Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1335892
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S I 51 M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S I 51 rolling, growing chorus of crowd to play with. This organically then suggested the crowd should clap on the "4s." The chant and the vision for the scene was born. I collected a library of stomps and claps and built a temp track of a growing crowd and handed this off to Nick to prep his materials for the shoot. The extras on the day of the shoot did a fantastic job stomping, clapping, and chanting but none of the recordings were useable because they were littered with playback. I had hoped that at the end of the day, Nick would be able to get a pass of the crowd in isolation without playback but the day ran long and as soon as they got the last shot, everyone was released. Damn. Again, loop group formed the foundation of the chant which we recorded on our day with Tina's group. We recorded three or four layers of chant (12 actors), as well as all the booing with different levels of intensity, sorted these and placed these in the timeline in Pro Tools. Bryan and Olivia both then mined libraries for chorus samples of oohs and aahs, including the Vocal Chant Tool sample library for Kontakt and painstakingly edited these in, as well as spinning off some of these into Sound Particles to generate additional voices at scale. We used a similar approach for the stomps and claps, working with Dan to get a whole variety of different shoes and intensity of stomps to collect as samples to build upon. To feel the progression of the at-fi rst-hesitant few people joining Sam while the rest of the room is booing, to then 10 more people joining in, then 30, then 50, then 100, then everyone we laid up, I think a dozen or so pre-dub groups to play with in the mix. We also built specifi c shifts to match the perspective jumps from on stage, to in crowd, to back of the room, to above crowd. Careful use of different reverbs and EQ help to defi ne each of these perspectives, along with dark whooshes for over- the-shoulder shots of claps to put the viewer in the crowd, different sources for the sub channel, including stomps run through low ender to generate sub content then fed into a mono reverb to generate a variable long tail fed to the sub channel to mimic the feeling of the stomps resonating throughout the room. All of this intensity building while Malcolm very calmly narrates the memory overtop. We spent a good day sculpting this on the mix stage to great success. One of the things I really enjoy about the fi lm and about our process in building the soundscape is that the locations call for and allow for a richness and a depth to the sound of each environment, along with opportunities to support the story as it unfolds. For example, Olivia crafted some really nice moments with the rooftop scene. After spending a good little while inside the claustrophobic motel room where the ambience is mostly low and mid frequencies—rolled off vintage car bys and distant group walla, we escape to the freedom of the rooftop. A gust of whistling wind as the door is opened to the vast night sky, trees rustling nearby, distant reverberant cars and off- screen hotel guests getting one last drink in by the pool all excite higher frequencies in a natural and realistic way evoking a sense of serenity and freedom as the four friends immerse themselves in a moment of peace. The ensuing swells in the background ambience that then give way to the dark and ominous fi reworks sounds are all carefully chosen to refl ect the sentiment of each moment as the dialogue unfolds. Oftentimes it is simple environmental sounds that allow the audience to easily attach themselves to the characters and their experience by being in the environment with them rather than observing their experience on a screen from a distance. This is sound design just as much as building a never-heard-before sound from scratch is sound design. I have the utmost of respect for a designer who is capable of using sounds from the natural world to evoke feeling and emotion engage the front row to join him in the chant to the song "Chain Gang," setting up a foundational rhythm that spreads throughout the crowd until the entire hall is stomping, clapping, and chanting in unison leaving Sam free to vocalize over top. Early on when we were prepping for our music pre-records with Leslie, I realized that since the "Hoo! Hah!" of the chant lands on a syncopated upbeat, we would need an anchor for the "1," the downbeat of each measure, so I suggested Sam stomp his foot to create the downbeat. This gave us another element in the