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 39 the street after they wrap. [On this series], we never have an issue with having to do too many takes. It's always very responsive, very quick. Even though the [scenes can be] intense, the [actors are] very polite. It's one of my favorite shows to work on because it's cool to have everyone come in and be very respectful; [everyone's] really great to work with." Discussing the ADR stage: "I like our bigger room. It feels more like you're emulating the set. It gives the boom just a little bit more liveliness. The actors do a great job of replicating their own sound, but I'm always making sure to say, 'Can you please step forward or step back.' The actors capture the organic feeling of the scene." Foley Mixers Ryan Collison and Connor Nagy Connor and Ryan are the two Foley mixers who work on the show at Alchemy Post Sound in Peekskill, New York. Connor went to Five Towns College, which is mostly a music school, but he took an elective class in Foley and never looked back. Ryan went from his communications degree at Florida Atlantic University to working on a documentary with a friend. As luck would have it, he needed a transfer from 16mm and went to Sound One in NYC. Jay Rubin, a legend in the New York City post scene, asked him if he could start working for him that same day. Ryan started working in post that Monday. Connor recalls his early days at Sound One: "The day I went to work at Sound One for the first time, I ran into a friend of mine who was taking the train into the city. He said, 'If they have a Foley stage, you should find out about getting involved with that.' Strangely enough, he ended up working with me and worked at Sound One for 15 years." Discussing the sounds of The Bear: "Foley on The Bear is a mix of cheating things and actually going out and getting what they're cutting and all that stuff. Then playing things back and making sure that the different textures cut through and not everything sounds the same." Asking about any "secret sources" they use: "Believe it or not, we have something here that we like to call 'The Magic Sock.' It's kind of a Brillo pad/duct tape combo that plays like bread, sometimes better than actual bread." Discussing the role of Foley, Ryan shares: "There's a perception that you need to learn with this job. It's more than just being able to put through something in sync. It took all of us a long time to really figure that out and to understand everything we're trying to get right sonically. Whether it's the proximity to the microphone that we're using, or the right prop that's going to sound interesting and dynamic without being too cartoony, we're really striving for believable, interesting, dynamic, and subtle. All these elements go into every single cue that we do." Ryan continues discussing the recording process: "I start fresh. I never have a preset. It's so the room is going to sound right, the ambience is going to sound right, and the re-recording mixer isn't going to have to roll off 200 Hz or anything like that because it's already sitting where it needs to be. We have a meeting with the supervising sound editor before going into the session. We prefer to have our editors spot because they know how to name things in a way that we know what room we're going to be doing it in. We have a couple of locations in the building. One where Connor will be doing all the exterior footsteps, and another where I'll be doing all the interior prop scenes because we have a big, live, open space that has a nice ambience to it. It's listening to the production and going, okay, we need to blend in with this if it's going to tell the story." As you can hear, all members of the sound team for The Bear are dedicated to amplifying the story through sound—and it's a deserving tribute to their excellence that they received this year's CAS Award. Congratulations!