Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500189
34 M PS E . O R G don't understand it. So once it gets past the nomination [which is voted on by the Sound Branch members] it's hard for people to make a critical assumption. They probably just follow what the pundits are saying. And…if I do my job right, you won't notice it. You'll be so involved with the movie … there will be nothing taking you out of the film. In a good movie, everything's in the pocket. That's exactly what you want—so you shouldn't pay any attention to me at all! And that is a hard concept to celebrate for those who don't understand. VRS: Tell me more about the complexities. GYW: The Way of Water is incredibly complex and complicated. The performances are those actors' performance. For instance, Sigourney Weaver. There's no way in life that she could play a 14-year-old kid. But in this movie, she plays a 14-year-old kid! And we didn't do anything to her voice. What she did was completely her. So most actors might not even consider her for a nomination because she's animated. They don't see her as her! So we need to educate people to know that that is her real performance, which was amazing! Or the production design because it's all digital. How should she be considered in the same way as a live-action film? It's just as important—it's just displayed differently. Sound has a similar problem. People really don't understand what we do or all the different parts of it—the Foley, the ADR, the dialogue editing, the sound effects, and backgrounds; then there's the mixing of it all. It's a lot more than that! When people learn I'm a sound editor, they usually ask, 'Oh so you do the music!' 'No, I don't do that. I do everything BUT the music.' I thought Top Gun: Maverick was a really dynamic mix—it deserved to win. But then I thought all the sound-nominated films this year deserved to win! [The nominees for 2023 were Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman, All Quiet on the Western Front, Elvis, and Top Gun: Maverick.] They all deserved a place at the table. They were well edited and the sonic choices that were made were excellent. I don't always feel that way every year. These were all well-earned nominations. I think in judging them for the nominations, you have to keep a level playing field so I'm glad they made it so you had to submit a continuous 10-minute clip. [Instead of cutting the film up into pieces to show off the sound effects.] I look at dialogue editing to see what I can leave in and what I can take out—I watch the film and figure out what is going on that is important to the story at that moment. Does that click go with what I see on screen? Does that bump take me out of the movie? If it does, then out it goes! Sometimes you need lipsmacks and sometimes you don't. If it distracts, take it out. Everything works better, taking out the distractions, when everything's altogether—unless of course, the distractions are intentional. VRS: What else do you like to do? GYW: I read fiction, The New Yorker, novels. I love not being in front of a computer. I have had horses in my life. I am a moderately capable motorcycle rider. I love live music, eating out, going to theaters—film and stage, being with my kids and family, warm weather, oceans, travel—I can skip the piña coladas though! VRS: Do you have other goals or aspirations in your life? What is something else you've maybe always wanted to do? GYW: I have a small production company with two phenomenal women. We produce smaller budget films, several in development now. When I lose my hearing, I will be able to make films from the other side— the 'pre' not just the post. Gwen and husband Jeff Whittle attending the 2010 82nd Academy Awards for Avatar. Dress by Nazlicouture (Nazli Eslami).