Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1353865
70 I M PS E . O R G OT: When Paul started discussing the project with me, he knew that this was going to be a very different kind of fi lm for him, and that it would need a wholly different approach to the sound. The sense of vast open space, of an unforgiving landscape, and of a less frenetic pace were all in stark contrast to the modern, high energy of fi lms I had worked on with Paul before. Normally, it's only when working with a director for the fi rst time that you have to learn what sensibilities they have toward sound. The challenge here was to forget the many other projects we had worked on together and approach this with a completely different sensibility. But despite the scale of the visuals, it is still an intimate story. Each nuanced sound is as important to get right as conveying the sprawling, inhospitable landscape. The subtle sounds of Kidd preparing to read at the beginning of the fi lm are underlining his rituals, all he can control in this chaotic world. These small details throughout the fi lm help to contrast against the scale of the journey they undertake. Do you have other members of your crew you'd like to mention that we haven't touched on? RT: Anna Mackenzie deserves special mention for her excellent crowd supervision over in the States. We knew we couldn't easily match the specifi city of the Texan voices we needed for this project here in the UK and so Anna was our fi rst call. The work the crowd had to do in this fi lm was immense. To my mind, the crowd is very much a character in its own right. As Kidd reads each story, we added naturally diverse reactions to every little detail. We did not want general, 'ooohs' and 'aaahhs' as this would miss a crucial opportunity to paint the detail and therefore, realism into these scenes. Individuals react in individual ways. When some stories drive some to anger, others are trying to calm them down, others are just bored, grumbling, incredulous; it's all there in the detail of the recordings. We ran the scenes in full over and over, asking the voice artists to improvise a range of reactions as they went along. We then went in for the usual individual lines on camera and supporting close-up monos. There is something happening wherever you focus on screen and the level of work Anna put in was truly exemplary. It is so natural viewers will hopefully never guess anything was added! Oliver and Rachael, again, fantastic work. It was a pleasure to watch this fi lm and chat with you. Thanks for taking the time to sit with myself, and the readers of the MPSE Wavelength magazine. RT: Thank you Miguel. Let's hope that cinemas are back up and running soon! OT: It's been a pleasure Miguel, and thanks for your interest in the fi lm. Top: (L to R) Doris Boudlin (Mare Win- ningham), Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) and Johanna Leonberger (Helena Zengel). Photo: Bruce W. Talamon/Universal Pictures Bottom: Oliver Tarney & Michael Fentum shooting wild Foley for the fi lm 1917.