Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521562
20 S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y M E E T T H E W I N N E R S Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the second movie of this successful Spider-Man series, in which Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales embark on an adventure across the multiverse of Spider-People, facing the challenges of protecting their own kind and finding the true meaning and purpose of their life as superheroes. It explores the multiverse of Spider-Man through an exhilarating experience and the excitement of being immersed in a comic book full of captivating images and beautifully crafted sound. This movie was produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson. The movie has a powerful, energizing, and charming sound that plays a vital role in the storytelling and the experience. Each of these universes is carefully created to be authentic and unique, while still belonging to the Spider-Man world, through the use of multi-language dialogues, layered and purposeful Foley, relevant and vibrant backgrounds and SFX, and a musical journey that leads the way throughout the film. Re-recording mixers Michael Semanick CAS and Juan Peralta; original dialogue mixers Brian Smith, Aaron Hasson, and Howard London CAS; Foley mixer Randy K. Singer CAS; and scoring mixer Sam Okell were recognized for their excellent work with the CAS Award. Michael Semanick CAS and Juan Peralta had worked together on a few projects, so they know each other well, and it was natural working together again on this movie. Michael had worked previously with producers Chris Miller and Phil Lord on the first Spider-Verse movie, along with other animated features, so they already had a good working relationship and understanding of their creative objectives. The film was mixed at Sony on the Kim Novak Stage. Michael was in charge of mixing dialogue and music, while Juan mixed SFX, backgrounds, and Foley. Their approach to the scenes in a movie of this scope and size is to make all the frequencies and elements work, while always asking themselves, "What is the scene about and what type of emotion are we trying to get?" Michael Semanick went to Berklee College of Music, where he majored in music production and engineering. Once he graduated, he moved back to the San Francisco area and started working at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. As a recording engineer, he would record everything from spoken word to rock bands, rappers, classical music, Foley, ADR, and music for film, doing the job that was at hand. He was then offered to learn film mixing at the Saul Zaentz Film Center. Not sure what direction to go, he consulted L.A. film mixer Terry Porter, who suggested he Re-recording mixer Michael Semanick CAS MOTION PICTURES – ANIMATED SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE b y D a n i e l V a s q u e z V . C A S