Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538091
C I N E M A A U D I O S O C I E T Y. O R G 35 Joining Sinners as the production sound mixer was a rare opportunity to help shape the sound of a film that takes real creative risks. But it was clear from the start that this wouldn't be an easy project. Our director, Ryan Coogler, described it as a genre-bending vampire period blues musical, one where I'd work closely with the film's composer, Ludwig Göransson, executive music producer Serena Göransson, and their entire music team. On top of that, the technical demands were daunting. Our lead actor, Michael B. Jordan, would play twins which would require a ton of support from the sound department. Additionally, we'd be recording several live acoustic performances from our cast in some very tricky locations and in rather unconventional ways. It was already shaping up to be a challenging ride, both technically and creatively, and we had a very full plate. Then came the news that landed like a stake through the heart for any production sound mixer: The film would be shot in IMAX 65mm. I immediately had flashbacks to the behind- the-scenes featurette from director Jordan Peele's Nope, where I could empathize with the poor sound mixer who had to record dialogue alongside those loud cameras. I had laughed at the time—now I was that sound mixer. Jordan Peele behind the scenes of Nope. Photo: Glen Wilson/Universal Pictures If you've never heard an IMAX film camera, imagine something between a small generator and a lawn mower. How could we possibly capture clean dialogue and live music performances with one of those cameras anywhere near the set? And with the technical ambitions for Sinners set so high, how was I going to meet our director's expectations? Let's just say, I didn't sleep much for the next few nights. MY FIRST EXPOSURE I don't think most people are aware just how loud these cameras really are. During pre-production, I asked the camera team to fire up one of the IMAX film cameras so I could hear it in person for the first time. Our 1st AC, Andrae Crawford, humored me. It was quite jarring and unexpected to hear, and for many people, raises a lot of questions about how they can ever be used when shooting a dialogue-driven movie. It had the kind of jet engine roar that made me long for the days of the RED camera's fan. I shot a video of this camera in action and sent it to my crew to prepare them for what was ahead. What followed next was not panic, but planning. After all, we were not the first team to tackle this format. Christopher Nolan had made Tenet and Oppenheimer this way and Jordan Peele shot Nope using these same exact cameras. So, I attempted to reach Willie Burton CAS, Nolan's longtime production sound mixer, but he was abroad in Bali. Fortunately, we had access to something equally valuable: the Oppenheimer picture editors were on our team. LEARNING FROM OPPENHEIMER'S EDITORIAL TEAM During an early meeting with the editorial team, our first assistant editor, Michael Fay, explained that for Oppenheimer, Willie Burton had recorded "sound-only" passes immediately following each camera setup. For these recordings, the actors would replicate the exact movements and emotional performance that they had delivered during the take, but without the camera rolling. These wild lines were then broken down into slices, sometimes as small as an individual syllable and aligned with the original picture and guide track, which was recorded during those previous takes where the noisy camera was rolling. I was skeptical, but they assured me it had worked beautifully. I brought these ideas to Ryan Coogler and our 1st AD, Marvin Williams. Ryan was already very familiar with Nolan's workflow and initially assured me we would shoot dialogue scenes with the much quieter, yet still not silent, 5-perf per frame Panavision System 65 film camera. This news came as a huge relief. However, that relief was short lived. Once filming began, the allure of the 15-perf IMAX was just too strong! It began finding its way into occasional close-ups, interior shots, and even musical scenes. ROLLING WITH THE ROAR Despite the camera's audible presence, Ryan remained committed to capturing authentic, emotionally grounded performances. That commitment gave us room to experiment and adapt by embracing multi-boom mic setups for wild sound takes. My boom operators, Ryan Farris and Charlie Mascagni, and utility sound technician Emily Poulliard, would coordinate placing the boom mics in various