vibrating glass of skyscraper windows. Adding the small sound of rattling glass helped sell the size of our distant giant enemy as much as his big concussive feet.

Contrasted to those three, the rest of our characters were all based on small sounds. Dr. Cockroach's antenna clicks are from a wristwatch. Much of B.O.B. was pudding in effects editor P.K. Hooker's mouth. In fact, P.K. did a little too much recording and got himself ill. And Link was wet flipper flaps performed by maestro foley artist Dan O'Connell.

FSD: Though fantastical in its own right, working on "Transformers" had you cutting real-life military weaponry and vehicles. In "MvA" was there direction on adding a comedic or "animated" flair to the military based battles? Were there any other real-world objects in the film where you enjoyed using a little comedic license?

EA: “Transformers” and “Monsters vs. Aliens” both feature robots and hi-tech science fiction-type technology. But we made a very conscious effort to keep the sonic universes separate, so “MvA” had its own unique sound that was distinct.

We took a lot of license in “MvA's” military scenes, trying to balance the intensity of the action with comedic sounds. We had to remind ourselves that the movie needed to be kid-friendly and not too intense for young ears. This meant playing up musical and humorous sounds. For rockets we featured musical piccolo pete whistles. For bullets hitting the enemy robot we featured bloopy force field zaps. Comic moments like an off-screen sound of our robot swallowing bullets after the President yells, "Eat lead!" helped relieve some tension. We also cleared some space for music to help play up the comedy when musically referencing Close Encounters and E.T.

We also took license replacing real-world things with totally different sounds. The helicopters in Area 51 were designed using slicing whooshes from a studio badge on a string. We cut together each badge "slice" a thousand times in a quick rhythm to make their blade chops.

FSD: A good foley stage is essential for covering the most specific feet, props, and movement. How else was the stage on “MvA” utilized to create any source sounds or specific FX that were difficult to design in editorial alone?

EA: We always dedicate some time on the foley stage for recording wild effects. We shoot those at a sampling rate of 192 kHz, so we can take them back to the shop and manipulate them easily. Foley Artist Dan O'Connell is very quick and creative, and we played around and experimented and came up with concepts fairly quickly. We recorded sounds for the basic food-groups in the movie: monster sounds (goop for B.O.B., wet flipper flops and slaps for Link, segmented arthropod joint moves for Cockroach, fur and claw snaps for Insectosaurus), mechanical sounds (metal slides for the big industrial prison doors, air releases for the hatches, ratchets and gears for the giant robot motors), and cartoon sounds (toilet plungers, whoopee cushions, silly vocals to play up the whimsy whenever possible).

One of my favorite wild foley sounds was for the evil alien villain Galaxar; we were experimenting with his octopus-like tentacle sounds, recording wet rubber slaps and rag squishes and getting some cool stuff. But it wasn't until later, when we were making silly mouth popping noises when it dawned on us to use them for Galaxar. In the edit room, we lined up hundreds of those little lip pops into cascades and they became his footsteps. I get a giggle whenever I hear those sounds, which is a good indication they're working.

FSD: Since I've already asked what your first gig was like, I'd like to know when you started out as an editor what was the first sound you cut that you were really proud of?

EA: When I first started out, I sound effects edited hundreds of hours of television, which I consider the best training I could have gotten for this job. One of the first miniseries I ever did was "Dune" for Sci-fi channel. There's a fun scene with a deadly "hunter seeker", an assassination device that locks onto motion and sound to kill its victims. The scene was so quiet and tense, that the sounds of the hunter seeker needed to be very subtle and menacing. The first sound I cut that I remember being proud of was the idling power whine of that little device. It didn't dawn on me until years later that a camera flash whine is one of the most overused sounds in the business!

WATCHMEN

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:44:00 +0000

It was ambitious adapting "Watchmen", the most celebrated graphic novel of all time for the screen. Fortunately, Director Zach Snyder wanted to be as faithful to the source as to his film crew hiring many of the same sound folk he had on his previous hit, "300". Mixed at Universal studios in the Hitchcock Theater, re-recording mixers Chris Jenkins and Frank A. Montaño handled dialog, music and effects respectively while supervisor Scott Hecker along with his crew of sound designers, Jeremy Peirson, and Eric Norris all helped to change comic book Onomatopoeia into a cohesive soundtrack. Answering the call for production sound, mixer Michael McGee arrived on set which, among others included Canadian Motion Picture Park Studios where the bulk of the city pieces were constructed. Composer Tyler Bates scored the film, tracking at the Eastwood Scoring Stage on the Warner Bros. lot and Dan Goldwasser of scoringsessions.com provides another collection of great photos from those sessions, HERE. I wanted to thank sound supervisor Scott Hecker for the following Q and A.

FSD: How was Rorschach's dialog handled? How much of it was production? How did you guys match Jackie Earle Haley's masked performance on the ADR stage?

