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was such a beautiful place to record. Stateman used those impulse responses to build every gun sound in the movie from scratch. "Every gun shot was a custom analog-acoustical sound. Normally, you might derive these echoes from a Lexicon reverb device, or TC audio reverb device. All of ours were made from organic, field recordings made in one of those three locations." The film begins with the main character, Django, in chains. Stateman syncopated the sound of chains to the opening music. The chain sounds, along with the other Foley in the film, were created from materials that were as era-specific as possible. Since the film takes place in the 1860s, the chain sound was created using hand-forged iron chains from 150 years ago. "If you take a piece of modern, machine linked chain, every link sounds the same," he explains. "If you take a chain that Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes: Working out of Lotus Post, Gary Coppola handled the music and dialogue in the mix. 40 was made on an anvil, hand-forged by a blacksmith, every link sounds different. It has a much more musical quality, a much more randomized quality." For Stateman, independent films provide the opportunity to create a movie that's true to the director/writer's vision. According to Stateman, Django Unchained is a movie that Tarantino has wanted to make for many years. "His desire, his personality, his script, his direction, creates an opportunity for us to help him complete his dream. Working with a director, the mission is very clear. Working with an independent project, the approval process is highly streamlined. We were making a Quentin Tarantino film, full stop." The final mix was completed exactly one year after the first day of production. Rerecording mixers Michael Minkler and Tony Lamberti completed the final 5.1 mix at Todd AO in Santa Monica on a Euphonix System 5 console. Django Unchained opened in theaters on Christmas Day. Post•January2013 Post0113_038-40,42-AudioRAV8FINALREAD.indd 40 EMMANUEL AND THE TRUTH ABOUT FISHES Gary Coppola is a freelance re-recording mixer who has recently been working out of Santa Monica's Lotus Post (www.lotuspost. com). His past work includes many independent films like Bend It Like Beckham, Friends With Money and Super. For him, Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes is a story that hasn't been done before. "Sometimes an independent film starts off with a great idea, but getting that through to the end, and getting perfect results, can be very difficult to coordinate. The director, Francesca Gregorini, had a great vision for how the film comes together. I think everything works beautifully in this film, from the music, and the sound design by Paula Fairfield, to the direction of the performances, and the cinematography. It all just comes together and it really works." Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes, which is competing in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, follows Emanuel (Kaya Scodelario), a troubled girl who becomes interested in her new neighbor Linda (Jessica Biel), who resembles Emanuel's dead mother. Throughout the film, there is a dreamy, watery aspect that stems from an underwater dream sequence. According to Coppola (www.soundsatisfaction.com), the dream drives the emotional center of the film, as well as defines the parameters for the music and sound design. Water infiltrates many scenes in the film, through we don't find out why until later. "It all goes together around this [water] theme. That is one thing that works so well in this film, the way that was all conceived and executed." Being a musician, Coppola typically handles the music and dialogue in the mix process. The score was composed by Nathan Larson, and the soundtrack includes licensed songs by Agnes Obel. "Francesca put in several montage sequences set to music by Agnes Obel, " explains Coppola. "Her music was pretty spectacular. There is a French pop feel to it." An important scene in the film is a dream sequence that takes place underwater — that was shot within a water tank on-set. For the sound design, Paula Fairfield, a freelance supervising sound designer/editor, had the challenge of expressing the emotion and beauty of the scene through sound. The dream is the emotional climax of the film, and it explains the significance of water. According to Fairfield, "The theme of water envelopes the film. It's everywhere: the opening and closing credits, a wave machine in the baby's room, the waves and water that make up Emanuel's dream world, tears, the womb, and everything in between. It all culminates in this beautiful underwater dream of Emanuel's, where mother and child and daughter unite." Fairfield loves underwater soundscapes because it allows her to push the limits of how things might sound and still be believable. She collaborated with director Gregorini on shaping the sound elements of the scene. "This scene, so beautifully created by Francesca, was one of those cherished moments you get from time to time as a sound designer," she explains. "It is startlingly beautiful to look at, and I think the score and the sound design complete an emotionally immersive scene." Fairfield was able to create the sound design to the score, helping to seamlessly integrate it into the music for a cohesive sound. "It is wonderful for this type of film, which needs a delicate hand, to have the score to work against," she says. "Luckily, I had a great deal of it well in advance of the mix." While there was some ADR work on the film, the director preferred to use production dialogue. Coppola typically likes to start with EQ when working on these tracks. He also likes to zoom in on the waveform in Pro Tools and use the pencil tool to redraw any problems he sees. "Pro Tools allows you so much flexibility to manipulate the sound all the way down to the waveform level. If there is sibilance or ticks or other things that you don't want in there, instead of just chopping it out — what used to be done in the old days — you can just go in and really find what's wrong with the sound at the waveform level and with the pencil tool, redraw it." Coppola also uses the Cedar DNS 2000 to remove broadband noise that can't be removed using EQ, as well as the iZotope RX plug-in. Cedar isn't a "set it and forget it" device, he says. "You have to shape it and perform it along with the dialogue to get the best result. It's a very dynamic tool." Coppola considers independent films his speciality. His 15-year career started with work on early films produced by Anthony Bregman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Friends With Money) and Ted Hope (21 Grams, Super). "I like working with writer/ directors. I like the intimacy of a small crew working together on a project that's interesting and unique. There is something special about independent films that appeals to me." The final 5.1 mix was completed on Stage 1 at Lotus using two Avid D-Commands tied www.postmagazine.com 12/21/12 2:43 PM