Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/102700
A U D I O F O R [ Cont.from 42 ] the very first weeks of editorial, I would be creating ideas and unique sounds for the film, and we could narrow them down quickly and progress from there." MERRY CHRISTMAS Michael Suarez, re-recording mixer at Goldcrest Post New York (www.goldcrestfilms.com/postny), was the supervising sound editor on Merry Christmas, a story about nine well-to-do New Yorkers who celebrate Christmas on a budget at a bed and breakfast in Pennsylvania. Director Anna Condo created a film with no script, featuring nine characters, she says, which was shot in two-and-a-half days, using three cameras running simultaneously. How do you make a film without a script? According to Suarez, "Condo created background stories for all the characters, and then gave 'character bibles' to the actors, who then created the story based on what their character was like. Condo gave all the actors a chance to steal the show if they wanted to. It was cool because it seemed like it was scripted at times, but it wasn't." Not surprisingly, it took a long time to edit. Condo spent three years in picture edit. There was only a single take of each shot. For dialogue, Suarez spent a lot of time with Condo deciding what line was the most important. There was no ADR work on the film, so Suarez relied mainly on the actors' lav mics and the occasional boom mic when there was one available for the line. "You wanted to hear all of it, but only one character could stand out at a time. We had at least five mics going at once and it got really tricky. We had to decide which ones we wanted to keep because of the phasing issues. If there was a boom on the scene, and we didn't want to hear the character up front, then we'd use the boom mic to make it sound more in the perspective of being in the next room." Considering the number of lavs, and a few boom mics as well, Suarez was impressed with how well the dialogue was recorded on-set. With no chance for ADR, having clean dialogue was hugely important. His biggest issue was phasing. "About 85 percent of it was clean. So there wasn't too much noise reduction going on. On a few key scenes, I used the Waves WNS plug-in, and also Z E R O Post•January2013 Post0113_046-Jump.indd 46 F I L M S the Oxford DeCrackle by Sonnox. I love that plug-in. If there was a scene with a little distortion, or crackles, I would use that and it would definitely take the edges off the distortion." Suarez also handled the sound effects and Foley with help from sound effects editor Mark Amicucci, also located at Goldcrest Post New York, and Foley artist/editor Julien Pirrie, at Goldcrest Post London. This was the first time they used Goldcrest London for Foley footsteps and Suarez was extremely pleased. "It took a huge load off us, because there were a lot of characters moving around at the same time. Julien Pirrie did a great job on it, so we were able to concentrate on all the other specifics. That was the first time we did that, and it really worked out; I hope we get to do that again." Merry Christmas had many dinner scenes, and a lot of wine drinking. Suarez relied on Amicucci to create all the Foley specifics, such as "wine glass put downs," and to also to build up the background sounds and sound effects. "Amicucci did all the sound effects and background sounds, and then handed them over to me while I was doing the dialogue edit. In between, I started mixing both of those together, and while I was doing that, he went back and started doing all the Foley." The final 5.1 mix was completed at Goldcrest New York on their largest dub stage, Theater A, using Avid's 16-fader ICON. For Suarez, mixing the film in 5.1 was a challenge. "It was a challenge because there were only two music cues throughout the whole film, one in the beginning and one at the end. We built up layers for the background because you don't want it to feel too empty. The majority of the film took place in the house. We worked with fireplaces when we could, some winter air sounds and occasionally a crow sound you would hear through the window.There was a lot of room tone, and no music. Overall, it worked out great because you really focus on the characters." While independent films may offer more creative freedom, the budget can be a bit restricting at times. "For this, it would have been great to do some ADR, but you have to work with what you have. The biggest obstacle was budget." D A R K [ Cont.from 16 ] of the dirty helicopter landing!" During the night vision sequence the camera took on a first-person role with Fraser, who often operated the camera himself, moving deliberately through the raid with the camera on his shoulder — no zooms, no dollying, no running. "A methodical sort of simple pace," he says. Fraser, who started his career as a still photographer and who has shot many short films as well as the features Bright Star, Last Ride, The Boys Are Back and Let Me In, notes that "every relationship with a director is intense — you're with them 18 hours a day. With Kathryn, we were doing very intense material as well, which had its own joys and hurdles. There were definitely challenges, but with a talented crew and Kathryn's leadership we overcame them by creating a lot of our own methods of working." Fraser remained involved with Zero Dark Thirty 46 I N D I E T H I R T Y through its final color grading by Stephen Nakamura using Blackmagic's Resolve at Company 3 in Santa Monica. He describes that process as "subtle tweaking — evening things out so they felt right; darkening some shots, brightening others, windowing an eye or mouth." Fraser is currently shooting the drama Foxcatcher, with Steve Carell starring as a paranoid schizophrenic, old-money heir and convicted murderer John du Pont, in Pittsburgh. "I won't be doing anything like Zero Dark Thirty again for a while," he says. "My next project is always diametrically opposed to the last one to keep my interest up." Every film he works on yields some take-aways, he notes. Although Zero Dark Thirty tells an exceptional story, Fraser "learned a lot" from it — "the pros and cons of digital, people management, travel management, lighting — that I can take to my next job." Classifieds HELP WANTED ADVERTISING SALES REP. Ad Sales Rep needed for advertising sales in Post Magazine and Computer Graphics World. The purpose of the position is to generate classified advertising sales for the publications CGW & Post Magazine in the areas of Rapid Prototyping (3D printing), Camera, Displays/monitors/projectors, Workstations (mobile, desktop), GPUs/CPUs, Input devices (mice, scanners, etc), Motion-capture, Storage, Service provider, Education/training, 2D modeling, 3D modeling, 3D animation, Compositing, Rendering, Lighting, Editing, CAD/CAM/CAE/CAA, AI/VR (including headmounted displays), Game engines, Middleware, Texturing, Simulation, Plug-ins, Web content tools, Music Libraries, Stock Footage, Large File Transfer companies , Studios. Full-time position. Operates from office when not traveling. Skills/Qualifications: Customer Service, Meeting Sales Goals, Closing Skills,Prospecting Skills, Negotiation, SelfConfidence, Product Knowledge, Presentation Skills, Client Relationships, Motivation for Sales. Send cover letter and resume to: ksafaryan@copcomm.com. CSR - CUSTOMER SERVICE REP. Our local office in Glendale, CA is seeking a Customer Service Representative to be the first point of contact with our print customers. Our customer service representatives are passionate, customer-focused professionals with outstanding people skills and the desire to help us grow our business through hard work and innovative thinking! As a customer service professional, your responsibilities will include: • Respondingtoservicerequests. • Investigatingandresolvingcustomerquestions and concerns efficiently and compassionately. • Preparinganddistributingreports(utilizingvarious proprietary systems) on a regular and timely basis. • Assistingwithvariousadministrativeduties,such as filing, data entry, and ensuring SOP compliance. • Participatingininsidesalesactivities. Successful team members also possess the following qualifications: • AHighSchoolDiplomaorequivalent.Preferablya College Graduate. • Atleast2yearsofexperienceinacustomerservice or call-center environment. • Excellentwrittenandverbalcommunicationskills. • Strongdataentry/typingskills. • Theabilitytomulti-taskandprioritizemultiple assignments. Send cover letter and resume to: ksafaryan@copcomm.com. For Advertising Rates & Schedules: POST Magazine, 620 West Elk Ave., Glendale, CA 91204; Western Region 818-291-1153, Fax: 818-547-4607; Eastern Region 781-255-0625 Fax: 781-255-0431 www.postmagazine.com 12/21/12 6:59 PM