Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529890
68 W I N T E R 2 0 2 5 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y other direction and now you're empowered because you have their support. It can be a fun way to discover another layer of sonic storytelling. If I'm struggling to find my place within a heavy music section during a final mix, for instance, I'll often turn everything off, including the projector. I'll listen first to the music on its own, then add in the dialogue tracks. I listen to the scene several times and mark on a notepad where I'd like to try to highlight a sound. Next, turn on the projector, highlight the visual cues, and slowly build in the sound effects using only the tracks that I find necessary. From the mix position you're in every single day, things can become normalized. This is a good thing in terms of trusting what you're EQ'ing or adding reverbs to. However, if you take a walk over to the other side of the stage and listen to how it's sounding, it can sometimes be very surprising! Don't overthink it too much! Temp mixes can be exciting because you don't have time to sit and ponder, you need to trust your gut. Quite often, these are ideas that will stay through the course of a final mix. Nicole A. Fletcher Any side project outside of my normal work in animation is stepping out of my comfort zone. Even though I've seen a lot since my start in reality TV, with every new project, you never quite know what you're going to get. Sometimes the production audio is great, but usually it needs some love and there's never one catch-all way to approach a scene. Every time I take on a passion project, independent film, or documentary, through all the struggles (and the "What the ****?" when there's nobody around), I learn something new and exciting. For me, the best ways to be inspired are panel discussions such as CAS or MPSE events, networking mixers, listening to other industry members' stories, watching new shows, and being out in nature and new places in the city. Ken S. Polk CAS To get motivated on a project that may look very labor- intensive, pressure-filled, or a subject matter I'm unfamiliar with, I remind myself that editing, sound design, and mixing is like playing with a giant chemistry set. What you can do with it involves not only creativity, imagination, and psychology, but it can also be very gratifying ... and even fun!!! This self- reminder is usually a great motivator and inspiration for me to get out of my comfort zone and "go for it." Here's one example I learned from my years in the music business. A longtime composer friend had just finished shooting a two-night stand at the Chicago Opera Theater of a rock opera he wrote which contained a 65-piece orchestra, six- piece rock band, 10-person choir, and six lead characters. He asked me to mix down the event in all the existing multi- formats for theatrical, DVD, and streaming. I got the drives, which had 135 tracks of just music, and copious pages of specific notes describing how he envisioned the mix should evoke in each scene. After setting up the session, I tried multiple times to just get a rough mix to see what would be entailed for any of his specific scene concepts. After two hours, I had nothing I felt was suitable for what I thought he wanted and what I thought it should be. I went to bed that night disheartened and frustrated. I got up the next morning not wanting to give up, and it occurred to me as a last-ditch effort to do something different in approach. I looked at it as if I were mixing a rock band tune. I started with just taking the 16 tracks of drums, got a "sound/ vibe" for them I liked, then the rest of the perc, then the bass, and then guitars, and got those working well. Then, I worked on the orchestra, starting with the different strings, then woods, horns, etc., and then vocals. After slowly adding these separate "food groups" back together, what was previously insurmountable and wayyyy out of my comfort zone, turned into something the composer thought was amazing. I still use this method when working on a film or TV project, especially when it involves doing the sound design as well as the mix. By the time I'm assembling the final mix passes, whether with a full crew or solo, I'm enthusiastic and motivated to add that extra 25% to the 110% I've already put into the project! A friend once told me: "You do your best every day, even if you don't feel it. And every day your best looks different, perhaps not what you want it to be, but know it's still your best." Nicole A. Fletcher Ken S. Polk CAS