Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/202179
A U D I O [ Cont.from 28 ] Other key members of the audio team, in regards to the music, were Joseph Magee, the supervising music mixer on the post production side, and Mike Gillies and Sara Killion in the music mix mobile truck. Being a rocker at heart, Haboush has enjoyed every minute of working on the film. He quickly adds that the IMAX mix was also spectacular thanks to the roomshaking, low-end frequencies of the IMAX playback setup. "I've got to tell you, the IMAX mix is juicy. The IMAX has got some great low end. IMAX rooms are made for that. They're like rock and roll stadiums." Oz the Great and Powerful Re-recording mixers Marti Humphrey and Chris Jacobson completed the final mixes, including the Barco Auro-3D mix, for Oz the Great and Powerful, a Walt Disney Pictures film that saw theatrical release, and is now available on Blu-ray DVD. The final 7.1 mix was completed in the Kim Novak Theater at Sony Pictures Post Production (http://www.sonypicturespost.com) in Culver City, CA, and the final Barco Auro3D 11.1 mix was completed at The Dub Stage (http:// www.thedubstage.com) in Burbank. The Dub Stage was the third mix stage in the world to install a Barco Auro-3D system, according to Humphrey. Their setup consists of a Meyer Acheron system, with six main Acheron 80s behind the screen for left, center, right lower layer, and left, center, right upper layer. They also have four dual 18-inch subs for the LFE situated at the base of the screen. There are 24 surround speakers, with 10 lower surround speakers, 10 height surround speakers, and then four overhead speakers. The left wall lower and upper layers are bass managed into a dual 12-inch Meyer subwoofer. The back wall and overheads are bass managed to another dual 12-inch Meyer subwoofer, and the right wall lower and upper layers are bass managed into a third dual 12-inch subwoofer. "The frequency response for the surround speakers is bass managed with anything below 60Hz going to the subs," says Humphrey. "So when you pull anything off the screen and pan it around the room, which Chris does all the time, it sounds seamless and has the same characteristics as the mains. It gives us a much more immersive mix, because there is no tonal change when you're coming from the front screen around the room. We're a full Meyer system and we're very happy with it." For Oz the Great and Powerful, Humphrey spent a month creating all the dialog, ADR, and group pre-dubs at The Dub Stage, while Jacobson was on the Novak stage at Sony Pictures Post doing the sound effects, Foley, sound design, and background pre-dubs. As Humphrey finished pre-dubbing reels, he'd send them to Jacobson to mix against what he had on the sound effects side. Humphrey notes that with a tight schedule, and a lot already happening on the film at Sony, it made more sense to do the final mix there. On December 24, Humphrey took four Pro Tools|HDX systems, and two additional systems to handle the video and stem recorder, over to Sony, and spent the day setting it up. Since Humphrey and Jacobson like to work in the box, 44 Post • October 2013 F O R F E AT U R E F I L M S they purchased a 64-fader Avid ICON to take over to Sony as well. "We placed the ICON on top of the Harrison," says Humphrey. "It literally sat on top the Harrison. Doing that allowed us to have the flexibility we're used to, and to work in the way that we are comfortable mixing in." The day after Christmas, Humphrey and Jacobson started the final mix and didn't stop until the beginning of February. They did the 7.1, 5.1, and Lt-Rt mixes at Sony. "It went very smooth," says Humphrey. "Everyone was at ease once we put everything in place." Once those mixes were approved, Humphrey and Jacobson took everything back to The Dub Stage to do the you can take the music and position it either between the lower and the upper layer or clearly in the upper layer," says Humphrey. "This allows more clarity for each of the individual elements. With orchestras, you can still have the traditional left, center, right orchestra seating, without fighting all the other frequencies and elements coming out of one speaker. You are able to get clarity and spaciousness without having to beat people over the head with level.That's a distinct advantage to this format versus anything else." Despite being such a new format, Humphrey and Jacobson have had plenty of experience with the Barco Auro-3D system. They remixed Rise of the Auro-3D 11.1 mix. Because Humphrey and Jacobson always keep their mix virtual, they had over 1,200 tracks spread over their four different Pro Tools|HDX systems. The dialog, ADR, and group were on one system. All the music tracks, with over 435 voices being used for music, were on another system. The effects and sound design were on the third system, and backgrounds and Foley were on a fourth system. They were able to take their mix and translate it into the Auro plug-in. "We copy all our panning moves from the 7.1 mix into the Auro panner plug-in," Jacobson explains. "So we're starting with our basic moves from the 7.1 mix.That takes up just the lower layer. We can enhance it beyond that by panning things up and around using the individual elements. We weren't doing stems. There was nothing committed at that point. We were using the individual elements and panning them around as needed." For example, during the tornado scene, Jacobson panned the wind sounds, as well as things caught in the tornado, like a calliope, around the room. He says, "We had things going on in every speaker. There were whoosh parts and processed musical elements panning around the room." Humphrey feels that one distinct advantage Auro has over other systems is that, behind the screen, there are lower layer left, center, right channels, and upper layer left, center, right channels. In a typical mix 5.1 or 7.1 mix, the dialog, music, effects, Foley, and other sound elements are fighting for the same space up front. "The beauty of the Auro system, and what I think is one of its strong points, is by having the upper layer, Turbo's Auro-3D mix was done at DreamWorks, while the Atmos mix was completed at Fox. www.postmagazine.com Guardians into the Auro format for DreamWorks Animation, using the stems and split out elements from Andy Nelson and James Bolt's original mix. Humphrey and Jacobson, under the sound supervision of Kunal Rajan, did the full 5.1 and Auro mix for Vishwaroopam, a major Indian spy thriller film that really put Auro on the map in India. After that, they worked with sound supervisor Jussi Tegelman on the 7.1 and Auro mix for Oz the Great and Powerful. Since their work on the Oz film, they've done horror/thriller film Oculus in both 5.1 and Auro, and they recently remixed Ender's Game into the Auro format using the stems and split out elements from the mix that Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill created at Fox. Turbo Sound designer Richard King and re-recording mixers Andy Nelson and Michael Babcock created the sound design, 7.1, Barco Auro-3D 11.1, and Dolby Atmos mixes for the DreamWorks Animation film Turbo, which saw theatrical release last summer and will be available on Blu-ray on November 5.The final 7.1 mix was completed at the Howard Hawks(http://www.foxstudios.com) stage at Fox Studios in Los Angeles. Fox Studios recently installed both Dolby Atmos and Barco Auro-3D systems on the Howard Hawks stage. Their setup includes 56 Meyer HMS-12 high-power surcontinued on page 46