Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538144
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 95 start with getting a general sense of the bounds of the project, stylistic wants and needs, that kind of thing. With TV, we'll always spot through each episode with the showrunner and the picture editor, and usually the music team and a number of other folks. We'll send along some in-process designs sometimes, and we'll do any notes/fixes/updates during the mix. With films, we'll get some notes and reactions to the various temp mixes done through the course of the project. For in-game assets, there tends to be a bit more constant communication. Sending in-progress assets for review, or just to make sure we're on the right path. If we're not implementing directly, the devs will implement and we might get a round of notes based on how it's sitting in the game world. There's not really a 'final mix' as it were, so each piece/creature/weapon/whatever will go through a few more rounds of iteration than they might on a TV show or a film. Tools & the Future of Sound In terms of tools, are there any go-to plug-ins, libraries, or techniques you rely on—or anything new you've been excited about lately? Mike Schapiro: Oh, I could probably fill your entire magazine with this one question! I'll refrain from doing that as much as I can. My tried-and-true go-to plug-ins have been the Kilohearts suite for the past ... eight years? It's just a wonderful and quick way to build up processing chains with tons of modulation options. Whether it's only providing 1% of the sound or 90% of the sound, it's almost always in there somewhere! I've used it to make anything from distance processing (which is extra fun when the distances are in the hundreds of thousands of miles), hyperspeed doppler-bys, granular-esque processing chains, dreamstates, you name it. My newest fun toy has been this bonkers plug-in called Anukari. It's a physical modeling plug-in, in that you are virtually building—in 3D!—networks of springs and masses and then either smacking them with virtual mallets, rubbing them with virtual strings, or directly playing/exciting sounds through them. It's a lot of fun! In some of our projects, we've been able to ask the actors if they want to 'make some weird sounds' while they're in the recording booth. It's so much fun! I never know what I'll get from them, it's always surprising and useful somewhere in the project. Weapons, creatures, engines, explosions ... it adds some spice to anything. Having that material to mangle (usually with Kilohearts!) and turn into an emotional core of a sound brings me a lot of joy. With new platforms like VR and spatial audio expanding, what excites you most about the future of immersive sound design? Mike Schapiro: I'll start with what I'll call my first 'immersive' audio experience: Playing Halo in my dorm room where we'd rigged up a 5.1 system, I heard a Grunt make a callout behind me and got super excited about it (and also turned around to shoot at it). That feels rather pedestrian these days, but anything that helps notify the player to the world around them in a space is great. Now I've got a Dolby Atmos setup at home, and the haptic stuff on the PS5 controller is crazy! And those haptics are all audio, too! I'm excited to see where things go next. It seems like more and more people are recognizing the impact good audio has on an experience, and that is really nice to see. Michael Schapiro's work reminds us that sound is more than just support—it's world-building. From tactical games to sci-fi blockbusters, he continues to shape how stories are heard and felt. With a foot in both cinematic and interactive realms, and an ear tuned to the future, Schapiro remains one of the leading creative voices in sound design today. 76th Annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards.