Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1259912
32 S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y and the Apogee DualPath plugins. For reverbs, the Seventh Heaven Bricasti models, Waves IR-1, and outboard verbs are his favorites. Asked if there were any challenges in the recording, David replied, "There's always a scene where Randy writes something that'll stop anyone in their tracks. I wouldn't say that makes it challenging in technical terms, but it does make it hard to keep objectivity when there ain't a dry eye in the room. "There's a group of people that make me look good, almost too many to name. Randy Newman and Mitchell Froom (my co-conspirators), Tom and Andrew on the studio side, Kevin Harp and Joey Raia and Greg Hayes as my fellow mixers, Tommy 's crew at WB and Damon's crew at Fox. I'd like to thank Joe E. Rand, our beloved music editor. And, of course, our filmmakers at Pixar who trusted us without micromanagement." NATHAN NANCE: Re-recording Mixer (Dialogue and Foley) Re-recording mixer Nathan Nance is from Alaska originally. He went to Full Sail, hoping to work in a music studio. He explains, "I literally finished working on a crab boat in Dutch Harbor, packed my stuff in Seattle, and drove to Florida. After I graduated, I got in touch with alumni from Full Sail working at Skywalker and started working there in 2006. Since I started at Skywalker, I have had the opportunity to work with so many talented and interesting people. I have learned much working there over the last 14 years." Michael Semanick CAS brought on Nathan to mix Finding Dory with him and, since then, they have mixed several Pixar films together. Toy Story 4 was mixed on a Neve DFC console with Pro Tools. Nathan likes to use classic hardware. "The DFC has really great EQ. I really like to use Lexicon reverbs. I used the 480 on all the Dx. In Pro Tools, I use the 480 plugin from Relab. I like the FabFilter plugins, too. I used the de-esser from them and EQ as well." Asked if he had any challenges on the film, he replied, "I think the scene where Gabby finds the lost girl is one of the more challenging. I think the mix helps the audience home in on Gabby 's empathy and the lost girl's fear. As a father myself, I got choked up at that scene more than once. "I'd like to thank the director Josh Cooley—he was really fantastic throughout the mix. Also, Cheryl Nardi, who was the dialogue editor on the project. Cheryl is so talented and knowledgeable, always a joy to work with." MICHAEL SEMANICK CAS: Re-recording Mixer (Music and Sound Effects) It's always a pleasure to speak with Michael Semanick. Michael graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston the same year I did, although we did not know each other at the time. At various points, Michael played guitar, French horn, and trumpet. He was majoring in music production and engineering. "When I started, Don Puluse and Wayne Wadhams had just taken over the studios and were pushing them forward. I was learning about mics, but also how to capture the right sound, and how to use the right processing." Michael worked at Fantasy Studios where he focused on records, and later moved to Skywalker, where he mixed Toy Story 3. He had previously mixed Ratatouille, which introduced him to director Brad Bird and composer Michael Giacchino. Asked about his favorite scenes, he named one I would not have thought of: the scene in the antiques store with the ventriloquist dummies. He thought that supervising sound editors Ren Klyce and Coya Elliott created a great atmospheric sound design in the store, using subtlety. He is also a big fan of Randy Newman's score to the film. Michael feels that the Foley for Sporky, the new character, was one of the bigger challenges, down to when Sporky 's googly eyes should make a sound when moving. Like Nathan, Michael is also a fan of the DFC EQ and compression, as well as Lafont EQ. He also prefers that recordings be worldized (played back through speakers and re-recorded) rather than relying on filters. He wants to thank Randy Newman, Ren Klyce, Nathan Nance, dialogue editor Kimberly Patrick, and mix tech Liz Marston. Michael has also been a mentor to many people coming up through the ranks in audio. He is a good mentor because he teaches not just the technology, but the art of finding the right aesthetic balance between the elements, stage demeanor, and how to run a stage with clients. Congratulations to these fine mixers on a job well done! Setup diagram for the scoring session at Fox.