Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475409
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S I 33 started to hallucinate and thought they could hear farmyard animals. This was another Kyma-made element, combining water with chickens. We wanted to create a sound that could sound like chickens to the boys, but drips to the divers. RT: Ron specifically wanted the reverbs for each section of the cave to describe the space they are in, so you can tell from their voices whether it is an expansive space or a tiny, long tunnel, feeling like you are in there with them the whole time. This is the genius of Ron Howard; he has so much to think about, but he still finds the time and mental capacity to talk to us about this and other key sound ideas from the very start of the post process. MA: There feels like a very specific choice of whose vocalizations we hear underwater. This really gives us a good sense of the various experience/comfort levels of the various divers. Can you talk about how you put this together? OT: The cadence of the breathing was a useful tool in conveying how the divers were feeling at that stage in the dive. Other than the first dive, we had a slower and more even cadence for the experienced cave divers. The SEALs were far less comfortable in that particular environment, and we hear them using up their air far too quickly due to anxiety. The divers would communicate via hand signals, so we only used vocalisations when they were trapped, or being tumbled about by extreme currents. This was a mix of John's efforts from the recording session, and voices we put through the Cross Filter. MA: There is a distinct sound of the water movement from Chamber 3 to the T Junction where it feels ferocious a lot of the time. From the T Junction and beyond it feels like there is a slightly less intense movement to the water. Can you walk us through this? OT: Two currents converge at that location making it particularly turbulent. It's also the point that the Navy SEALs got to before having to turn back. We needed variation in the environments too, so things calm a little after that point in the journey. MA: Let's talk about the final rescue of the kids in the cave. The first day of the final dive starts with a very sombre mood as we wait to see whether this risky idea of sedating the kids and diving them out will work. Can you walk us through how you designed the moments from the first kid diving out to them coming out at Chamber 3? OT: Up until this point we're usually tracking two divers at a time, this part of the film had a very different feel and intensity. The early part is all about how difficult the cave system is to navigate, this is now about the race against time as the oxygen in the cave where the boys are is running out. Sometimes we were supporting the underlying tension and responsibility the divers were feeling, and sometimes we had to hit the cuts between people and environments much more, highlighting where each diver was in the journey. We hear a little of the generator sound underwater as they approach the safety of Cave Michael Fentum recording John Volanthen at the Wookey Hole cave system. John Volanthen is a British cave diver who specializes in rescues. John played a leading role in the Tham Luang cave rescue and was one of the two rescue divers to find the boys in 2018.