SH: Rorschach’s character and his dialogue were very important to the storytelling of the film as his voice over revealed the storyline with his regular entries into his diary. His voice is very low, gruff and gravely, sometimes muttering under his breath, so our dialogue mixer Chris Jenkins had his job cut out for him to make sure that all of his dialogue was as intelligible as possible. Jackie Earle Haley’s performance was amazing so every effort was put into keeping the ADR to a minimum. If a few words in a sentence were muddled, our film editor Bill Hoy and our dialogue editor Denise Horta would go out of their way to find alternate production readings, or sometimes even a single alternate production word in order to maintain as much of the original performance as possible. Only a few lines here and there were ADR when intelligibility was an issue, and most of the voice over was done on the ADR stage as Zack and Bill worked through the picture editing process to maximize the storytelling. Jackie matched his performance on the ADR stage without the mask on, to keep the lines as clean as possible, leaving Chris Jenkins the task of matching the ADR to his surrounding production lines using various amounts of volume, equalization and reverb.

FSD: Did Zach have any direction for how the sound effects were to define the 80's or at least help convey the tension brought on by the Cold War? Are there any era specific sounds in the film?

SH: As far as direction goes, Zack definitely knows what he likes and doesn’t like but the best part about working with him is that at the beginning of the process at least, he pretty much leaves you to your own devices to create the various sounds for the film. I think he’s smart in that way so that what comes out of you creatively is based on your own initial instincts without immediately having to stretch to interpret and articulate someone else’s ideas. If he initially started telling you all of his ideas of what he thought everything should sound like, he would run the risk of possibly never getting to hear what you thought it should sound like. With his approach he frees everyone to be creative and contribute in a unique way and if along the way he feels that a sound isn’t quite what he had in mind or just doesn’t care for it, he can at that point infuse his sensibilities as to what he’d like to hear from event to event. Don’t get me wrong, we definitely run through the film before we start on the film and talk in generalities about things with an opportunity to ask him questions about things that may be unclear or discuss what certain visual effects are going to look like so that we can start thinking about what they might sound like. This particular film was complicated in the sense that the story is voluminous, with many characters, locations, and set pieces and you definitely want to retain the integrity of the original graphic novel.
There were no specific sounds in the movie that I can think of that helped convey the tension brought on by the Cold War. The only tension relating to the subject of the Cold War was induced by the dialogue in the related scenes such as "The Mc Laughlin Group TV" show showing the “doomsday clock”, scenes with Nixon and Kissinger plotting their next moves while watching the movement of the Soviets, and various scenes where our main characters are discussing the impending doom and wondering if Dr. Manhattan could save the world.
As far as period sounds go, we always are sensitive to covering the various sound effects in a film with the most accurate sounds as they pertain to whatever period we are working in. Obviously, we were accurate with our car and truck sounds, as well as the police sirens in the distance. In one scene we used early electronic 80’s style Merlin office phones in Adrian Veidt’s corporate offices as well as older OS 9 Apple computer sounds in the scene where Nite Owl and Rorschach are going through his files to find secret info. But really our main focus wasn’t on the various “period” sounds, as we were encumbered by more challenging considerations like trying to figure out how to keep the fight sounds as interesting and varied as possible throughout, as there were many fights in the film that we didn’t want to sound repetitious; Other challenges: Aside from the effectiveness of the score, what kinds of sounds should emanate from Dr. Manhattan to help convey his emotions throughout the film (a confused and sensitive man trapped in a God like omniscient presence )? What was the Owl ship going to sound like? What does a glass palace with moving parts sound like on Mars? What does Dr. Manhattan’s energy signature sound like as it destroys New York? What does an object or person being teleported sound like? Dan’s apocalyptic dream needed to be very dark and surreal and the list goes on…How many sound editors/ designers get to have this much fun on a film as dense and full of opportunities as this film was?

FSD: One of my favorite sequences in the film was the opening credits. Aside from a fitting song and its ability to set tone I really enjoyed the type of stings, explosions, and weapon sounds that poked through. Were these sounds built to accompany the song so well or did it take some experimentation during the mix to find the right balance and or consistency?

SH: An opening title sequence as stylized and elegant as this one was, needed little if any additional sound design especially with Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin” as a relevant thread. But Zack asked us to come up with some cool sounds for each of the shots that would blend well with the visuals and the music.
I worked with Eric Norris, my partner in sound for the last 11 years, to come up with some diffused wind gusts and soft, billowy whooshes for the fade in and fade outs of each of the shots. Many of the shots had camera flashes in them so we came up with a variety of reverberant, stylized camera flash sounds to use. We also incorporated some slowed and pitched gun shots and explosions for the shots that called for them, along with a variety of a few other sounds that meshed well with the music. Frankie Montano, our sound effects mixer did a great job of tastefully lacing the sounds unobtrusively into the fabric of the visuals and song.

FSD: After "300", I'm sure you guys were prepared for the amount of speed ramping and slow-mo in this Zach Snyder film. Watching some scenes you could almost imagine Zach acting out the sound through onomatopoeia. How do you guys approach these sequences and how specific was Zach in his direction of how they should play?

SH: Although “Watchmen” has less camera speed ramping and slow motion than “300”, Zack still presented quite a few great opportunities to have fun with our sound design. Again, Zack let’s his visuals tell us how to use sound to make these transitions in and out of slow motion. He creates the opportunities depending on how fast or slow the ramp is and what in the composition of the shot lends itself to some interesting sound design.
Using whooshes to sonically cover speed ramps can quickly become quite cliché especially if they are used too often or come from familiar sound effects libraries. With that being said, we were very sensitive about only using whooshes when we absolutely had to and when we did, we made sure to come up with some new and interesting flavors of them. But most of the time we concentrated on using sounds related to the scenes with slow motion to sonically sell the various speed ramps.
One example is in the opening scene when the Comedian gets thrown through the plate glass window. Initially he crashes through the window with the sound of a huge real time window crash and as the camera slows down, we transition into some dreamy, tinkling and chiming glass debris sounds as the shards of glass are suspended and floating through the air. Then we come right back into real time speed with the glass shards smashing against the sidewalk where he has fallen to his death.
In another scene, Dr. Manhattan is flashing back to one of his first dates with Janey Slater at a carnival. As we are listening to his voiceover, we see them in slow motion laughing together and as we transition out of the slow motion and into the actual scene of them at the carnival, Zack used a speed ramp to get us back to real time. To help sell that transition, during the slow motion, we hear a reversed and reverberant carnival bell eerily ringing in and getting louder and turning into a real time carnival bell ring as the camera ramped back into real time with the characters dialogue at the carnival. Those are just a couple of examples of how we used the related sounds of a scene to help sonically articulate some camera speed ramps.

FSD: With so many "costumed adventurers" in the film, which of them had your favorite specific movement or Foley sounds?

I do have a couple of favorite moments in the film where the foley, performed predominately by my brother, Gary Hecker, actually spices up the soundtrack with some interesting flavors.
When Laurie’s mom, Sally Jupiter goes into a room to change out of her costume after a photo shoot, she starts undressing and Gary did a great job articulating all of the small intricate sounds relating to the various parts of her costume being unhooked, unlaced, and unsnapped, especially a really cool string lace that whips around her body and slices through the air before her costume falls to the floor…sexy sounds for a sexy super hero!
The Comedian’s costume has a very distinctive heavy leather creak that is part of his character as such a bad ass throughout the film.
The Nite Owl has a great cape sound that we hear fluttering in and past us very sharply as he is flying through the air from the Owl ship on his way to the prison riot, as well as when he jumps out of the Owl ship and lands with his arms outstretched at the street riot. I also really like the sound of the foley when the Nite Owl rips his mask and goggles off his face upon witnessing the death of his friend Rorschach.
And last but not least, one can’t argue with the sexy sound of Laurie’s form fitting latex costume either! The sound of this film relied heavily on a lot of varied and nuanced foley performances throughout.

FSD: As in any creative job in film I find that you succeed when the audience accepts your work as fact. One of my favorite examples of this is when the Comedian's smiley face pin wobbles to a stop on the street after he has been thrown out of his high rise apartment. Assuming getting the sound of that iconic item right was of utmost importance, what did it take to get the final sound we hear in the theater, (recording/brainstorming)? How did you know you had found the right sound to present to Zach?

SH: Oh, you had to touch on one of the more difficult sounds to come up with in the film! That close up of the smiley faced pin spinning on the sidewalk was 100% visual effects, as was the close up Persian coin spinning on the floor in “300”, and trying to get the right sound and at the same time stay in sync with that “spinning hub cap” - rhythm is a killer!
For our first temp mix, I asked Michael Lyle, a foley artist here at Universal Studios to perform this cue to what I thought looked like a final version of that visual effect. In order to have control of the sound, he took a big heavy metal coin between his fingers and circled around against the inside of a circular tin New Year’s eve noise maker with the top taken off to expose the ribbed bowl like surface. Many takes later we had the right recording for our foley editor Derek Pippert to work with. It worked really well for our previews and the only comment Zack made was that he would like it to sound a little heavier for the final, which I thought could be easily accomplished by pitching it down to create a sound with more weight.
Well, when they gave us a new picture version of that scene as we got close to the final mix, it looked like it was the same visual effect but when we played our sound against the new shot it was obvious that it was a completely new visual effect spinning in a completely different pace and rhythm!....back to the drawing board….
By this time we were doing our final foley with my brother Gary and I asked him to perform his own version of the spinning pin while behind the scenes we tried to salvage and resync our original version that I was happy with at that point. Well, it ended up working out great because he came up with a new version that not only had a different and interesting sound to it but it also sounded a bit heavier, per Zack’s request. To accomplish his version, Gary took a wooden pepper grinder with a metal crank and twisted it in rhythm against the bottom of the inside of a tin Sucrets box to create a sound with resonant weight! As good as Gary’s version was, we continued to add pieces of Michael’s original recording on top of Gary’s to accentuate the peaks of the spinning pin, which is what you now hear in the film. As someone I worked with long ago said, “Pain is temporary, film is forever!”

