Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538144
some of our Call of Duty work is being handled. And we have remote full-time sound designers all over the world. We did this to accommodate the shrinking deadlines we often get on trailers. We can do 24 hours of coverage if need be. Our structure is pretty traditional: sound editors, sound designers, dialogue editors, mixers, and supervisors. On some smaller projects, the sound designer is also the mixer. We have our amazing car specialists, of course, and we've slowly found that each of our team members has a specialty. So, we try to route the projects to the team member who has a good fit for it. My specialty, according to my son, is farting. We've yet to find a suitable project. When we hire staff, our number one qualifier has become team fit and feel. A friendly, non-competitive, secure atmosphere, using any tool they wish, on high-end equipment and well-built rooms is key for our designers to thrive. Second to that, a lot of the craft can be learned, and we sometimes spend upward of six months training new staff on trailer prep for example. We're very fortunate to employ our current staff of almost 20. Each and every one of them adds their own piece of magic to the pizza pie. We work on so many different projects, from subtle fairy dust one day to heart-pounding WW2 warfare the next day. Somehow, they pull it off, shift gears, adapt, and make it happen. Tools & Workflow What's in your essential tool kit these days, whether for vehicle recordings or high-impact trailer design? Charles Deenen: I'll give a very boring answer: Pro Tools and Soundminer. Besides that, though, we experiment with new software or hardware arriving on the market, whether it's a new type of mic or a new way for processing. On a recent EV car recording, we tried nearly every type of HF mic available, and, of course, nine out of 10 didn't work, but that's OK. For high-impact trailer design, it's probably a bit weirder: 45-reference listening and small speakers are still the best tools. It makes it so we don't rely on volume and low-end to create impact and drama. 102 M PS E . O R G