Post Magazine

a spy seeking to discover who "burned" him, an all-too-real office, the workings of the criminal justice system and a 16th Century dysfunc- tional family. All make for good television and all pose unique audio challenges for the sound editors and mixers charged with shepherding these series through the audio post process. T R U E B L O O D Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under and an Oscar winner for American Beauty, gives a new twist to the vampire legend with True Blood, which premiered on HBO in September. With the development of syn- thetic blood, vampires have come out of the coffin to be integrated with mortal culture in rural Louisiana. Mix in a telepathic lead character named Sookie (played by Anna Paquin), who hears people's thoughts and you have the makings of an innovative soundscape. The producers "have been very interested in sound and how it plays" in the 12-part series' first season, says Elmo Ponsdomenech, director of mixing ser vices for Hollywood's Technicolor Sound Ser vices (www.technicolor.com) and the show's lead mixer for dialogue and music, who worked with Ball on Six Feet Under. "They've even gone so far as to do a pick-up shot during some reshoots that established Sookie's normal state of mind to help sell her thought-dialogue state a few seconds later.They collaborate with us." Ball involved super vising sound editor John Benson and Ponsdomenech from preproduction when they broached the issue of how to treat Sookie's thought reading, which happens in every episode and becomes her signature. "We had to define the treatment of her voice, which trails off as reality recedes and all the background action goes away," says Benson. "I did a treatment editorially with [lead dialogue editor] Jason Krane, which Elmo expanded in the mix. It star ts amorphously and gels with key dialogue you want to understand, then dissipates again with sound design, provided by lead effects editor Stuar t Martin, supporting the dialogue treatment." "It's a complex and layered effect that is natural and flowing within the context of the scene," notes Bruce Dunn, the show's co- producer. "In Sookie's head her thoughts are less magical and more a cacophony of voices she has difficulty controlling. We went through three test mixing days, not including what we did in sound editorial, to find ex- actly the right path for this. The work we're doing in 5.1 also had to be clear in all broadcast sound formats of TV viewing so people can follow the story." Tonal sound effects and re- verse dialogue treatment are created in sound editorial to signal Sookie's telepathy while the thoughts themselves are treated on the mixing stage at Sunset Gower Studios with Lexicon, TC Electronic and Eventide outboard processing. "The 5.1 mix is very spread out, and there's a lot of panning involved so I use the sound field to make it interesting," says Ponsdomenech. The vampires are hyperstrong and move quickly, blurring across the screen. Ball wanted to avoid using a generic air whoosh to accompany these actions so the audio team opted to combine sound design el- ements, including a heavier sound with a slightly metallic ring to it, says Benson. When the vampires' fangs appear they descend and fold out into place triggering something akin to a "bone sound," also comprised of several sound design elements. The undead go into a "glamoring" mode to control mortal minds and elicit the truth.Visually, when that happens, the vampire and mortal are pulled out of reality and lock into each other. Sonically, they enter "a more heightened reality with organic and natural sounds," Ponsdomenech explains. Benson says that, according to Ball's directive, "It's important that the vampires be portrayed as part of nature with the insects and birds responding to them when they exhibit their powers." "It's almost as if nature is responding in respect for the vampires doing something powerful," Dunn notes. "It's not always a stare that brings the glamoring effect into play — it can be something subtle so the sound effects help sell being glamored." "And when the vampire locks on a person you hear the blood coursing through the veins of the mor- tal as the conversation goes on," adds Benson. www.postmagazine.com October 2008 • Post 47 Burn Notice is mixed on a Digidesign Control 24 at Larson Sound Studios.

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