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 55 that a sound is superfluous and only then discarding it—this safety buffer becomes a costly burden. The main issue, however, is that this layer of secondary sounds blurs the focus and drains creative energy at all stages rather than concentrating it on the main characters. We often record Foley with Natalia Zueva. She's an exceptional Foley artist, having modernized and perfected Foley recording. With her conservatory education in piano, she has a precise ear for nuances and checks how textures sound post-recording, during premixing and mixing. She's achieved a very rich sound, creating depth and perspective even during recording by simulating the approach and distancing of textures. When faced with the massive volume of Foley in Viking, where there are constantly 5-10 warriors or riders moving in full gear on-screen, and multiple layers need to be recorded for each, it becomes very exhausting and detracts attention from the main characters. We decided that for the next project, we would only record characters that are prominently in the frame, with everything else being added after the first pass during the final mix. Surprisingly, we found ourselves needing far fewer additions than we had anticipated. After this discovery, we became even more confident in dismissing "backup" sounds and making several iterations of additions—after the premix, listening to Foley with the backgrounds, dialogue, and music, and after the first pass of the final mix. In our experience, the same issues often occur in ambiance and FX, too—a lot of unnecessary work is done when distributing tasks "horizontally"—I'm doing backgrounds, etc., so those sound families should be everywhere. Yes, Alexandr Khokhlov recording resonant fire movements for fire-bird character in Upon the Magic Roads (2021), in the suburbs of Moscow. Andrey Kireev ©