Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1316380
42 I M PS E . O R G CRAIG: Season 3, our team this year was Ryan Cole, (dialogue editor), Terry Williams (dialogue and ADR editor), Katie Halliday and Angelo Palazo (SFX editors), Steve Bain (Foley artist), Dave Klotz (music editor) and Will and I were co-supervisors. Mark Paterson and Will were the main mixers on the project. That's our team. Super close. PAULETTE: As a supervising sound editor, what is your biggest challenge? LEE: On a show like The Crown, my team and I often find ourselves in a scenario whereby 8-10 episodes can be open and being worked on by ourselves all at once. There can be a lot going on to keep in your head. I find working with the same team from job to job eases the stresses of the role as there becomes much less need to micro- manage every scenario. WADE: Making sure the showrunner is happy. I have a lot of respect for the showrunner Eric Kripke, and I love the work he does. So making him feel good about the work we're doing is important, and gaining his trust is key because then we're able to try unique ideas sonically and have them received with an open mind instead of getting shot down immediately. Gaining that trust is crucial to the creative process. NICK: Time. You always would like to have more time to edit, design, record, pre-mix, and mix, etc. These shows are so detailed and complex, it takes so much time to get thru them. There is hardly enough time to finish one episode before you are right back on the stage doing the next episode. It can be grueling. Trying to keep up that level of creativity for 10 to 12 weeks straight can be really hard. MATTHEW: That certainly changes from show to show. For this particular show, management of resources to create what feels like a mini-movie for each episode is the biggest and ongoing challenge. And now in the COVID quarantine era— it was technically solving remote ADR and Group during facility shutdowns. BENJAMIN: One, the new amount of material to create because it's a completely new world. That's probably the biggest challenge, a lot of moving parts. Schedule is always difficult on a show like this with lots of VFX. I started 6-8 weeks before everyone else designing things for them and cutting the bigger scenes in the show for the editor. It's a good amount of time, but not luxurious. WILL: The creative process actually takes more time then you are budgeted to do. Then it benefits us to take some of the time and sprinkle it into the earlier part of the schedule because it pays dividends creatively. It applies to features and this type of TV show. CRAIG: My role on the show is I get started quite early, as I'm the sound designer, so I'm dealing with early conceptual ideas the brothers have. I usually get those months in advance of the crew coming on. But eventually, it goes into the regular schedule, this is when we are going to start mixing, so we back time it up and X amount of weeks to cut each episode. It gets to be crazy near the end but we try to apply a film aspect to it, where Will and I are sharing sessions back and forth a lot. I work in a template that is basically his (Will's) mix template. I do a fair amount of pre-mixing before it goes to Will, so we are really in line that way. A lot of panning, a lot of the decisions are made, so Will can think more creatively when he's on the dub stage. From an editorial standpoint, all that work has been done months beforehand, especially on the earlier episodes. We try to get four episodes really well oiled, well working, sounds back into the Avid. Get the Duffer Brothers really comfortable with what we're hearing … so we can be really focused on making it sound the best we can make it sound. PAULETTE: If you could have one bit of advice for sound editors starting their career, what would it be? LEE: I think often when people start out, they can rather throw sounds at the screen, piling sounds on. Less can definitely be more and considered use of the 'right' sound is key. I see our role as storytellers. Looking at what is on the screen and understanding how we can use sound to focus, shape, and expand the narrative. WADE: Always leave enough time at the end of your edit to run the show from top to bottom twice before sending it in. If you're spending a lot of time trying to make something work, move on a comeback. You're probably overthinking it, and watching the show back and seeing things in context is much more important than being hyper-focused on one detail. NICK: My advice to new sound editors is to think like a filmmaker. Think of sound as a character that you are adding to the story. What are the sounds that you are adding to a scene doing to help tell the story? Try to make sure that every sound has a purpose. Really pay attention to the story and let that guide you in what sounds to put in a scene. It's OK to let scenes breathe and find the right places to add things that can bring more impact to your soundscape. MATTHEW: Don't be afraid of criticism, I'm still learning that one. Additionally, adopt a team-centered attitude because we're just one part of a long process involving many talented people. It takes many crafts to complete a project. BENJAMIN: Best thing as a beginning editor is to spend time on the mix stage. Seeing what tracks they use is a huge benefit. Save yourself a ton of heartache and time. Everyone should have a recorder. They are super inexpensive now. You can get a good microphone and a good recording