Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475409
my work as a sound designer and as a listener. CM: When approaching a new project, how do you prepare for the work? RE: It depends on the project and on how soon in the process I am involved. The best experiences are when I start from the script. Talking with the director about his inspirations and his vision is very important for me. The best part is when we write the "sound narration" together and create something like a storyboard with sounds. Then I like to talk with the sound mixer to discuss the way he wants to take the dialogues and the wild tracks. We talk about the textures we are looking for, and what is the best way to prepare for post- production. The more we are able to prepare before the post-production, the richer our work material will be. I am very lucky to have a wonderful crew in DB studios, we sit all together (the dialogue editor, the sound effects editors, and the Foley artist), and we talk for hours about the film. Listening to them and their ideas is the best part. And then, for each film we create a "Sound Bible," where we gather all the sounds that we have and make a list of the sounds that we need to record. This step is really very exciting because listening to several sounds that are related to the film opens your mind and your ears to the process. On every project, I try to summarize the film in one sentence. This line is my starting point. I usually ask the director to give me his sentence and his first feeling when he decided to write the script. This raw emotion gives me the tone of the film. After the spotting session, I always have several conversations with the director, about the books he/she reads, music, poetry, politics, and food. Knowing the person you are working with is very important for the creative process. Almost all the directors I worked with are friends now. We tend to forget the human aspect of the work and sometimes being too professional can ruin the whole experience. Recording walla in Amman, Jordan, for a Belguim film Rebel by Adil ElAbi and Bilall DB team creating sound of underwater and other crazy sounds for a Lebanese film The Sea Ahead by Elie Dagher. From left to right: Vanessa Kanaan, Adeeb Mordaa, Sherif Allam Sbeih, and Rana Eid. I usually ask the director to give me his sentence and his first feeling when he decided to write the script. This raw emotion gives me the tone of the film. After the spotting session, I always have several conversations with the director, about the books he/ she reads, music, poetry, politics, and food.