Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1122868
48 S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y For a show that is somewhat understated FX-wise, there seems to be a fair amount of design, mostly to illustrate the delusional nature of its villain. How do you approach those surreal or semi-real moments? It depends on the moment. For instance, there is a sequence with Andrew Cunanan where, along with the music, we just played a quiet wind when he enters his friend's bedroom during a flashback to San Francisco. Just this wind helps make it disconcerting. In another instance, he is in the bathroom of a hotel after escaping the scene of the crime and we picked particular sounds to accent and heighten his headspace; the sound of him taking off his glasses and turning on the faucet in a deep reverb. But in contrast to that, we used multiple layers to create Donatella's headspace with a crescendo of cameras and voices when she is overwhelmed by the paparazzi upon arriving at her brother's house after the murder. What is going on in the scene and what best supports the emotion of the story and characters at that point dictates how we approach it, how much we play or how little. JUDAH GETZ CAS: ADR Mixer Where are you from Judah? I moved around a lot when I was really young. I grew up in Southern Oregon for the most part, in a little town called Ashland. So you're a West Coaster, but not really near LA. What brought you to town? Before going to audio school, I was working with people with developmental disabilities as a caregiver/advocate and ended up getting really burned out and didn't see myself climbing that managerial ladder. I'd sorta been playing around with audio software so I enrolled in audio school. Upon completion, I moved to LA to work in music but quickly found myself at a post house for film/TV where I discovered ADR, and I quickly fell in love with it. I interned at a record label and then a music studio where I learned they were doing audio post for low-budget horror movies at night. I sat in with some folks, then jumped to a strictly post house where I became a Foley mixer, and from there parlayed into ADR. When I moved to LA, I really didn't know much about ADR. My goal, though, was to do something I loved while getting to work with new, and different people. And be able to support my family and provide them some stability. Anyone help you along the way, professionally? Yes. Jeremy Balko. He's my hero. He gave me so much of his time and expertise. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere in this business without his support and guidance. Very cool. I love to hear of people helping and mentoring others in our industry. For this episode, was there a great deal of ADR recorded? As far as principal ADR, there was not a lot at all. Ryan Murphy doesn't like to shoot a lot of principal ADR, which is testament to his attention to detail in pre-production. There was a lot of group ADR recorded. Lots of passes of beds, and individual lines of dialogue used to sweeten, and a good amount of specifics, such as reporters, police, efforts, and breaths. ARNO STEPHANIAN: Foley Mixer Where are you from? I was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. I grew up in a small Armenian community and my family owned the first music store in Iran, established in 1945. I was really lucky to grow up in a family that appreciated music so much, even in the most difficult situations. That's incredible! What did you want to do when you grew up? At first, I had a passion for woodworking and carving wood around age 7-10 and I wanted to become a woodworker! Then I started playing piano by ear at the age of 8 and tried to imitate my dad's fingers as he was playing jazz piano. That started the fire for me in music. I started listening to many traditional jazz legends and started playing and transcribing their solos and chord progressions. By the time I was 11, I became obsessed with jazz! So at that point, I wanted to become a professional musician and have a band. And how did you find your way into the industry? I started by doing sound for student projects for free while I was still studying. After a few of them, I started to get projects that paid very little, here and there. One of the first paying gigs was an indie feature called Barrio Tales that I mixed in 5.1 and did some additional compositions for. Then after that, I started an internship in post-production sound. Is there an event that you consider to be your "big break"? There was a sound show at Disney that one of my instructors had invited me to attend, along with others, so I was very excited! It was a presentation about "Once upon a time" and how the sound layers were created to make Pinocchio's storm scene play! After the show was over, I stayed to meet the people who worked on it. A few days after that, I had an interview appointment for my internship, which was at Post Creations. When I went there, I saw Kyle Billingsley—the same Foley mixer that was on that "Once upon a time" sound show presentation at Disney! And that was it! I knew that it was meant to be. Right after, I was chosen to be their new intern (Thanks to Nick Neutra and Kyle). I started working on that same show, cueing, and editing the Foley. I was lucky to start my career there and so grateful to have had the opportunity to work on great shows right from the beginning. This was my big break getting in the industry.