Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521956
30 C I N E M O N T A G E F E A T U R E what the "issue" was with the original take, and whenever possible, use as much of it as we could, surgically editing around the words or phrases or syllables that raised concern. John Creed and Ayako Yamauchi did an incredible job working around the dialogue obstacles. Greg Russell: There are many interior dialogue scenes throughout the series, and we wanted to create a level of activity and energy to enhance movement and scale outside these locations. The sound editors created a variety of elements to work with, from the sounds of hammering and building, to horses and cows and other specific animals. Distant voices and very specific birds and bugs indigenous to the re- gion were essential in creating an accurate and authentic soundscape to transport our audiences to Japan in the 1600s. Justin was very sensitive to the amount of energy that was outside, and we sometimes pared it back a little bit. We ended up striking a nice balance of activity and energy with regards to our atmospheres filled with rich textures to create interest, intrigue, and tension without being distracting. That word "distracting" is a big deal for me, because if we're taking away from the focus of the scene by something going on in the background, that's never a good thing. So I spent quite a bit of time equaliz- ing the high frequencies down and adding distant slap and echoes to give the off-stage elements a much more realistic perspective that sits in the scene without taking away from it. We owe a lot to Foley artists Sanaa Kelley and Matt Salib and Foley editor Ken Cain. They did a beautiful job bringing such detail to each scene. CineMontage: How does working on the sound design/mixing for this show compare with other historical pieces you've worked on? Pederson: When I think of historical films I've worked on in the past — you men- tioned "Apollo 13," which depicted a true story in the 1970s, and the story in "Schin- dler's List" took place in the 1940s — both of them have a historical record that required our attention to be as authentic as possible. However, they are films recounting events in the 20th century. We've heard rockets (maybe not in person, but audio in some fashion), and we've heard vehicles and servo motors, trains and guns, etc. These sounds are familiar to us today, and the challenge was to get them right and blend them effectively. B u t w h e n i t ca m e to "S h ō gu n ," t h e specifics of a time long ago had to be con- sidered. Everything was from a world I've never touched or heard, so I think that made us all sit up a bit more and pay attention. In our modern world, we always have a noise din around us of traffic, planes, leaf blowers or whatever. Japan in the early 1600s would be a stark contrast…nearly silent. We'd let the wind be gentle, let the bird song play. You could hear things far in the distance because it's so immediately quiet. A r m s t r o n g : I t s e e m s l i k e a l o t o f period-piece soundtracks are dictated by technology, but here we let nature take the front seat. Jim Gallivan and Ben Cook tack- led the sound design head on and created "We struck a nice balance of activity and energy … without being distracting," says Russell (at right, with Pederson). P H O T O : M A R K E D WA R D S SEE PAGE 51