Production Sound & Video

Winter 2018

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22 don't have as great of a sound as the Sankens or DPAs, but they did very well protecting us against the wind," adds Fuh. Since nearly eighty percent of the movie was exterior loca- tions, wind was a constant battle with sound changing out its wind protection for the boom during heavier gusts. As with many productions today, two cameras shot wide and tight frames so the sound team reacted by wiring actors and finding the best place for the boom. "We always try to get as close to the action as possible," Fuh says. "The radio mic will always win, but we always have a wild track on the boom because it may not be that bad when it comes time for post." Instead of a monitor on his boom, Fuh relies on knowing what kind of lens is on the camera to bring him closer to the scene. Sound also recorded wild tracks of wind for post that includes Supervising Sound Editor/Re-recording Mixer Skip Lievsay, Sound Designer/Re-recording Mixer Paul Urmson and Sound Designer Craig Berkey. Characters traveled through the valleys and mountains by horseback, and while production minimized dialog sequences of them riding, plenty still existed. The camera was mounted on either an electric golf cart with an arm and stabilizing head, or when action was intensified, a suspension buggy was brought in. Sound needed to be bag-ready, covering up to six different actors at a time. There's some instances where they traveled with their own mule to get through the mountains or would set up a remote wireless system in order to get closer to the action with minimal equipment. Sound needed to be cautious working with the horses as to not make them nervous. "We were limited to what we could boom," admits Fuh. "We had to be really gentle about it as you don't want to trick or put them in a panic with actors The two mesh well because they share similar high expec- tations in the work they produce and seemingly enjoy the same movies. As Fuh puts it, García comes from Mexican new wave cinema, knowing directors like Alejandro Iñárritu (The Revenant) and cinematographers like Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity) with Fuh's background stemming from Taiwanese new wave filmmaking. And it shows how well they work together, having been nominated for an Oscar on Ben Affleck's Argo and CAS Award noms for Babel, Iron Man 3 and Clint Eastwood's biopic of American pilot Chesley Sullenberger, Sully. Hostiles was their third project of 2017, sandwiched between the short Carne y Arena and the Dan Gilroy feature Roman J. Israel, Esq. "The locations of this film were challeng- ing. I couldn't tell you how many times we had to shut down because of thunder or lightning in the area," says García. Production roamed the horizons of New Mexico and Colorado to create the visual grammar as Cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi (Silver Linings Playbook) shot ana- morphic, pairing Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2s (G-series, T-series lenses) and Kodak stock. Wardrobe attracted sound's attention early on as Costume Designer Jenny Eagan (Beasts of No Nation) used wool for the Army suits worn by Capt. Blocker and his men. Characters, more or less, dressed in the same attire which allowed sound to collaborate with costume to sew in special pouches for wireless transmitters. "Acoustically, wool is very loud and you can hear the mic rustle against the fabric, so we needed to find the right placement for our mics," notes García. By using Countryman B6s, they were able to hide the tiny lavalier behind buttons, and for Bale's character, the mic was placed inside the scarf instead of the body. "The B6s José Antonio García takes in the beautiful surroundings of production. Opposite page, top: Rosalie (Pike) and Living Woman (Beatty) make one last stand in Montana Bottom: García staying out of the sun complete with apple box and mixing bag Crew photos courtesy of José Antonio García/Jonathan Fuh. Hostiles photos by Lorey Sebastian/Yellow Hawk, Inc.

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