Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521562
62 S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y dialogue to give the story impact while keeping the soundtrack interesting, but not exhausting. When I first saw this project, I was equally excited and scared. Because when it came to us, it was really just talking head interviews, and not many of the other sound they picked up were useable. I know why the waves were distorted, I mean, those waves were really intense and just loud. But then I heard Philip Glass, and I saw these waves and I saw the imagery, the cinematography, and I thought this is going to be an epic project, and I'm going to be very busy with the team because it's not like you can type in "Super Large Wave" and get something that sonically matches a 100-foot wave! But not only that, you have so many waves hitting you at so many times, it becomes about the color of the waves, not necessarily just finding one perfect wave sound. I'm really glad you noticed that because Chris is really big on perspective changes, so there would be a ton of work on that in the mix. Like EQ'ing things a certain way to get those perspective changes and really, I have to say, just mangling the audio that we had there. I really like to use clip EQ and gain in Pro Tools, it's really quick. I process the clips themselves so when we're copying and pasting elements the EQ gets carried along and I don't have to worry about the automation on plugins not following. I can just grab a Pultec, turn a knob, and get that sound I like. Sometimes, it will even distort/clip the audio, but it will be the right sound for the moment. It's purposeful. It matches our dialogue. It fits the scene. If it tells the story, it's right. It's been a ton of work, but it's been really fun. That's what I wish for everyone who's doing this in this industry. I'm not necessarily a surfer, but now I've tried to surf—it's not easy! I'm a listener. My wife and I would travel, and once I knew this job was coming, every time I was at a beach, I would just listen. Even before, I would always listen at beaches, but now I would listen harder. I listened to how big a wave was, and how it would sound when it hit certain surfaces, so we tried to recreate that at some level, with more sonic character in it as well. Did you do any original recording for it or pull from libraries and apply processing? We all did a fair amount of recording, for sure. I spent a couple nights before Season 1 out at Rockaway Beach, which is Queens, NY, depending on where you're standing on the beach. It's probably the biggest waves you can find around here. I went during the middle of the day and set up my little Zoom Ambisonics H3 recorder. However, it wasn't exactly giving me the character that I wanted. So, then I went out again at night, thinking at night, I might get the character I wanted. Brought home the recordings, fell short again. I went out a third time before a storm, and that was when I got some heavier, thicker sounds that were really nice. Ironically, that night there was a casino that was by the beach. I went to the casino, played slots, and even won $5,000! In some weird way, the world was telling me this was the night to be here recording these waves! With the storm, it was moody, it was hard, it was heavy. Throw that ambience recorder in between and behind certain things. Threw it in a garbage can. Just to get different sounds. You were doing your whole Ben Burtt thing—I like it! I love doing what I do, and the studios that I work at have been able to give me the ability to spread my wings a little bit, spend a little extra time on things. I've worked on a lot of different things, and I love documentary work. I like to see the world around me. I'm 43. I used to mix A&E Biography. They were cutting edge, and I was honored as hell to work on them at the time, but they were very bare bones. I'm really proud to say I've worked on documentaries for years. Now, documentary is a crazy medium of its own that has bells and whistles, and we tried to add all those bells and whistles throughout the years, but of course, the story is the most important thing. 100 Foot Wave is that really lucky blend of being able to add a ton of sounds and make it stylized and super-interesting but also staying within the realm of doc work by making it as real as possible. So, it's Keith's room at Formosa Group New York