Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1448505
58 I M PS E . O R G so open to experimentation and has "big picture" thinking where it's not just, you know, your little fiefdom in the process, but what's best for the whole movie. When we're experimenting, we often don't know what's best. We're just going to try it and see how it makes us feel. If you can give yourself goosebumps, then that's a good indication that you're on the right track. This is hard now with the COVID world, but pre-COVID, we would bring the filmmakers into the studio, the design room, play them where we're at in 7.1 and let them react on a visceral level to the direction we're going. I think we were all pretty much on the same page. I think with A Quiet Place, one thing we did discover was, there was one version of the movie where we had just creatures vocalizing all over the place, and it made it less scary. So then, that was one thing I think, John (Krasinski), but in particular, Brad Fuller brought up—let's try "less is more," see how much we can strip out and go the It's amazing that, to me for her especially. PL:• There's one filmmaker I can think of specifically, which I will not mention, where all the sound, everything is at the top, the music, the dialogue, the sound eˆects, and when you leave there, you're like, so overloaded. It limits your experience, you're actually struggling to hear words and then you're not taken on a journey.• EA: You need the valleys to appreciate the peaks. What you don't want is just a plateau. That's boring. So, I mean sound can be amazing if you can shake up an audience's body, you know? But if you do that too much, you're actually pushing them away with sound. By ripping the sound out, you can actually pull them in again, pull them towards the screen and make them lean in. So sound is powerful that way. PL: So you were nominated for an Oscar for A Quiet Place? EA: Yes, nominated for that, and a couple other ones. PL: But you did win for the MPSE Golden Reel that year? EA: Yeah, we got the award that year for A Quiet Place. PL: Well, I voted for you myself. Did you have any creative differences when it came to pure sound or lack of it, versus the music? Or was it pretty much harmonious? EA: It was actually a pretty wonderful experience. And, you know, we're lucky to be working with such brave filmmakers like John Krasinski, Andrew (Form) and Brad (Fuller), but also really lucky to be working with Marco Beltrami, the composer. We've worked with him on a few films, but he is so, so talented, but also L-R Steve Baine, Peter Persaud, Erik Aadahl, Brandon Jones, Justin Davey at MPSE Awards 2019