Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/462877
37 WINTER 2015 / CINEMONTAGE took the in-progress soundtrack to a local theatre to hear how the eight-reel mix was coming together." Rizzo says his favorite moment offered great dynamic range — "where [the lead character] makes a quiet and difficult goodbye to his daughter, then transitions into a huge rocketing departure. It's a moment where all the crafts are working together; everyone's dynamic is exhibited here in the fullest fidelity." Whiplash, written and directed by Damien Chazelle, was re-recorded on Technicolor at Paramount's Stage 4 by dialogue and music mixer Mann and sound effects mixer Ben Wilkins. This is the first Oscar nomination for the creative team, who worked together previously at Todd- Soundelux. "I was stunned to receive the nomination because there were so many good films released last year," Mann acknowledges. "The Sound Mixing category represents a lot of good offerings; we are up against a lot of talented mixers," agrees Wilkins. The film also received BAFTA and AMPS (the UK's Association of Motion Picture Sound) nominations. "Since the film had to be ready for last year's Sundance Festival, we had just 10 days to mix the soundtrack," Wilkins reveals. "Craig and I also served as supervising sound editors on the project, so we were kept pretty busy from day one. After the film secured Grand Jury and Audience Awards at Sundance, we asked for three more days to make some small tweaks and music changes before we let it go." To which Mann adds, "Because the screenplay is semi- autobiographical," Chazelle — who can also play drums — knew exactly what he wanted to hear on the soundtrack. "We had a combination of maybe 20 percent live musical tracks from the set and the rest were pre-records," Mann continues. "We received production dialogue, but there was overlap and carry-over from the various instruments, which we fixed with iZotope RX3's spectral repair plug-in. We also took impulse responses on the set to help match production with pre-record drumming." According to Wilkins, "The sets were pretty reverberant, with wooden walls in a cement basement that had creaky floors. To help us in the mix, we had some great Foley tracks." "We're pleased with the way the track turned out," says Mann. "We made one final pass," says Wilkins, "making sure that every sound was there by choice; in terms of intent, there are no grey areas. To be honest," Wilkins concludes, with characteristic English candor, "the soundtrack is not perfect, but it's bloody good!" f Craig Mann, left, and Ben Wilkins. "We spent a total of 60 days carefully crafting the soundtrack, including 14 days for dialogue pre-dubs and 15 for effects pre-dubs." – Jon Taylor