FSD: What was your first gig like?

After attending the University of Akron in Ohio, I came out to California in 1977. I started as a driver and apprentice for Bob Rutledge and his mom Evelyn, who had a small independent sound editorial company called Angel Editorial, (later known as Blue Light Sound), in a 3 bedroom house on Larchmont Blvd in Hollywood. Making $125 a week at 21 years of age, I felt like I had hit the jackpot! I was lucky because Bob, having worked on “Star Wars” and “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” took me under his wing and taught me almost everything I know about sound editing and design work. 32 years later, I am happy to be working at Universal Studios in my 7th year; a part of an amazing sound department put together by Chris Jenkins who I’ve had a working relationship since Michael Mann’s “Thief” in 1980…. I really love working in sound for film!

You can read more about Scott's work on "Watchmen", HERE!

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:42:00 +0000

A remake of Wes Craven's 1972 horror classic, "The Last House on the Left" hit theaters March 13th. The film was mixed at Widget Post in West Hollywood with Rick Ash and Gary Gegan at the helm. Sound editorial and design was handled by the LA based company "Fury and Grace" headed up by supervising sound editors Jon Johnson and Sandy Gendler. Production sound mixer Simon Rice nabbed dialog on set, which was located "left" of the Indian Ocean in Cape Town, South Africa. Composer John Murphy scored the film and also composed one of my favorite soundtracks of the past couple years on the Danny Boyle's "Sunshine".
I tapped dialog and ADR editor Miguel Rivera for this week's Q and A. I want to thank him for taking the time out to do it and hope you enjoy a steadier stream of weekly posts from here on out.

FSD: While what goes into your dialog tracks seems obvious, what material is cut out of them before they hit the stage?

MR: Any extraneous noises that are distracting to the ear; lip smacks, tongue clicks, stomach gurgles are big culprits. Also, off camera crew noises and camera dolly creaks. Depending on where the scenes were shot, any sound that is not relevant to the story is taken out if possible and those that are relevant are split off into separate tracks so they can be used as part of the M&E. These would include all doors, vehicles, footsteps, hand shakes, pats - anything characteristic that has no dialogue but can be effectively used. In the opening scene of the film, there were intermittent frog peeps that had to be taken out but the pick up truck doors were great, those were left in but split off.

FSD: With all the rain and other external factors on location, how much of the production dialog was able to be salvaged? What was the worst scene to cut environment wise?

MR: As in most films, the first choice is always production dialogue whenever possible. In this film, the production mixer did a great job recording the audio. We were able to use a large percentage of production dialogue. Sometimes due to performance preferences, ADR will be used even though there is nothing technically wrong with the tracks. The toughest scenes to cut were in the rain - the wind machines were difficult to deal with because the pitch of an incoming angle would not easily match that of an outgoing one and a lot of time was spent finding pieces that matched or were close enough in pitch and timbre to be made to match in order to make fill. In cases like this one, long handles for each cut are necessary to make smooth transitions from angle to angle, in most cases fill had to be made for each cut since hardly any one of them matched. In the forest scenes, the location was close to an actual working lumber mill and many of the takes had back up beeps and machinery that had to be cleaned out. All of the swimming was cut from production and wild tracks recorded by the production mixer with a stunt double.

FSD: What I believe is most satisfying about dialog editorial is saving lines in the cut by cheating words or even syllables from other takes. Were there any lines in the film you were excited to save?

MR: There were too many to name one in particular, but the scene in the kitchen when Krug and the others show up at the house was full of ugly clunks that cleaned out well with out-takes.

FSD: Since a dialog editor's work is so reliant on that of the production mixer's, what could they do to make the process of preparing dialog for the dub stage easier? Do you converse with any of them during the course of editorial?

MR: There are many things that they can do and sometimes are limited by time. Whenever possible I like to talk to the production mixer while the film is being shot in order to maximize the recording possibilities, especially when a film has elements in it that will be very hard to duplicate in Post like crowds, vehicles, animals, etc.; as you can see the possibilities are numerous. A production mixer is dedicated primarily to record Dialogue and anything else is a bonus. By being in contact with mixers during shoots, I have been able to obtain very good tracks on some projects that I would not have been able to get had I not made contact. Often, we will get the material long after the shoot with no recourse but to use it the way it was recorded. In some cases like this film, the quality was very good and the mixer was able to provide us with a number of wild recordings that were very useful. With the advances in recording technology most features are recorded in a multi-track format, enabling us to use various combinations of boom and radio mics. Good habits such as consistent track layouts and good sound reports with intelligible writing are always appreciated. Dialogue editors are always looking for "Fill" and when a production mixer is able to provide it, it is like gold. I worked on a film two years ago and the directors were very well aware of sound issues and allowed for the production mixer to record fill in almost all locations, making the dialogue editing much easier. I've worked on other films were the track layouts were different not only from scene to scene but take to take, and all 8 tracks for the most part unusable.

