Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/856624
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y S U M M E R 2 0 1 7 25 When we mixed the pilot, we had a little extra time on it because we wanted to do an initial playback for all the keys. I think we let it sit for a couple of days. I'm not sure why. But then we came back and did another pass on revisions. And so, while we were mixing, it was just Joe and I. The keys couldn't be here. And we went down a number of rabbit holes on the transitions. There's one thing in the pilot which is, you go to a flashback and then you're in that flashback and you go to a further flashback, and then you have to come back from that and then into her present. And so you know how when you're mixing and you think to yourself, "oh, I have to make it different." I have to signify that these worlds are changing. First, she's flashing back into her earlier days in Gilead, and while she's in her early days in Gilead, then she's flashing back to her life before Gilead. And so, situations like that … You can overthink it and we went too far. So, when we had our first playback, we got pulled back a little bit, but each transition had to be different. Sometimes it's just a voice. Some might just copy the actual dialogue pre-lap and mess it up with a plugin—a vibrato or something like that—and then only feed a reverb off of that so that it just feels different. And if it can draw you into the next thing, then it works. But I think initially, we started off with maybe a little too much of that sonic geekery. Karol: That is always a danger, too! [Laughs] Lou: We relaxed by episode two and just used what gently moves you from one thing to another unless you need a hard shock. Karol: Well, it's exciting to have a client come to you and have planned to give you extra time to interpret and create. That's such an expression of respect and recognition for what you do. [Laughs] That's great. How much time were you given to mix one of these episodes? And how, I guess, much longer was that pilot time? Lou: We must have had an extra day and a half, I think, on the pilot. So, they're tough to get done because they're not 45 minutes. The last one is almost 60 minutes. But generally, we get two days to mix. The Canadian EP, Sheila, who's overseeing the post, she comes in on the third day and so we play for her and she vets all the stuff that we need to tweak and then the next day, we will do a hookup with L.A. so that Hulu can watch it and— Karol: And they watch from remotely? Lou: They watch remotely. So, Bruce was here for, I think, the first six or seven, and then shooting and editing was done so he went back to L.A. So he actually watched with Hulu for the last three. Karol: Okay. And how do you guys do that? What are you guys using for your remote approvals? Lou: We've been booking Formosa. We do an ISDN hookup. We send down a printed six track and play the show. We've done it in the past with other shows … [We have had] four studios all running simultaneous because we had producers in Ireland and New York and L.A. We do multi hookups. But for this one, we were just playing back in one studio. So, we hit play here. Everyone watches it. We conference call the notes and then, when Bruce was here, we would do options and alternates for him here but when he's there in L.A., then we would go to input and make changes via ISDN. Sometimes it might be swapping out source music, etc. Karol: So we're talking about a two-day mix generally for you and Joe, and then a day for Sheila and your director, and then a day or more often a half-day for Hulu. That's pretty cool about the remote playback. I know so much work is being done in Canada, but I often wonder about that because there are so many of the networks and the producers here. It makes a lot of sense. The Handmaid's Tale shows a striking world. I felt a clear manifestation of the narrative from both my senses of sound and vision and the cohesive artful nature of both led to such an incredible production value. It really helped me lose myself in the story. In fact, I found the experience so intense that I could not binge-watch this show. However, I could also not anticipate more the arrival of a new episode. I can't wait to see next season's episodes and congratulate the producers and directors for creating an environment that fosters collaborative storytelling and truly values the power of sound. The result is astounding.• there's a car pass on the production sound, I got to do something about it or an airplane case, we didn' t have to do that because it is a modern world and it just looks old. "