Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475409
there's an element of self-interest in this method. If I can get the cutting room some great sounding tracks early on in the process, they then will not get wedded to sounds that, to be honest, do not sound very good. I don't particularly have an issue with being asked, "can we just go with the Avid here?" if it's a good sound that not only works but is ideally unique. But when it's some terrible library effect, that's when it hurts to actually put it into the mix. CM: How much time do you tend to have for most projects? JS: That really depends on the project and my role within that project. Since I am spending a fair amount of my time mixing now, that means I have far less time on the editorial phase of projects. If I'm just mixing the show then it can be as little as three weeks or as long as two months. Obviously, if I'm supervising that's a different time span, anything from three to six months typically. So what I am tending to do these days is co-supervise with another supervising sound editor, which allows for me to still have my creative input into a project and be involved, but also not be tied to a cutting room for months on end, and that also means that I can still continue to mix other shows, if the need arises. CM: What was the most unusual sound editing that you have done for a project? JS: I guess that would be Baby Driver. Because so much of it was designed around the music, all of us in sound editorial had to think very differently to how we approached the sound design. Normally with sound design, coming up with something that sounds great is the challenge, and that is pretty much that in and of itself. But with Baby Driver, it had to be musical at the same time. We found there was a sliding scale for every sound that would run between 'sounds great' and 'works musically.' Many times they were sounds that were musical but just didn't work as a piece of sound design, and likewise, there were many times that the sound design was working musically, but didn't work as a believable piece of sound design. And there were also sounds that worked both ways, musically and as sound design and sounded great, but they worked so musically that you could almost not hear them within the music because they blended with it so well, so we had to rethink those sound moments as well. Baby Driver was a very particular sound challenge which I'm not sure I will need to repeat it again! CM: Are there any filmmakers you would really desire to work with? JS: So, so many. Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, I really could go on and on. I'm not sure that we will see the likes of these filmmakers ever again. I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect that the cinema going experience is never going to be like it was when I grew up. Who knows, maybe I will get to work with one of these people, that would be great. I still pinch myself at the fact that I'm working in Hollywood with so many great people and on so many great projects. When I give talks occasionally to people trying to get into the industry, I always stress that it is possible to get to where we want to get to. I am a firm believer in never saying never. CM: Thanks so much for sharing your experiences, Julian!