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 69 Diving into the headspace of it all, Stephen had some great advice when dealing with issues of creative differences and demanding clients. I asked Stephen how he handles those moments when clients push hard for changes that might not align with his creative instincts. Instead of getting defensive, he's developed a more constructive mindset. "If a client is demanding, it's because they believe the show can be better. And it also doesn't matter if after hours of remixing we end up back where we started," he explains. Rather than digging in his heels, he lives by his friend and music editor Chris Newlin's simple phrase: "Better is better!" While production sound mixers sometimes know the work they're doing is destined for replacement, this can happen on the post side as well. "I was pretty early in my career the first time I went all-in trying to make a great SFX sequence only to have it turned into a music montage," he recalls. "In the moment, it felt humiliating to have my work cast aside." Today, he approaches creative collaboration differently, embodying a "strong opinions, loosely held" mindset— recognizing both the value of his ideas and the possibility that others might have a different vision for it. "Looking back, I wish I'd been there to tell young me that the work was, in fact, awesome. It just wasn't what they wanted for their show." Through it all, Fitzmaurice has developed a strategic approach to his creativity—knowing when to push for his vision and when to adapt. Rather than seeing compromises as defeats, he views them as part of the collaborative process of creating something greater than any single person's contribution. Frank Morrone CAS, Re-recording Mixer One situation Frank Morrone frequently encounters is the "temp love" phenomenon—when directors become attached to temporary sounds placed by picture editors. "I'd like to not challenge them on that," Morrone explains. Instead, he employs a savvy approach: "I will do two mixes of it. A mix that is true to the temp ... and then we do a second pass." By presenting both versions during playback, he lets producers make the choice while still offering his creative vision. This strategy paid off in a boxing scene where his team's version used subjective sound design inspired by Raging Bull, bringing forward some effects during key moments to create emotional impact. One skill he had to develop early on was translating the director's emotional language into technical changes in the mix. "They may use phrases like, 'Emotionally, it's not feeling right, we should feel the desperation of the character more,'" Frank says. This could mean pushing certain musical elements, creating subjective moments in effects, or even pulling sound entirely for dramatic effect. "When you pull sound, your ears perk up and you focus much more on the screen because your ears are looking for something," he shares, describing how they used this technique in a hospital drama. "We just pulled everything—even the music—and we just had [the character] in his own space ... it really sucked you in." "One motto I adopted which helps me get through a lot of high-pressure situations is: To every problem, there's a solution, and if there's no solution, there's no problem," he explains. Reflection My fellow production sound mixers reassured me that I'm not crazy for having these feelings of hopelessness in extraordinary times like the ones mentioned here. They also reminded me that effective sound mixing isn't about reacting emotionally to problems, but rather handling them with composure as best you can. And in speaking to those on the post side, especially in sharing my experience with the wrestling scene issues and the frustration of recording what I knew would need to be replaced, I was reminded of this simple fact: Sometimes accepting that post will need to fix something is itself the solution, removing the pressure to achieve the impossible. Whether we're capturing sound on set or crafting it in post, our challenges share a common thread. Technical expertise matters, but what truly defines us is how we maintain perspective when facing the impossible. While we may not always get our way, we can still take pride in doing our best work in service of the story. Keeping a positive mental health is imperative to doing a good job in this business.