FSD: In some ways it seems advantageous for the same person cut dialog and supervise ADR, so why doesn't happen on more films?

MR: Actually, that is the way I have mostly been working for the last 6 years. But it really depends on the size of the film and the time you have to work on it. A film with 150 lines of ADR is very different than one with 800, and sometimes you have to put many editors on the project in order to finish it on time. These days, the crews on most films are small, making it necessary for one editor to do all the work, which was the way it used to be done.

FSD: What was your first gig like?

MR: It was a lot of fun even though the work was hard; I cut dialogue on "MacGyver" for several seasons. There were a lot of exteriors in Canada with all kinds of weather and machinery. Richard Dean Anderson was not very fond of looping so we had to make production work. I learned a lot fixing those tracks.

TWILIGHT

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:29:00 +0000

"Twilght" descended into theaters November 21st, luring millions of tweens and this blogger, (only for this post, I swear!) to multiplexes. Supervising sound editor Frank Gaeta clocked time in editorial as well as the dub stages at Wildfire Studios alongside fellow re-recording mixers Marshall Garlington and Leslie Shatz. While Gaeta continued his working relationship with Catherine Hardwicke, "Twilight" marks production sound mixer Glenn Micallef and composer Carter Burwell's first gig with the director. Music tracking took place at Air Lyndhurst Studios in London with Burwell at the helm. A more consistent blogger than I, Carter documents a ton of his work, HERE and was kind enough to log a little Q and A time for us.

FSD: How was "Edward's" on screen piano playing handled from a score point of view? How is on screen performance normally approached? Have you ever had to compose for an actor just performing gibberish with an instrument?

CB: They shot Edward playing before I was working on the picture, and the actor, Rob Pattinson just improvised (he's a musician, fortunately). I think Rob hoped they'd keep his version, but it seemed clear that the final music should be thematic to the film. I tried to write something that wouldn't be obviously wrong for his fingering, but it wasn't perfect. The director wanted to re-shoot the scene so that he could play along to the final music, and ultimately the studio paid for this. (You may want to read the whole story on my web page, HERE.)

FSD: Why did you decide to feature the guitar and piano so prominently in the "Twilight" score? In the composition process, how is the decision to feature any instrument over another reached?

CB: The Edward character plays piano in the book "Twilight", so it was always going to be important, and I settled on that as a solo instrument in the Love theme. The steel-string guitar was used for its fragility and warmth, which seemed appropriate at the start of the relationship between the lead characters. Later in the relationship, nylon string guitar is used for its more subdued, rounder quality.

FSD: In a tailored-for-teens movie like "Twilight" where popular licensed music is an important factor, do you find it hard to get enough screen time for your musical point of view?

CB: It wasn't a problem in this film, but sometimes it certainly is. In this case, the director wanted score for most of the key scenes, and there were no places where songs pushed out score.

FSD: As a composer, do you battle with temp love (something we in the Sound Editorial department deal with constantly)? Do you ever have to mimic other scores because filmmakers are too fond of the music in the AVID tracks?

CB: I do battle with temp love all the time, unless I can convince the director not to use temp. In the case of "Twilight" I started giving the director synth sketches early in the hope that they could replace the temp, but she worried so much about whether the executives would understand the sketches that she didn't use them until so late in the game that new problems were created (see my web page for the Love Theme problem). Generally I refuse to do the "mimic" thing, and I'd rather they just license the temp if they love it. Sometimes they do (as in "Three Kings") but mostly they don't.

FSD: How do the Coen brothers approach the score in their films? What is it like working with filmmakers with whom you have a two decade long relationship?

CB: There's no easy answer to this question. The working relationship is, of course, simplified because we have a working language. Still, every film is different and it's just as difficult to find the musical answers with their films as with any other.

I COME BACK TO YOU NOW, AT THE TURN OF THE TIDE.

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:17:00 +0000

One more LOTR reference couldn't hurt. I actually have some interviews lined up in the weeks ahead, and even with my crazy schedule, I am going to try to stay consistent with my updates. Last week I had the pleasure of attending The MPSE's annual sound show which featured sound supervisor Richard King, composer Hans Zimmer, and music editor Alex Gibson from "The Dark Knight". The evening was well put together, fun, and the first time for the annual MPSE event, sold out! You can find a great write up HERE. In other news from films released last summer, collider.com has posted a four part series of videos featuring Ben Burtt and his work in "Wall•E" which you can watch HERE. Lastly, Apple has posted videos about the scoring and sound design of next month's "Australia". With some navigational skills you should be able to download the two videos through iTunes HERE.

