Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1487730
92 I M PS E . O R G recordist prior to the shoot and to give them the energy to fight for the best possible recording. LV: Of course, there are films where, through no fault of the recordist, the shoot is an extremely difficult situation. For example, on Fury Road, you're never going to be able to hear the character speaking over the sound of that engine. But if they can get a recording of the engine, then that's an invaluable contribution. WP: We would have been really lost if Ben Osmo and his team on Fury Road hadn't spent time recording all those vehicles. They were unique and they were completely covered, 100%. Everything from the gear shifts through to the engine, the exhaust, and the doors. Some recordists will say, "I can't concentrate on any props," and I say that's fine. But if it's a unique prop that we are unlikely to get our hands on again, please give it a shot, try to find the time. But in the end, that's secondary. Just capture the performance, that's where the effort has to be. JW: Speaking of recordists, back in 2010, during Happy Feet, you sourced and digitised the original quarter-inch location recordings from all three Mad Max films. Can you talk about BBS's contribution to Mad Max: Fury Road? Was the idea to use sound as a homage to the previous films? WP: Fury Road was first muted to us long before we started Happy Feet. It was originally to be shot around 2003, then the war in Iran broke out and all sorts of mad things were going on in the world, and the film ultimately got held up. So, George turned his attention to Happy Feet. Originally, George wanted the music for Fury Road to come from the Doof Wagon, the mad guitar guy, the drums and the engines. I spoke to some musicians about getting my hands on old instruments, like bassoons with broken reeds, saxophones, old banged-up pianos, things I could incorporate into each of the character engines. Then we asked the producer, Doug Mitchell, if there was any archive material from the first three movies, which thankfully there was. So, we started very early on immersing the whole sound team, creating a library of musical instruments, as well as whatever sound effects we could glean from the original quarter-inch location recordings. We found incredible stuff from the interceptor; we had the air intake, the exhaust, the skids, the engine block. We were building a library which we knew we could use for Fury Road. There were even recordings of Mel Gibson's leather jacket that we could now use for Tom Hardy's jacket. Jenny Ward, Wayne, Phil Heywood & Fabian Sanjurjo, Best Sound for The Great Gatsby, AACTA Awards 2014. Rick Lisle, Wayne & Fabian Sanjurjo, BBS, Lego Batman (2016). Photo by J. Ward Sound post crew for Australia, Deluxe Mix Facility, Sydney, 2008