Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500189
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 83 that you have been involved with and what makes them so important to you? DW: The Lord of the Rings trilogy was very special for all involved. Great leadership from Mike Hopkins, aka Hoppy, and Ethan Van der Ryn led to creative freedom and a space to hone our art. We recorded all the time and it's hard to top the spirit of that particular collective of soundies. I actually quit the first film just before I started, so they brought on Tim Neilsen in my stead. Hoppy was pretty frustrated, but back then, we had just moved to Wellington and had two very young kids, so I decided to work on a TV show instead so I could be at home more. I eventually ended up being asked to do the prologue for the film which was the best 10 minutes of anything I'd ever worked on. I was pretty happy that the first thing that anyone would see of the film was my work. I had crappy studio monitors for years and bought a pair of LSR28Ps to do the job. I created a bass drop when Sauron chops off the finger and played that sound so many times over and over, driving the people in the rooms next to me nuts. I do love that moment. Then when Hoppy and Ethan won the Oscar for The Two Towers and said our names on stage, we were so excited. It was so special that they remembered their team when they won that award. Very precious memories. District 9 was a pivotal moment in my career. I've been offered more work off the back of that film than any other and I will always be grateful to Neill Blomkamp and the producers. Working with Jane Campion of The Power of the Dog has to be a highlight as well. I absolutely love doing drama, but this was next level and the script was written for sound. She told me initially not to be too focused on the characters, but on the world itself. The characters came later. We got to record all the vintage cars from the film and mid-COVID, they sent me rawhide rope, spurs, boots, and chaps to our house. It was an interesting lockdown! MC: I have to say my favourite film experience was working on Denis Villeneuve's Arrival. Dave and I created the alien vocals which was a great learning experience. Dave is so skilled at creature and language design and Denis is incredible to work with. That film is also stunning and really struck a chord with me aesthetically. I also loved working on Tintin as it was the first big production I worked on here in New Zealand. It was amazing to be a part of a Steven Spielberg film. He is an absolute legend and utterly diligent in his craft. However, some of the small films or productions I've worked on have produced the best memories in terms of working with crew and the camaraderie that we have. When approaching a new project, how do you prepare for the work? MC: Our work on a project starts as soon as we first hear about it. From the first moment, you start working in your mind, conjuring ideas. Depending on how much time we have leading up to the project, we start as early as we can, reading the script, making notes, and having conversations with directors and producers. Then as we get closer to starting, we develop a palette of sounds, which often involves going out to record new material as much as we can. We always try to produce a fresh aesthetic for each new project. DW: If we are lucky enough to come on in pre-production, I'll typically read the script and make sound design notes and share anything that could help inform a particular scene or moment. I like to do a lot of research to understand the subject matter or science behind what I'm working on. I always ask for artwork or the production bible to get a vibe for the look and feel of the project and then often