I'M NOT DEAD.

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:13:00 +0000

Hey everybody sorry for the lack of posts here for what, the last month? I hope none of you piled this URL onto your dead site carts and wheeled it out of your bookmarks bar. Filmsounddaily.com's not quite dead, in fact its gettting better(bad Monty Python reference). My day job has been "taking" up a lot of my free time, so I've been regretfully neglecting my duties here. There are plenty of films I wanted to cover this fall and with oscar season gearing up we should see a steadier stream of sound related interviews and information. So once again apologies for the stagnation, regular posts should resume in the next few weeks, but until then I have a few tidbits from around the interwebs...

Incontention.com is spooiling up their oscar coverage with a little commentary on the Best Sound Mixing race, HERE.

Mix Magazine has some great articles in their "Sound For Picture" section this month highlighting the Coen Bros. related work of Skip Lievsay and that of composer extraordinaire Ennio Morricone.

The MPSE'S October 27th sound show added another craftsmen to the bill, composer Hans Zimmer. Check out the official flyer attached to this post(pictured above) and tickets are available HERE.

THE DARK KNIGHT pt.4

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:08:00 +0000

Batman-on-film.com (self explanatory) reported last fall that a man by the name of Mel Wesson posted on his personal site that he was to be the "Ambient Music Designer" on "The Dark Knight". Not only was I excited that a Batman fan site was highlighting someone in the music department(other than the composer), I was intrigued with the idea of that job title. After some IMDB sleuthing I discovered that Wesson has been credited as "ambient music designer" or "musical sound designer" on over 10 films. So naturally, I had to approach him to find out what the job was all about...

• First check out this video from thedarkknightscore.com •

• FSD.COM Q and A: Mel Wesson •

FSD: What does an ambient music designer normally do and how was that work unique to "The Dark Knight? "

Mel: Well I can tell you it's not all about soundscapes and relaxation tapes! Well, on BB ("Batman Begins") and "TDK" I spent the initial months creating sounds and grouping them in moods and characters, things like 'Oxides', 'Rage', 'Chaos', 'S-Laughter'. I've always found it easier to collate sounds in terms of food groups rather than just “Pulses”, 'Percussion”, “Underscores”, etc., and anyway, that would've been a little unimaginative! An amount of this material first saw daylight in The Prologue. That was invaluable in terms of recognizing at an early stage how far this movie differed tonally from BB. As the team came together over at Remote Control I joined them and began putting ideas together through the reels; these went either directly to the mix or via Hans and James to brighten their days! In reality, every project is unique; Batman sounds only relate to the Batman characters and locations that's all, it's not like they're interchangeable.

FSD: Did your work in “Batman Begins” carry over to the sequel?

Mel: Absolutely. You need those familiar markers for continuity. Some sounds are more subliminal, you log them in your subconscious, others are more thematic. As an example, something like the Batflaps are highly visible - that's the sound that kicks off both movies, as soon as you hear that you know you're back in that world, then the Joker arrives and kicks the crap out of us all.

FSD: Given the job title, ambient music designer, do you think about or approach music differently than other composers?

Mel: I hope so, otherwise |'m out of a job! I'm not sure I know what goes through other composers’ minds but I've always been more interested in making the sound do the work as opposed to the notes. What the title gives me is the freedom to experiment without the restrictions of say, a more orchestral approach, but then my contribution has to complement and extend that world. It's very satisfying when the two come together.

FSD: What are your thoughts on the boundaries between music and sound design, if any?

Mel: I wouldn't differentiate between them sonically, but I'd say there's a dividing line in whether you're being figurative or abstract in the way you use sound. The priority for my work is with the score, what I do has to have some musical sensibility, whether it's playing a supportive, colorist role or driving the structure from which a cue is built up. I always work with the sound design team in mind though, you have to be aware of what those guys are up to, and it doesn't help if there's half a dozen things all doing the same job at the dub, you need clarity, and everything has to be focused.

FSD: I asked this of sound soup Richard King and now you: Nolan has said that TDK’s main theme is escalation. Was there an emphasis on the score to emote that, too?

Mel: Hmmm.... I've not heard that phrase before, but you can't avoid the way TDK racks up the intensity and the score is a vital part of the engine of that escalation, although the movie builds in an unconventional way. It was never going to be a question of car chase follows train wreck - the Joker monologues build as much tension as the action scenes; he really holds the audience by the throat, as does Hans' one note Joker theme. It does nothing but escalate! I was very jealous when I first heard that one, I love the purity of the idea - it's pure menace.

FSD: Where does your work end? Since there’s potential for sounds you create to be altered, edited, or even omitted during the final dub, is the first time you see a film in the theater a surprise?

