Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/711111
37 Q3 2016 / CINEMONTAGE urban areas," he explains. "Tim King visited production in Bogotá and said that the streets are constantly filled with the sound of mopeds buzzing by. So that was something we tried to definitely fit in whenever possible — and whenever dramatically appropriate. I can't say enough about the quality of work that Randy and Dino provided from sound effects editorial. In addition to the backgrounds, we got 64 tracks of hard effects. Since Narcos can be so packed with material from time to time, it was nice to have a wide layout to handle the density of effects…wide for TV, that is! "While mixing effects, I always kept an ear on the dialogue to make sure that I wasn't hurting intelligibility with effects," he continues. "However, when characters were speaking Spanish, it was often difficult for me to tell if I was impeding on their words; that's when I relied on the Spanish speakers to tell me to back off or not." Mixers Elia and Roache have been working together on the feature-quality mix for Narcos since Season 1. "Kevin and I worked with the producers even before production to meet with the new sound editorial crew and communicate the vibe and needs for this soundtrack," Elia recalls. "The main thing was to present raw moments in a way that helped convey the seriousness, and sometimes clarities, that come with the horror of the show's drug violence. This meant a heightened and highly textured soundtrack, without moving into the realm of any kind of Hollywood polish." Producer King was most concerned that Season 2 continued the work done in the first season without compromise. "The clients expected a great amount of accurate detail, which added up to an experience that is all-consuming," Elia continues. "The show has transitioned from the '70s to the '90s, and the sounds have slowly and subtly changed. The technology — wiretaps, phones, cars, etc. — has a very accurate amount of detail as the period and show dictated. The various rings and futz sounds, for example, went into accurate detail for the time, versus being more generic effects. Also, the environments of Colombia were designed to really capture that place, with accurate background vehicles, loop group, insects and bird life. The clients wanted an accurate, textured and very dynamic soundtrack, so that was the overriding direction." Recordist/mix technician Orlando "kept the stage in spec, with network Dialnorm and peaks, pulling from and pushing to the data server," he explains. "And, most importantly, I was problem- solving on the stage so that our mixers could focus solely on the mix for Narcos. At Technicolor, we have seven separate [Pro Tools and Media Composer] machines that work in tandem: dialogue, sound effects, backgrounds, Foley, music, master recorder and two toy boxes that hold all plug-ins, and our Media Composer rig that runs digital picture. They are all tied together via Avid satellite link and video satellite." On the first day of each mix, the recordist compiled all Pro Tools sessions from various editors into a master dialogue, a master effects, and a master music session. "I create templates during the first episode of a particular show and use them for the source sessions as well as the Avid System 5 console," Orlando continues. "At the end of the mix day, I made sure everything was backed up onto our data server, or set up deliverables for the vault to send out. Netflix required a foreign- dialogue split from domestic dialogue; aside from that, it was pretty basic: DX, VO, MX, FX, BG and FOL. We also did print-master splits, such as the 5.1, LtRt, Stereo DME, Stereo ME, Mono DX FX PM and a 5.1 FXBG comp." "Narcos was both a trying and rewarding track CONTINUED ON PAGE 57 Dino DiMuro, left, Jared Orlando and David Padilla.