Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1490686
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S I 45 editing and mixing style. I would say the general mindset is when picking content or when mixing, making sure the frequency type and tone does not clash with the music, and finding the space in that lower mid-range for the weight to sit at the moment in time of the piece. Then when mixing we tend to only have one or two sounds actually present in the mix for a 'design,' both complementary. Normally, one of these will have the weight. We are sound designers and mixers, so we cut sparingly knowing how we will mix it, very few layers and each sound is chosen with purpose. CW: I wish I could say there's a simple plugin or chain that helps you achieve that, but it's all about the sounds you choose and how you shape them. Sometimes the simplest sounds are built from many layers/elements and shaped in editorial till they sound cohesive and powerful. CM: What was the most unusual sound editing that you have done for a project? SJ: For a title called SOMA, we strove for gritty realism—there were hideous creatures in that title and rather than design content for it, we wanted it to sound grounded and real. So we hired a large hall upstairs in a community centre late at night (a similar-sized space to where the creature was encountered in the title) and set up microphones a few metres away focussing on capturing the space as much as the source—and we began to do our best hideous creature screams and groans, slopping water around on the floor, etc., everything loud and nasty one could imagine. When the session was completed, we ventured downstairs from the hall and noticed there was a meeting room. Inside were about 30-40 people having what appeared to be an AA meeting. We had to walk through the meeting room red faced whilst we got some very odd looks as they could clearly hear what we were doing above. BM: Once I was working on an interrogation scene where a pistol was thrust into someone's mouth for Black 2 with Chris. We just couldn't get it to sound as vile as it needed to be, so we tossed a coin. I lost and Chris rammed an airsoft pistol into my mouth, designers to them. When I'm working on a scene, I work on the most complex parts first, then I do the simpler editorial parts. CM: One thing that jumps out in your work is that the impactful sounds all are "sweetened" with a lot of weight and punch. What are some go-to tools and methods that help you achieve this? CS: Simple Texture, but only two or three layers to create the punch or weight, otherwise I find it gets muddy. I might use FreiRaum (Sonible) to bring out some interesting frequency content but it's mainly layering of texture to add weight and punch. I think this workflow harks back to my work with Jimmy Shields in my film days before digital. I do use plugins when creating source material but never really use plugins apart from, say L3 for mastering once I'm putting the design together in PT. It's all just layers :) SJ: There's a variety of tips and tricks to adding style and punch. It's almost become a natural reflex as part of our L-R: Sam Justice and Graham Donnelly ATMOS Suite. Worthing, UK. 2022