Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475409
26 I M PS E . O R G MIGUEL ARAUJO MPSE: This looks like your first collaboration with Ron Howard. How did this come about? OLIVER TARNEY MPSE: Ron has made some truly fantastic films, and the people I know that had worked with him previously were unanimous in their praise of how great Ron and his team are to collaborate with. I was asked if we were available, and we leapt at the chance. We had a Zoom call when they were in Australia at the early stages of production. It was myself, and Chris Burdon (re-recording mixer), with Ron, his producer Bill Connor, and editor James Wilcox. It was a really positive, open conversation, with Ron and his team already thinking about post production sound, and what sound would need to bring. It was a promising start. RACHAEL TATE MPSE: That is something that we really appreciate, a director who fully values the vital importance the soundtrack plays in telling the story. He really does understand the potential, and he isn't afraid to utilise it to its fullest. MA: Considering Ron Howard has directed and produced some impressive documentaries over the years, it comes as no surprise that this dramatic film has an intense feel of realism. Can you walk us through how you approached this film? RT: Everyone here was aware of the rescue taking place at the time, but like most we had no idea of the risks that were taken by these people in order to save the boys' lives. So, we approached this project as much as Ron did, with this profound sense of pressure to tell the story right, factually of course, but also to show the emotion and experiences of the individuals intertwined within this larger rescue story. It is sort of two stories in parallel in that sense. Our sole mission as the sound crew is always to help tell the story—meaning every sound needs to earn its place, to push the narrative and keep the audience focused on what you want them to focus on—all while seeming just like the sounds that happened to occur when they were with some of the main Thai boys flown over for the shoot, but a lot of the boys with less of a speaking role are Australia-based, so if they did speak Thai, it would be discernible to Thai audiences as foreign-accented. Ron was explicit about this film playing well to Thais. Enter Alex Boyesen, an English Sound Recordist, now living and working in Northern Thailand. Alex was unbelievably helpful throughout the whole post process, sourcing crowd artists, recording sessions both outside and inside his studio, and attending all the Thai based ADR records, his wife kindly translating where necessary. It was our bridge over to Thailand, during COVID, when we simply couldn't travel over ourselves and accuracy was so important to get right. Alex recorded young crowd artists for us in Chiang Rai, which is about a 45-minute drive from the caves, so they are very local! They've got the right Northern Thai dialect too, which is crucial. We had them running around a field, playing football. They did a load of call outs for the bike journey to the cave as well as walking deeper and deeper inside. Anything that the boys did on set was kept, but these recordings augmented and amplified that. All the adds we did for the boys in these early scenes, laughs, callouts as they cycle to the caves, all the yelling as they run into the caves, all go to making those moments feel more natural. The dialogue between them doesn't feel stilted or staged to me; it works to lift the energy as they head towards what they think will be a fun day trip. Even later, when we cut to the kids waiting in the cave, Ron asked for that realism to be maintained. So, we asked the key Thai-speaking boys from set to come back for ADR as a group, and ad-lib amongst themselves, throughout each cave scene. That chatter in the background really helps to add depth and life to the film. MA: In the opening, water is felt to be a source of life. The boys drink it after playing their game, we pass farms where they would use it to grow their crops and the lush jungle relies on it for keeping the eco system in check. The water inside the cave that seeps through the walls shooting. That is tougher than it sounds when you realise just how much was added from scratch, both from the FX and DX side. OT: The reality of the story is so extreme that it didn't need to be sensationalised. We've worked on quite a few films that are based on recent events, and our approach was the same on this project—first to make it feel real, and then augment when it's felt this is needed. Part of the early discussion with Ron was about giving the underwater scenes their own identity, whilst keeping the outside world sounding very real. This created a useful contrast to the sound of the underwater scenes. RT: We liaised with our production recordist, Paul Brincat, in advance—so we were as prepared as we could be for what was coming, chatting about mics, doing test recordings, etc. There was a hydrophone and booms on set, but it was clear from the off, that we were going to have a lot of issues with rain machines, electrical whines and generator hums and a heavy reliance on radio mics. This is a chaotic, high- energy, immersive world that we needed to build from the ground up. A big challenge, but when the story is so incredible and the film is this good, we were honoured to be a part of it. Thirteen Lives shows humanity at its best, everyone coming together from all backgrounds in the slim hope of saving even one boy's life. MA: The film opens by introducing us to a group of Thai kids during a soccer game. We then travel with them through the rural farmlands and end up at the Tham Luang cave where the soccer team ultimately get trapped by flooding. These scenes are very important for laying the foundation of the bond these kids all have. Can you walk us through the dialogue tracks for this? RT: These initial scenes, with the boys playing football, chatting, joking about; they are key as this is the time to show the audience how close the group is already. We need this light to contrast the darkness that is to come. And to show that they are just normal kids. The film was shot largely in Queensland