Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521562
54 S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y stairway that comes off to the street. So, L train noise combined with the city background and people walking down a clanging metal stairway, etc. We do our best to get what we can, the cleanest dialogue. Everything else you can add later. We can control the announcements because we own the train that we're traveling on. But there's always stuff going on within the car that we can't control. We can't control the other trains that might be passing by at any given moment. I've got an endless library of L train effects that we've done over the years. So, getting L train FX is pretty simple. Getting the clean dialogue, not so easy. Scott, is it more difficult recording on location versus on set, or is it just kind of like two different sort of sets of challenges? SS: They're separate challenges. The location situations aren't too much more unusual than other locations that we've run into. It's more a matter of shooting style and things we can't control. HVAC, things like that, are the biggest factors. The locations, other than being difficult to work in space-wise and sound-wise, haven't really been too terrible. They duplicated the front of The Bear restaurant on stage—including three beams that run along the ceiling that drive my boom operators crazy because they're always in the way! So, shooting on stage doesn't really give us any more latitude than what we were faced with on location, except a little bit quieter. Do you think there's anything that only you guys are aware of when this show plays? RC: We try and figure out the formula for every single sound we make, to capture emotionally where the character is at. So, it's important for us to know everything they're trying to achieve in each moment on the show. We try and make sure that we understand it long before we even throw it in to record. SG: There's a lot of rhythmic elements that just ratchet up the tension and you may not even know why. I mean, Season 1, the ticket printer, all the alarms, and egg timers. In this episode, it's the measured cadence of both the music and the voice of the expeditor. Those rhythmic elements that really ratchet up the tension, I think, are kind of hidden things. This episode specifically is about tension and release, but then this episode is also a release after the Christmas episode which preceded it. It's like, "Okay, let's sit in this." It's got its highs and lows and then Richie comes into his own and becomes the "I wear suits now" version of himself. Everybody's all there for Richie for sure because everyone can relate in their own way. Finding your people, finding your purpose. He set it up in the first episode in the third scene when he's in the basement and says, "What am I doing here?" Credit to Chris Storer and the writers and the show runners, they set it up. I wasn't expecting what that episode was going to be and, man, it hits it. It hits for sure. Scott, is there anything that you would like to share with younger production sound mixers? SS: Mostly, it's just trying to get a handle on exactly what the scenes are going to be. We never know exactly what the shots are going to be. So, we mostly just try to cover as much as we can. We regularly have two boom operators, sometimes three. We'll put plant mics in various places where we think dialogue may occur, although sometimes it's just for off-stage dialogue or FX that might play within a scene. We're just trying to get everything that we can in terms of raw material that we think they might be able to utilize in post. The biggest challenge on a location is finding who the people are that really understand the location you're going into—like the person who knows where ventilation controls are—and making sure that they're there on the day when problems arise. Sounds like communication, flexibility, and planning. Those are the key takeaways there. Well, overall, I think this show is beloved. Personally, I put it up there with iconic shows like The Sopranos, where I think this is going to be a show that people will remember and talk about and think about for years. So, for you all to be a part of that, I'm very happy for you. So, congratulations on your well-deserved win. SG: Thank you. That's very nice. It's been great and an honor to be able to work on it with the team. We're just along for the ride, and it's been quite special. L-R: Assistant sound editor Craig LoGiudice, ADR mixer Patrick Christensen, re-recording mixer Steve "Major" Giammaria CAS, dialogue editor Evan Benjamin, and Sound Lounge EP of Film + TV Rob Browning.