Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475409
34 I M PS E . O R G 3. The isolation of being in the cave or underwater is in stark contrast to what fi nally greets the boys—a huge team of rescue workers and medical staff . Along with the work Rachael did, we wanted to make that sound busy in a very focused way. Almost everyone followed this story as it was happening, but I don't think many of us knew the specifi cs of how the boys were saved. It's an incredible story of ordinary people doing something truly extraordinary. MA: With Ron thinking about sound so early on I imagine he was very specific in the mix stage about all the sound. Can you talk about the collaboration during the mix? OT: We were sending bounces during the entire process, so we got feedback from James and Ron about what they liked and didn't like. From there we kept all the sound in the box and continued to develop the mix through the temps to the fi nal. RT: Ron was in New York due to COVID restrictions during the fi nal mix, so he would connect with us in London through a stage near where he was based. His day would start halfway through ours with the time diff erence, but despite that he was still able to make notes and contribute like he was in the room, which was invaluable. OT: Luckily, Ron had been able to attend the temp mixes prior to this, which gave us all the opportunity to develop a rapport that would be instrumental in working with him remotely later on. MA: The music in the film is quite subdued for large sections, allowing for the other sounds to really push the drama. Was this planned from the start? OT: Knowing that all our sounds were going to be fi ltered into a mid- frequency and positioned all around us, we knew that this could have issues coexisting with music eating up those same frequencies. The fact that we were sending bounces early on gave us an opportunity to discuss the idea of having music focus on (L to R) Colin Farrell as John Volanthen, Paul Gleeson as Jason Mallison and Thira 'Aum' Chutikul as Commander Kiet in Thirteen Lives. Photo by Vince Valitutti/MGM Pictures. Viggo Mortensen as Rick Stanton in Thirteen Lives. Photo by Vince Valitutti/MGM Pictures. Viggo Mortensen (left) as Rick Stanton, and Colin Farrell (right) as John Volanthen, in Thirteen Lives. Photo by Vince Valitutti/MGM Pictures.