Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/710451
EMMY CONTENDERS ing sound mixing. Re-recording mixers Elmo Ponsdomenech (dialogue and music) and Todd Beckett (sound effects, backgrounds, Foley), on dub Stage 7 at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, CA (www.sonypictures.com), say submitting an episode of Silicon Valley for Emmy consideration often comes down to a good guess since they've barely start- ed mixing the season when asked for a submission. "We pick the show we think might be the busiest. We do the same quality of work on all the episodes, but it's nice to submit one that has different locations to mix things up a little bit," explains Ponsdomenech. For this award season they chose Season 3, Episode 6, titled, "Bachmanity Insanity," where the Bachmanity Capital company heads throw a million dollar launch party on Alcatraz. Away from the show's typical quiet locations, like inside Pied Piper's house/ office known as 'the incubator,' or various corporate office buildings, the party in Alcatraz offered a chance for Ponsdomenech and Beckett to flex their mix muscles. For example, in contrast to the show's standard use of music for scene transitions, Ponsdomenech got to pump Hawaiian music throughout the Alcatraz party sequence. He says, "Most of the music in the show is transitional. The composer Jeff Cardoni is excellent. His music is young and hip, and it fits the show really well." Additionally, there's a lot of group ADR in this episode, another atypical element for the show. Sound effects of laughter and light clapping — provided by Warner Bros. supervising sound editor Matt Taylor and sound effects editor David Barbee — fill in the tracks. A water feature splashes happily. As the camera moves through the party to find Dinesh (played by Kumail Nanjiani) and Richard (played by Thomas Middleditch) drowning their women sorrows, the music washes out and their dialogue takes center stage. "Ben Patrick, the production mixer, does a great job. It's a difficult show because the actors tend to mumble and talk fast, but Ben gets it. So really it's just a matter of cleaning it up on our end," says Ponsdomenech, who relies on the Harrison MPC4-D console for EQ, de-ess- ing and futzing, as well as the FabFilter Pro-Q 2 for more precision EQ. For overall EQ and compression on the dialogue, he also uses the analog Rupert Neve Designs Portico Channel Strip. Before Erlich Bachman (played by T.J. Miller) and his biz partner Nelson 'Big Head' Bighetti make their big announce- ment at the party, a DJ air horn sound effect blasts the crowd, cutting off the music and silencing the chatter. "We spent a while trying to find just the right air horn," notes Beckett. Series writers/executive producers Mike Judge and Alec Berg enjoy exper- imenting on the dub stage with ways of making each scene funnier — whether it's finding the right air horn blast, or crafting the perfect pre-party wind storm that freezes guests waiting outside of Alcatraz. "During the mix, Matt [Taylor] will pull up different effects and Mike and Alec will wait until they get the whole room laughing before they make their choice. They rely on the laugh a lot and they trust that we don't just laugh at ev- erything," adds Ponsdomenech. "We are really lucky to get to work on the show because we get to laugh all day." MR. ROBOT After only one season, USA Network's hacker-themed series Mr. Robot has earned 10 award wins and 11 nominations, including an MPSE best sound editing nomination. This will be its first entry for the Emmy awards. Supervising sound editor Kevin W. Buchholz, working on Season 1 of Mr. Robot at Larson Studios in Los Angeles (www.larson.com), submitted Episode 6, titled, "br4ve-trave1er.asf." Buchholz chose this episode because of the synergy between composer Mac Quayle's score and the sound design. He gives two examples from this episode. The first one occurs when protagonist Elliott Alderson (played by Rami Malek) is taken to the riverside and held at gunpoint. In the distance, the steady pounding of a pile-driver rings out off-screen — a typical construction sound for New York City. The sound starts as a background element but gradually, the very rhythmic clunk sound finds its way into the score. "It becomes a part of this heartbeat for this intense scene where our main character Elliot may get executed here beside the river. But then it starts to break apart and goes back to be- ing just a rhythmic, background element," Buchholz explains. "You have this synergy between the score and the sound design. With Mr. Robot, there is a lot of opportuni- ty for that synergy." Another example happens during the prison break. Sirens wail after a drove of inmates flee on foot through the prison yard. Quayle took Buchholz's siren design and wrote a pulsating score that worked with the siren's pitch. "The sound design and the music also walk hand-in-hand for Buchholz (inset) serves as supervising sound editor on Mr. Robot. Silicon Valley re-recording mixers (below, L-R) Beckett and Ponsdomenech.