Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535806
C I N E M A A U D I O S O C I E T Y. O R G 31 One of the main challenges they faced in post was that music had to be separated from the films that were used in the cut since the music would be re-edited to fit a new narrative within the documentary. Therefore, the original music wouldn't be suitable with all the cuts. They needed as much flexibility and separation as possible to be able to remove dialogue, music, or effects from certain sequences. Fortunately, the picture department provided them with a variety of stems to choose from, and occasionally when stem separation was not available, they had to reconstruct sound effects that were missing after the music had been re-edited. Skywalker's resources allowed them access to undipped versions of the stems for greater control. They organized the tracks into eight categories like dialogue, effects, music from the shows, interviews, production sound from B-roll, etc., comprising over one terabyte of music stems. "It was a big puzzle," they recall. Ramiro Belgardt was the primary music editor and had a huge task to perform. He needed to make sure that justice was done to John Williams' music and that it followed the creative and narrative concept of the documentary. "He had the job of making all the elements as clean as we could get it, and mangling that into the show, which is not easy, because you have cues crossing. So, he did a fantastic job of getting that music to work. The show is excellent. But really, the music is above anything that we could have done," they add. Christopher was also the supervising sound editor on the documentary, giving him long-term involvement in the project ahead of the mix. "I like to supervise because then when I get to the mix, I know what's going on." For this mix, Roy handled dialogue and effects, while Christopher, besides being the supervising sound editor, mixed the music. Despite both being comfortable mixing either dialogue, music, or effects, they figured that this division of labor made the most sense. Laurent, the director, was committed to using the original sound whenever possible, however, due to licensing issues, they had to reconstruct some film fragments. The restoration work was completed during the editorial process due to the time that it would take, not only with processing but also with sourcing material, with much of it coming from the Lucasfilm archive. They maintained close communication with the picture department to provide Ramiro, the music editor, with as much material as needed and enough time to edit. Dmitrii Makarov, the dialogue editor, had previously worked with Roy, Christopher, and Laurent, and is known for his high standards when focusing on dialogue and intonation. They had to make sure that the often-used "Frankenbites," which are particularly common in documentary filmmaking, were seamlessly integrated, making sure cuts were as imperceptible as possible. Both Roy and Christopher praise Dmitrii's work. For Christopher, dialogue is king in documentary films. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for the writer. If he or she wrote the line, they expect it to be in there." For Christoper and Roy, it was a pleasure to face the challenge of honoring and supporting Williams' original music. They knew the tracks so well and could hear them in the context of what Laurent had done, bringing the characters and the commentary to life while being enjoyably absorbed in the music—without getting distracted from what was being said. "Those are the kind of balancing things that we do. And it was just a pleasure to be a part of that." "I got chills and was emotional being around John, hearing his words and music, or even just listening to people talk about him. You see through the documentary that what he did touched so many people in different ways. It was an amazing experience. John is such a humble person, he's the sweetest man, [and even] in his 90s, he's doing everything with the same passion, it's inspiring," reflects Noah. "I'm just a farm boy from Scotland, and you see these people and you see these films winning awards and you're like, 'How did they do that?' And then, 25 or 30 years later, you get to mix a show like this and there it is. And then you're getting notes from John Williams—that's cool! We don't know what would be of so many movies without the music of John Williams. People with that kind of gift should be celebrated. It was just nice to be part of that," Christopher shares. "We make these movies to work with people who are like- minded in their pursuit of the craft. The process of doing it is probably as enjoyable as the movie itself. It's the stepping stones in the journey that are rewarding. John and Laurent have that, as does the sound crew," says Roy. While this mix may seem straightforward to some, it required significant effort, careful attention, creative decisions, technical skills, and experience to ensure seamless transitions and the precise placement of all elements within the storytelling. That work is being recognized by Cinema Audio Society members by honoring their achievement. Congratulations to the entire team for their spectacular work in shaping the sound of Music by John Williams and thank you for sharing your experience with us.