Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1353865
42 I M PS E . O R G SSS: In your dialogue editing of The Little Things, you said you stole a lot of consonants and syllables from the B-roll. JJ: When you can, you know. A lot of times, a character would just nod his head. We would find something to put into Denzel's mouth when he first meets Rami, and he says, "Well, if you wanna bullshit John Q. Public, well, that's what you wanna do." Then he nods. (So we added) "Huh?" It's 'little things' like that that matter. SSS: Hey, it's The Little Things! JJ: I thought I'd getcha! See how I put that together? SSS: Your relationship with Mr. John Lee Hancock, the director of The Little Things. Tell us about how you met, where did it all start with him? JJ: It was John Lee's first directing job on The Rookie (2002). That's where I started. That was in 2000, in the middle of (post production), right after the friends and family screening we had for The Rookie, that was on September 10, 2001. As you know, what happened the next day changed us all. Then we did The Alamo (2004) together. He was still writing. I seem to kick off really well with writer/directors. One of the writer/directors I knew was Brian Helgeland, the director of 42 (2013). They know each other. They're always looking at the other guy's script. (laughs) Brian Helgeland was one of the guys, along with Mark Johnson, the producer, that kept asking John Lee about this script he had called The Little Things. At the time John Lee wrote it, his kids were just little kids in preschool and such. But now that his kids are in college, it was kind of a dark subject, and so he was able to work with it. It went through much iteration as movie scripts do. It never quite gelled with the right setup or the right people. He got to the point and said, "Well, you know, I could direct that." He's a very good director, he's an excellent director. He went back and dusted off the script, changed a few things, got a fantastic cast together with Mark Johnson, producer. SSS: That's a good thing! How did COVID a›ect your Foley stage? JJ: Well, they had to move the Foley off the lot. We worked at The Barn. Alyson Dee Moore and Chris Moriana. I didn't visit the Foley stage. Usually, I'm there from day one. Chris Alba (Foley editor) did a fine job and it worked out quite well. If we did have anything to add, they were more than willing to take care of it. SSS: Was the Foley a major part of the sound e›ects or was it more for production replacement? JJ: Good question! As far as props are concerned, I always think of them as part of the sound effects. They were a little bit more articulate you know. The footsteps were very important because there would be tales that the footsteps would give us that you can't get anywhere else. Deke walks across Sparma's (apartment) floor, and he hits a hollow part. I had about a 20-minute difference of opinion with Greg about well, does it go "duh, bonk, duh," then it goes "bonk, bonk, bonk," or does it go "duh, bonk, bonk." (laughs) Little things like that are important! SSS: That language! I love that language! JJ: That's half of it, knowing how to make the right sound effects. SSS: That's right. That's a story point. JJ: That's the whole thing. You look at each scene. What do I have to deliver for this scene to make this scene the right one? SSS: Right, the choices. What choices do you make? JJ: Exactly. SSS: I want to talk about your contribution toward the (bright green) 1970 Chevy Nova and your background experience and how it became a character of the movie. JJ: Ah, sure, yeah! I've always been a big car guy. That was a misspent youth. I couldn't afford to get a cool car, but I did have friends that had cool cars. As far as cool cars back in those days, it was Chevy big blocks. The Chevy sounded different than the Ford sounded. You just know. You just know that. I've worked with some sound editors that don't get that. They just think that the red cars go faster. (laughs) (L-R) Director/writer/ producer John Lee Hancock and Rami Malek. Photo: Nicola Goode. © 2021 Warner Bros.