Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1470109
26 I M PS E . O R G SS: And the first one was Gung Ho, and the last one was The Dilemma? CC: Yes. SS: What was it like to work with Ron Howard? What was the atmosphere like? CC: It was very relaxed. We would do spotting sessions in the beginning, but mainly his interest was making sure that the dialogue was pristine, and while he would prefer production, ADR also played an important part. Loop groups, as a matter of fact, when we did Cinderella Man [2005], he got the crowds to chant and cheer and boo, so that we had that material to work with on top of the sound effects that we had. It made these scenes work really well, especially when there was the boxing and the cheering and the punches. I brought in some professional boxers, and since we didn't have any cameras to worry about, I mic'd them up the wazoo, I had eight mics on them. We were recording on an 8-track Tascam, so that we could actually have one punch with different types of mics recording it with different frequencies, so we could mix and match, and oh, it was endless. And who came up with that idea? Me! We had microphones that caught the atmosphere and then radio mics that took care of the body hits, head hits, breathing ... you know, when you actually punch, the boxers also exhale, and watching that was really pretty cool, letting them go at it. And then I would step in and say I need more of this and more of that. SS: So you didn't use Foley boxing, you actually recorded live boxing? CC: Yes, and then editorially sync'd them up. SS: Wow! CC: So that gave us options. As a matter of fact, later on, when I got asked to do Rocky Balboa [2006], that was another interesting experience. I got a call from Tommy saying that we would like you to come to the cutting room, that they were doing Rocky Balboa in Brentwood. It turned out that the editor was an apprentice of mine back in New York, who worked his way up to being a picture editor. His name was Sean Albertson. When he found out that I was being interviewed for the job, he was ecstatic, he said, "You got my vote." So, in the meantime, I meet Sly (Stallone), and Sly is standing at the doorway, sucking on a cigar and curling (his arm), so he introduces himself. What I came to find out later, is that they had been interviewing different supervisors from Los Angeles, and Sly didn't really express any interest in meeting anybody, and then when he heard that Ron Howard's supervising sound editor was coming and he lived in New York, he had to be there. So I come in and he's very, very genteel, he seemed really nice, and the first thing he said to me, he asked if I thought Cinderella Man is a really good boxing movie, and I said, "Well, I think it's one of the many facets of the movie. I think that there was a lot more to the movie regarding his family and the depression..." and this, that, and the other thing. So he was interested, you could tell that he wanted a little more. Then he asked me how did I meet Ron? So of course, I told him the story. And you know how Sly could be, he's got that lip, "you're kiddin'? you're kiddin'?" ADR supervisor Deborah Wallach, Buddy & Chic during Frost/Nixon [2008]. Chic & his trusty and beloved assistant, Lynn Sable.