Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521562
22 S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y that, like the visuals, you are moving through a 3D space of sound where things are revealed to you within the mix at the right moment in the right place as part of the story. Everything finds its place while keeping the whole vibe and energy of the film throughout," noted the original dialogue mixers, Brian Smith, Aaron Hasson, and Howard London CAS. The dialogue was recorded at Sony with Howard on ADR Stage 1, Aaron on Stage 2, and Brian on Stage 3. Brian Smith was born in Canada and moved to the US to attend film school in New York. He then relocated to L.A. and found his first job in the industry at Taj S o u n d w o r k s , which was a Foley stage, where Brian's job was assisting the sessions, picking up props, and similar tasks. After meeting different people there, Brian moved to Brasher Sound, where he started in the machine room and then began mixing Foley before moving into ADR, working at different studios, mostly in the L.A. area. Years later, in 1990, he got the chance to record Foley in the evenings at Sony and, a year later, an opening came up on the ADR stage, which Brian took. From that point until his retirement this year after a successful career, he recorded ADR at Sony. Dialogue and ADR mixer Howard London wanted to be a filmmaker from a young age. Trying to shoot an independent film of his own, he was searching for work to help offset the overhead of his production, which was quite ambitious, so he took a few available jobs. One of those jobs was in a sound studio in Hollywood, which offered him the opportunity, not only to work there, but also to have everything for post- production at his disposal for free. Although finishing the film was difficult for him, he got into still photography, which allowed him to pay for the project, but then he stayed with sound. Jumping into sound after studying photography and lighting made perfect sense to him "because it's all physics. The same physics that are relative for light are relative for sound." Howard later joined MGM [which is now Sony Pictures Studios] in the sound department, starting as a recordist and doing different tasks like dialogue editorial on two-inch tape and digital, and then moving into mixing and ADR in 1990. He helped redo the ADR stages, making ADR Stage 1 at Sony his workplace until today. On the other hand, original dialogue and ADR mixer Aaron Hasson became interested in sound as a kid. His family had a little market in downtown L.A. and there was a high-fidelity audio store in the area where his dad bought a good hi-fi system for the family. The system became like a playground for Aaron who, at the age of 5, began experimenting with the signals, frequencies, and distortions, making it his first encounter with sound processing. "The speakers were as big as a washing machine, that's how I remember it," Aaron recalls. Years later in high school and college, he was experimenting with music production and was involved in a couple of bands. When choosing a career path, Aaron decided to go to college to study computer information systems, which was a growing and emerging field at the time. During his last semester, he took an internship at Sony in Culver City when analog was starting to crack and digital equipment was being introduced in the professional environment. This was a major change for experienced mixers and editors, so Aaron's knowledge of computers and audio was helpful to aid in the transition. Thus, his profile was well rounded for what Sony needed at the time. His tasks became very relevant to the point that he was hired after the internship to help keep the routine and workflow going. After acquiring some experience, Aaron got into the union and was hired as an engineer to integrate the Pro Tools systems, leading him to become a mix tech or recordist at the time. Around 2015, he jumped into ADR which, because of his love for music and recording, became a natural environment for him. "The best job I could want in post-production sound would be this. I'm just happy that I got here!" Brian, Aaron, and Howard recall mixing very evenly in terms of the number of lines of dialogue for this movie, with the mixer selection depending on scheduling and talent availability. It was very important for them at Sony to replicate the same equipment, microphones, and workflow across the three Original dialogue mixer Brian Smith Original dialogue mixer Howard London CAS