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www.postmagazine.com 5 POST JAN/FEB 2024 BITS & PIECES: OSCARS MARK RONSON ON WRITING BARBIE''S 'I'M JUST KEN' BY MARC LOFTUS Barbie's "I'm Just Ken" is one of two songs from the Warner Bros. feature that are nominated for an Oscar in the Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) category. The track's music and lyrics were written and record- ed by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, and were inspired by an initial conversation with director Greta Gerwig. Ken, they decided, needed his own song, which would counter Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night" track, which comes to represents Barbie. According to Ronson (pictured below), he wasn't sure where "I'm Just Ken" would be used in the film. "Maybe it's going to play over the end credits? We weren't even really thinking about that…There was never any kind of inkling that Ryan (Gosling) would (sing) whatever we wrote, and it was going to be performed in the film." Ronson says he got the idea for Ken's signature song after reading the script and better under- standing his place in Barbie Land. "Ken is tragic," Ronson recalls. "It felt really inter- esting to potentially make the Ken song vulnerable and kind of tug on your heartstrings a bit. Ken's story is more awkward...He's not as smart and en- lightened as Barbie. So him getting out his feelings is clumsy and ridiculous." Ronson had the song's "I'm just Ken, anywhere else I'd be a ten" line as his starting point. "He's so hot, but he's also just so confused," Ronson says of the character. "I had this little demo (and) I sent it to Greta, and she really liked the chorus. And I had the line about 'blond fragility.' And she was like, 'Yeah, I love it!' I asked my friend Andrew (Wyatt), who I love collaborating with, and we ended up doing most of the stu© together." As the song evolved, Gerwig told Ronson that not only would Gosling sing on the track, but would perform on-camera. "Then that became a completely di©erent thing," he recalls. "It was quite an intimate piano ballad, the way we wrote it, but then once we started ac- tually seeing what they shot, and the scenes from the battle, and how ridiculous it was, and how big Ryan's performance was, that's when we started to dress up the arrangement and have it sort of get bigger and bigger and bigger." Ronson and Wyatt did the writing and initial recording in his private New York studio, and then went to Power Station for additional sessions. Strings were recorded at Abbey Road in the UK. He also brought in guitarists Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen, and new Foo FIghters drummer Josh Freese to add to the track's grandeur. MAESTRO'S PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER STEVEN MORROW Steven Morrow was the production sound mixer on Maestro, overseeing live recordings on-set and managing dialogues during filming.´ "Working on a project like Maestro posed a unique and rewarding challenge for a production mixer," says Morrow. "It o©ered a thrilling oppor- tunity to shape the film's auditory experience by capturing on-camera music and dialogue. This task was particularly challenging given the expansive scope we aimed to capture, evident in the me- ticulous placement of 61 microphones for the Ely Cathedral recording of 'Mahler's Resurrection' with the London Symphony Orchestra." Morrow says director Bradley Cooper envisioned capturing scenes in a documentary style, which prompting the team to mic as many participants as possible. They were also tasked with strategical- ly placing microphones throughout the room for a natural feel during party scenes. "Background and cast members were encouraged to engage naturally, resulting in an authentic and vibrant sound for the film," he recalls. "Collaborating closely with cinematographer Mathew Labitque, we ensured that our pursuit of auditory excellence com- plemented his visual goals seamlessly." Morrow, along with Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic, are nominated for an Oscar in the Achievement in Sound catego- ry at the 96 th Academy Awards. "The Oscar nomination for our team's dedication is genuinely humbling, especially considering the outstanding soundscapes in many films this year. It is an honor to be recognized for our contribution to Maestro."