Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/202179
A U D I O [ Cont.from 44 ] rounds, as well as Meyer 500-HP Dolby Atmos subwoofers. There are six speakers on the front wall, and six on the back.There are eight surround speakers, plus six more for height surrounds, on each wall, and 16 speakers overhead. With the new installation, the Howard Hawks stage at Fox Studios can do 5.1, 7.1, SDDS, Dolby Atmos, and Auro-3D mixes. At the time when Nelson and Babcock mixed Turbo, the Howard Hawks stage wasn't yet set up for Atmos or Auro, so they mixed the film in a conventional 7.1 format. Once that mix was approved, Bab- Michael Babcock (pictured) mixed Turbo with Andy Nelson. cock did the Atmos mix in a different room on the Fox Studios lot, and at the same time, mixed the Auro version at DreamWorks Animation. "I spent a few days prepping a workflow to be able to go to both formats on both stages," recalls Babcock. "I actually did something strange. I mixed a couple of reels in Atmos, and then went over to DreamWorks and mixed those same reels in Auro. I went back and forth a couple of times." Babcock used the stems and split elements from the approved 7.1 mix and spread those across the sonic real estate of the Atmos and Auro formats. The goal was to keep the integrity of the 7.1 mix, but make it bigger. F O R F E AT U R E Nelson, who handled the music and dialog in the 7.1 mix, says, "The dialog and music were pretty set in regards to the Auro and the Atmos mixes, so the bulk of the work needed to happened with the sound effects. Prior to even mixing the 7.1 format, Michael had pre-dubbed the effects, knowing how he wanted to use them in the Atmos and Auro formats." Because the Atmos and Auro formats have different strengths, Babcock wanted to do what would work best for each format. For instance, in Auro, you can record sounds in the Auro format. Sound designer Richard King recorded several sound effects in the Auro format for Turbo. "The people at Barco built a recording rig with 11 Schoeps mics, and it fits into a pelican case and unfolds into this great big thing about the size of a fat Christmas tree," notes King. "A row of five microphones are aiming at a 45-degree angle to the ground, and above that are five microphones aiming up at a 45-degree angle. And then at the very top is a mono mic pointing straight up." King used the mic setup to record jets flying overhead and landing at LAX airport. The mics aiming down captured a more reflective and reverberant sound. That sound plays back through the lower layer speakers in the theater. "When something that loud is going over head, you just don't realize how much of the sound is happening below you, how much reflection of the sound is bouncing back up," says King. The mics aiming up, which captured a more typical sound, play back on the upper layer speakers.The top mic plays back through the ceiling speaker. "You can really tell the difference between these layers when you solo them, but when you put them all together it makes this remarkably real sound." In the Auro mix, Babcock used the native Auro sound effect of the jet to immerse the audience into a scene where a commercial jet flies over Turbo in a moment when he's feeling small, and slow, and defeated. "The jet sound is impressive, realistic, and overpow- D I R E C T O R ' S [ Cont.from 12 ] or text someone, and I can play Angry Birds and take a picture. Other than that, everything else may as well be in Arabic. I am only hands-on in terms of the creative part of it. I defer to the editor and all the post production people." Post: You worked with E3 Media. How many VFX are there? Thornton: "Not too much really. We darkened some things in the process and there were a couple of things in a shot that we really wanted. We couldn't avoid a modern day gas station, [so] we got that out. Little things like that. Very little. Mainly, just in terms of darkening some things. There is a storm [where] the power goes out and we only wanted the candle light. What they had to light outside, we want to bring that down some, so we brought that down." Post: As a musician yourself, does music play a big role in the film? Thornton: "Music had a big role, since the movie has dark humor as well as drama. Sometimes in life 46 Post • October 2013 ering without being oppressively loud," notes King. For the Atmos mix, Babcock used the ceiling speakers to emphasize the difference in height between Turbo, a snail, and the race cars he's juxtaposed with. Visually, the race sequences were designed so the audience is among the cars, both underneath them and beside them. King captured multi-track recordings of Indy cars, with the mics placed all over, and under, the cars. Babcock used those tracks in the Atmos system to not only move the car around the room, but to move the viewer around the car, and under the car. "The movie focuses on the relationship of a tiny snail and gigantic cars," says Babcock. "You can really bring things out into the room, dynamically and sonically, when you're with the snail, or you're with the car, or you're with the people, or under the car, or over the car. All those perspective changes I was able to enhance a lot more in Atmos." There are different advantages to the Atmos and Auro formats. King notes that Auro is great for creating a natural sound, and being able to record natively in the Auro format opens up a world of sound possibilities. King also sees the advantage of Dolby Atmos's object based panning on the mix stage. "I am particularly attracted to the sound of Auro just because it is very natural," says King. "That's the kind of work I'm most interested in doing. Although, it would be really helpful in a film mix, when there is a lot going on, to be able to isolate a sound in one speaker." Babcock points out that these formats are still in their infancy, and likely to change to a degree. "Auro, I believe, is also adopting an object-based system," he says. Since Fox Studios has installed both the Atmos and Auro systems in the same mix room, re-recording mixers Nelson and Babcock will be able to fluidly work between the two formats. "With both systems in the same room, we'll be able to use the same console, with all the same outboard automation, which is hugely advantageous," Nelson concludes. C H A I R there is a soundtrack in your head, where something sounds bigger to you than to someone else. And sometimes something may seem grand or very important. I wanted whatever is in the people's heads to be reflected in the music, so that's what we tried to do with the score. I got some guys I knew, who are really terrific musicians, to do the music. Rick Clark was the music supervisor, a guy I've known for a long time, who's predominantly worked out of Nashville. He and I are both '60s garage band geeks, so all of the source music in there is from '60s garage bands, which would have been listened to by our characters at that time. The other thing is, when you are making a movie on a budget, you are not going to get 'Let It Be,' so this way we can have music of the time and not pay and arm and a leg for it." Post: Did the film turn out as you had anticipated? Thornton: "Absolutely! We would never let it go until it was. If 10 people like the movie or if a million people like the movie, we can sit back and watch it and www.postmagazine.com F I L M S say, 'Yes, this is what we intended to make.' So we are very, very happy with it." Post: What's next for you? Thornton: "I am currently in London doing a movie called London Fields. I have also Parkland coming out. I have what I guess you would call a big cameo, that's also coming out. After that, I've got two or three other movies as an actor. I probably won't direct again for two or three years, but I've got the seeds of some ideas in my head. I'd like to do another one at some point." Post: Is the filmmaking process fatiguing? Do you need time off after directing a film? Thornton: "Oh yes, absolutely. That's the thing about directing: As an actor, you go in for two or three months, and once you are done with it, you are done with it. But as a director, it takes a year and a half out of your life.You only want to do it when there is something you want to say, or something that means something to you."