Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1197255
74 W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y his crew, they would be nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Sound Mixing. Following Coal Miner's Daughter, Jim never stopped working, He had become the go-to mixer for Universal and continued to deliver above the call-of- duty. He would mainly do features, as they didn't particularly work as long of hours as TV, and he would do TV in between features. He also worked in the dub stage as a re-recording mixer if work on production was slow. Jim was big into filling his entire mixing panel with mics, even if there wasn't dialogue. He recorded everything that made sound; be it a squeaky door, car engines, noisy wagons, and anything else. Everything was practical and a part of the story. A lot of times he would do the mics himself, as his crew had to make sure they were covered on the set plus everything else they had to do. It was all in good fun, like a game. He loved wide shots and worked really hard to make them sound good. He would sit right on the set, and it was very visual for him. He would align the tracks on his mixing board according to where they were in the room from frame left to right. According to people that worked with him, he never missed a cue. If the boom ops missed a cue, he would read the script on the private line to help out (even though they weren't so fond of that all the time). Sometimes he would cue in between words and it just sounded seamless. On Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, they set up seven plant mics along the bridge for a wide shot where Spock was walking, and it just sounded consistent as if you were in the room. He always wanted to remain true to the story and the perspective. His next Academy Award nomination was for Terms of Endearment in 1983, which was the directorial debut of James L. Brooks. It was a smash hit, and won five Oscars. Although Jim didn't win, he was still honored to have been nominated twice, and sent two of his kids to attend in his stead. The final decade of his long career was spent working with a newcomer named John Hughes. John had written a few movies prior, and was not excited about how they were being directed. He felt his ideas were not being portrayed The crew photo for The Breakfast Club.