Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500189
70 M PS E . O R G screen as a three-dimensional space rather than a flat surface. I don't really have any kind of unfailing creative approach; every film is unique, and I try hard NOT to bring the same approach to each film. I have a procedural approach which I've developed through experience; I start out planning for any recording we'll have to do as those sessions sometimes take time to organise. I begin working on any special sounds that need to be created, then we just dive in. I'm suspicious of grand theories. It's a lot of trial and error. So, if we talk about a specific film like Inception, in practice how did you develop your ideas for this film? I'm not sure how I'd answer this other than to say it's gut instinct and questioning whether I'd hear these sounds in the real world. I think the more the audience feels like they're in a recognisable world, a world they can imagine themselves inhabiting, the more they'll give themselves over to the film. The civilian audience generally don't give much thought to the sound design, they accept it as what was recorded when the film was shot. Sound is the filmmaker's secret weapon. When it comes to the music on a project, how much discussion do you have with a composer to negotiate the space in which you both work? How do you balance the work you and your team do with that of the composer? I generally don't have any discussions with the composer beforehand. I personally don't think it's particularly useful to cook up any grand plans or 'sound designs' too soon. It's better for the track to evolve organically. A rich and detailed sound FX track can happily exist and contribute to the film alongside big, dynamic music if it's done right. The director generally has a plan about the FX and music relationship anyway. I've never felt like this approach is limiting or inefficient. There's never been a train wreck. Have you ever stood your ground against a producer or director for a sound in the service of the story? I'm hired to help bring the director's vision to life. My job is to enter into their world, not to enforce my own view. But there was a film that I thought the director was completely mucking up with his sound approach. He didn't like anything I was doing so he fired me because he thought I sucked and didn't understand film sound. But I just never went away. In fact, I think he fired me twice. The film was a beautiful, elegiac, and moving period piece, rich in historically accurate details. I loved it. He wanted to treat the sound in a way that was totally at odds with the very things that were beautiful about the film. At the end of the day, the mixers, sound team, and I got it sounding the way we wanted it to sound, and ultimately, I think the director wound up with the film he wanted. At least I hope he did. I understand you're releasing a sound library, the King Collection. How did this come about? Yes, I'm in the process of marketing the library of sounds I've amassed over almost 40 years. My first film as supervisor was a big- action-adventure film called Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold, an Indiana Jones rip-off. I didn't have a sound library then, so we recorded everything we needed, along with purchasing the sounds that we couldn't record. We still do an enormous amount of recording for each film. I hope the sounds will L-R: John Fasal, Richard, Eric Potter & Randy Torres, recording cars, Tenet (2020). Photo by Andrew Bock L-R: Randy Torres, Michael Mitchell & Richard, Dunkirk (2017) sound FX team. Photo by Andrew Bock