Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1504731
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 63 have a lot of weight and reverb on them. Did Zhang Yimou have any preferences for how the guns should sound? NZ: When it comes to violence, Zhang Yimou has a strong aesthetic sense. In this film, he wanted the gunshots to be powerful and pleasant to the ears. However, in his other film Sniper, he wanted the gunshots to be sharp, sudden, crisp, and very loud. We would like to thank Mark Stoeckinger and his team, who contributed a lot to the gun battles. He is one of the re-recording mixers for our film and has done a lot of sound design work. He presented us with some incredibly cool and intense battle scenes that we loved, and so did the director. JY: I personally think Asian audiences tend to have a preference for reverberation and delay, perhaps due to their fondness for creating a sense of 'space.' In the early Japanese film The Shadow Warrior by Akira Kurosawa, the first scene with three people sitting in a wooden room has a unique reverberation that strongly expresses and provides psychological space for the audience. It's not about the loudness or excitement of the sound, but rather the texture that gives a distinct feeling. I have collaborated with Mark and his team on many films, he's a great person. Even across oceans, our teams on both sides often collaborate on sound design for films, which has been amazing. EM: I loved all of the period car sounds your team built, especially during the car chase late in the film. I imagine these must have been especially challenging given that the cars were driving through snow. Did your team go and record any cars or were all of these from your libraries? JY: Most of the car sounds were edited from sound libraries. However, we recorded some car sounds on location in the northeastern part of China during winter, as well as some early recordings I made in Hokkaido, Japan. These recordings were not used extensively and were mostly Supervising sound editor Jiang Yang, director Zhang Yimou and supervising sound editor Nan Zhao on the final mix stage for Cliff Walkers.