Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512183
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 51 lucky to meet wonderful people like Charles Maynes, David Whitehead, Sergio Diaz, and Ann Kroeber. I was amazed at how open they were to communication. In Russia, the community of sound designers is much more closed off. I think this is because most are self-taught, which creates certain "stowaway" complexes. It was never my aim to be a supervising sound editor. One of the reasons why this happened was that I wasn't satisfied with what happened with my sound design afterward, at the mix, when it met other components like dialogue, Foley, and ambiences. The first films were incredibly challenging—either technologically or creatively—as every part had a weak link and it was difficult to find accomplished people who were willing to evolve, explore new sounds, and search for better ways to create sounds. Recalling my experience at the university, I realized that there was a lack of meaningful reflection on the outcomes of my work. This is something scientists usually have— their work often culminates in a peer-reviewed article which helps to structure the acquired experience. Unfortunately, sound designers often don't have this and the experience remains more chaotic and fragmented. By 2008, the film industry in Russia had developed significantly, with movies featuring large-scale shooting and complex CGI increasingly aiming to compete with genre films from Hollywood. Sound art was lagging behind in its development at that time and there was a growing demand from colleges for sound design education. That's how I ended up teaching at VGIK, the main film school in Moscow. After working in the film industry for just over eight years—which is admittedly a short period. I was still "reinventing the wheel" and it was not the best time to start teaching others. But, the technological gap of the 1990s which I mentioned earlier was one of the main reasons why this happened. I started with a one-year course of sound design held once a week. Then, along with a colleague, my friend Anton Balaban, we took on our first master's- level course. Balancing work and teaching was quite challenging, but preparing lectures provided an excellent framework for structuring my own experience. So in developing that curriculum, I'm not sure who benefited more—me or my students. My teaching continued for another nine years until the birth of my second child made it increasingly unfeasible to continue regular teaching. Another benefit of teaching was that it provided me with a large pool of human resources. Some of my former students had already worked in other studios while others came directly to me. These were the collaborators I had been missing! As I mentioned previously, in the mid-2000s, a new generation of sound artists emerged, though unified approaches to technology and production culture have not yet been established, or they became obsolete, or changed faster than people wanted to change themselves. It was challenging to find like-minded professionals in the sound community to team with. I was fortunate to meet Pavel Stasenko, who had long worked at Mosfilm in TV series production. Since I was primarily involved with cinema, it took us a long time to collaborate. However, in 2013, he invited me to work on the design of black powder cannons and action scenes for the adventure film Fort Ross. As it often happens in life, something clicked between us and it became evident that he was a kindred spirit. His area of expertise was more in mixing, but his drive to grow and optimize production resonated with me. Since then, we've tackled challenging projects like Nikita Mikhalkov's Sunstroke, Pavel Stasenko. Photo by Anna Zobova