Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277927
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 39 Opposite page: Treadstone mixers Matt Vowles CAS (front) and Lisle Engle CAS. Top: Mix tech Rick Santizo helping the stage run smoothly. Bottom: Treadstone -- Episode 101. Photo by Jonathan Hession/USA Network show in the allotted three days, yet still produce the feature-level quality that a show from The Bourne Identity series demands. Supervising Sound Editor Mace Matiosian on the Sound Editorial The Treadstone series sound editorial had many of the same challenges that most high-quality, high-expectation episodics have. The real challenge we faced was rising to the level of the Bourne franchise movies on an episodic schedule and budget. The fact that the show filmed in 11 countries—and international authenticity was essential—made for a stimulating challenge. Treadstone is the Black OPs agency that reactivates the sleeper agents known as "cicadas" that were introduced in The Bourne Identity films to current day, while relating to their origins during the Cold War era. The international scope of the production and the juxtaposition of the timeline between 1973 Cold War- era Eastern Bloc Europe and current- day Europe, United States, and Korea was challenging. We wanted to be certain that the soundscape followed the timeline changes by using authentic time-accurate BG's and FX to enhance those scene changes and transport the viewer to that era. The sound design of the "Tone Poem," which is the tonal audio element that activates the sleeper agents and is used repeatedly throughout the series, was challenging because the timing and circumstance of each use was different yet needed to maintain a similar theme of sound design. Ultimately, we used a complex blend of sound design elements and themed score that Matt and Lisle manipulated to provide an eerie, surreal, cerebral sense of awakening to accomplish this continuity. The Foley was a very important element in the character and texture of the show, and these locations as well, and helped establish the gritty, creaky, oppressive nature of the 1973 Eastern Bloc Europe as opposed to current day. It also lends a very strong support to all of the action sequences. Foley artist Joseph Sabella and mixer James Howe provided the rich texture, grit, and energy that the series needed.