Mel: I'm not sure it ever ends. The only meaningful date is the print master, that's the only time you physically can't screw with things anymore! As you say, the final dub is open season for sound, but aside from fixes or specific requests my role morphs into more of a 'doctor on call' situation. It's often the first time everything comes together as a whole, so yes.... there's usually a few surprises! I don't get too protective about my work though; if something doesn't make it to the cut it's for a reason and I'd sooner hear one sound cut through and have an effect on an audience than have a wall of mush that does nothing. It's the end result that counts, but I still find it quite nerve wracking the first time I watch a movie all the way through in the theatre....

FSD: What was your first gig like?

Mel: My first 'Ambient' gig was “Hannibal.” I'd played a more conventional role on “MI2,” and afterward Hans asked if I'd fancy being the audio "presence of Hannibal Lector.” It doesn't take too much to convince me to come over to the dark side! There was a lot of experimentation, no rules, no road-map, nothing, although there came a point when a number of people started to feel very uncomfortable about the sounds coming out of my studio... which was exactly what we were looking for! Working with Ridley Scott was a great experience, too. He was very receptive to the whole idea, very concise, very constructive, in fact I'd love to cook up some kind of 'baptism by fire' tale of adversity but in reality, “Hannibal” was just a great project. In the closing week or so Hans and I came up with the 'ambient music design' label; it's come in pretty handy over the years...

MPSE SOUND SHOW 2008

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:37:00 +0000

Continuing an unhealthy obsession with all things Batman, I am happy to announce the Motion Picture Sound Editor's annual event at the Eygptian Theater in Los Angeles will be focusing on "The Dark Knight". Below is a press release from the MPSE and check back this week for my final interview from the film with "ambient music designer" Mel Wesson!

THE DARK KNIGHT: The Sound Effects & Music Presentation

The MPSE Sound Show returns with an exploration of the sonic world of this summer's blockbuster Batman movie "The Dark Knight." Join award-winning Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer Richard King ("War of the Worlds," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World") as he presents his process of creating the soundscape for the Christopher Nolan directed film. Excerpts of the movie will be presented with special "pre-dubb" mixes to illustrate the variety of elements used to create an environment of serious sound. He will be sharing the stage with Music Editor Alex Gibson ("Live Free or Die Hard," "The Prestige"), who will reveal the way the musical score was shaped to fit the dark narrative of good and evil. This special evening will take place Monday, October 27, at 8 p.m., at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, California; 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, just east of Highland Avenue. General Admission is $10. Seniors and students with valid ID are $8. Members of the MPSE and American Cinematheque are $7. Tickets can be bought on Fandango.com and at the Egyptian box office soon(I'll post links as soon as they're available).

A co-presentation of the Motion Picture Sound Editors and the American Cinematheque. Made possible with support from Warner Bros. Pictures. More information can be found soon at www.MPSE.org or www.AmericanCinematheque.com.

STEP BROTHERS

noreply@blogger.com (FILMSOUNDDAILY) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:52:00 +0000

Following all that production sound talk from "The Dark Knight" I knew I needed my next post to focus on something I never really covered here, ADR. In a mix, ADR and production dialog try to play nice, hopefully resulting in a pristine dialog track that keeps an audience engaged. Luckily, people like ADR supervisor Tammy Fearing are on call, ensuring the viewing public an enjoyable experience. Even better, she was willing to discuss her job as an ad lib wrangler on "Step Brothers".

FSD: What do your duties encompass as an ADR supervisor and what are the best or worst aspects of the job?

Tammy: My duties as an ADR supervisor are as follows: I spot the movie for production dialog that needs to be replaced and keep a current list of ADR requests from the picture editor and the director. During the ADR sessions I help the actor or actress match the original production dialog performance by suggesting changes in pitch or volume. I edit the ADR and turn it over to the picture editor after each recording session. I keep a transcription log of all the improv jokes that are recorded during each ADR session to help the director keep track of the numerous joke options for each scene. By the end of the film, that log is 15-20 pages long.
The best part about my job is being a part of an ensemble team during the ADR process. ADR is a great tool for the director to get more jokes into the film. During “Step Brothers” our director, Adam, wrote the jokes, the actor or actress would improv on the script, our picture editor, Brent, cut each scene so the timing of the jokes worked, and I made sure the ADR takes we recorded matched production performances in the scene. An ADR joke won’t play if the new line sounds different from the production dialog. Bad ADR is a distraction, while good ADR adds more laughs and no one ever knows it is ADR.

FSD: Working with improv advocates like Adam McKay, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, how do you navigate through all the ad lib on the ADR stage and then in your cutting room?

Tammy: The picture editor gives me an edit of the scene that contains space for the ADR joke we are adding. The mock up edit allows us to record and playback the added ADR line to make sure it is working within the scene. During “Step Brothers,” director Adam McKay would write multiple jokes for each ADR cue. The actor or actress then performs the written lines doing several performances for each joke, including ad libs. We typically go into record for several minutes while the actor improvs. The challenge for me is to unobtrusively slip in directions of “louder please” or “try a little higher pitch” while the actor is improving. I am responsible for matching the ADR line to the production dialog in the scene. Adam works with the actor to come up with funny stuff but isn’t always aware if the performance will work in the scene. It is a team effort and is a lot of fun. After the session I cut Adam’s selected takes and give them to editor Brent White to cut into the picture. Brent shows Adam the different lines in the Avid and they choose their favorite take to put into the film for different previews. Our sound supervisor George Anderson, records audience reactions so we can determine which jokes get the best responses. At the end of the screening process the joke with the most laughs is usually the one that gets into the final cut.

FSD: When directors or editors can’t make a looping session how do you have to adapt creatively or otherwise to the situation?

Tammy: My job is to help the actor get a performance that will work in the context of the scene. To do this I have to understand what each ADR line is intended to achieve, I need to know what the director wants so I can convey that to the actor, and I always have the actor perform several takes so the director has a few reads to choose from. If we are doing jokes I have the actor or actress improv on each line after the scripted jokes have been performed. In doing all of this I become the defacto director for the session when the director and picture editor can’t make it.

FSD: Removed from the focus demanded of them on set, how do you reengage a frustrated actor, any specific examples?

Tammy: Do a few loop lines yourself and you quickly see how challenging it is to match picture sync and give a good performance months after the filming has ended. After doing a lot of takes on the same line an actor can get frustrated and loose energy. Here are few tricks I use when the actor has reached their limit on a cue: I ask them if they want to take a break or want to move on to another cue and come back to the problem cue later. Most actors will want to finish the line and get it right before moving on. Offering to return to the cue later seems to make the actor view the performance as a challenge. They will conquer the line- it won’t conquer them. Another option is to playback the scene with the last recorded ADR line in place. Playing back the scene lets the actor step back and learn what adjustments are needed to get a performance they are happy with.

FSD: With that reliance on improv for the funny, on the Apatow Produced films you work on, does ADR ever steer a meandering story back on course?

Tammy: ADR is used as a tool for connecting ad lib material back into the scene or helping to transition between scenes. For example, in “Step Brothers” we have an exterior shot of a steak house in which Adam wanted to make it clear that we are at Derek’s birthday party. To do this we added Will’s ADR line “Happy Birthday Derek.” and Adam Scott’s ADR line “Nice gift TJ. Where are the rest of my gifts?” These 2 lines are heard over the exterior shot of the steak joint as a lead in for the scene. Example 2: For timing purposes, Adam deleted a scene of Will [Brennan] making plans to get his Mom and step Dad back together at the Catalina Wine Mixer and used ADR to convey this information. At the Catalina Wine Mixer Nancy greets Robert [Brennan’s step dad] by saying “How nice to see you here.” For Robert we added the over the shoulder ADR line “Brennan sent me an invite.” Will [Brennan] then walks up and in another over the shoulder ADR line says “I see you two are getting along.” By adding the 2 over the shoulder ADR lines we were able to keep the action moving forward but still convey the intent of the deleted scene.

Lastly, John C and Will [Dale and Brennan] are talking about launching their new company, Prestige Worldwide. At the request of Dale, Brennan sings him a song and then starts giving excuses about why his performance was bad. Adam wanted to make Dale as sincere as possible about how much he loved Brennan’s voice so we added the ADR line “Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus.” Not only does the ADR line get the point across, but it gets a big laugh so it serves two purposes.

FSD: What was your first gig like?

Tammy: My first gig as an ADR supervisor was “The Perfect Score” directed by Brian Robbins. The big challenge was the narration. Originally, the lead character, Kyle, was narrating the story but after several recording sessions the director decided it wasn’t working. He then had the character Roy, the stoner dude, do the narration. It completely changed the tone of the film and added a nice touch of extra humor. Narration is a tricky ADR beast. The two big pitfalls are an actor or actress tending to read the narration too fast or not keeping a consistent tone for the narration from scene to scene. My job is to make sure the narration is well paced and that the energy and tone are consistent throughout the film. We do many takes of narration which are then cut together to make the final performance that goes into the film.

A funny side note: In “Step Brothers” the “Playboy” lawyers informed us that we couldn’t us their brand name in any context using the word “masturbation”. Apparently their readers buy the magazine to read the articles. In the original tree fort John C and Will [Dale and Brennan] are looking at Playboys. Brennan comments “I still hate you, but you’ve got an awesome collection of Playboys.” Dale makes the joke “I’ve got some from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. It’s like masturbating in a time machine.” The Visual FX team had to change the magazine title to “Hustler”. We had to ADR Brennan saying “I still hate you, but you’ve got an awesome collection of nudie mags.”