Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1543070
20 S P R I N G 2 0 2 6 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y and say, "No, that's not the job," but sound is sort of like that. When I first started, I had an analog processor that I used, which was part of a recording console. I tried to make all the voices sound as rich and hi-fi as I could manage. I thought that was the job. It was sort of like making a record. Gradually, I realized that even though it was effective on some things, this approach didn't help the intelligibility, and that's the main goal. After a while, you learn that intelligibility is so much more important. The other aspects become kind of baggage, your problem. You need to concentrate on the process that makes the movie better for the audience. So, I changed my approach. Actually, Chris Jenkins showed me a technique that he had been using. We were working on the Neve DFC at that time, and he showed me how he improved the dialogue tracks by filtering unwanted tones which were clouding and making the dialogue murky. With this filtering, the track became way more life-like and clear. Now I spend much of my time clearing the dialogue with this technique. How do you approach this with directors and producers? It's important for the mixers to be listening closely to how the director is reacting and commenting on the mix. It's also important to understand the movie well enough to interpret the notes. You need to focus on these questions and find the answers. We're trying to get the movie into the theater, we used to say. I have found that it is important to chase your big ideas at the beginning of the process. If you want to present a big idea, something that hasn't been discussed or wasn't scripted, you've got to deal with it early so that when filmmakers arrive, you can show them your big idea and give them time to digest. No matter what is decided, you must let go and just focus on the things that you're being asked to do. Easy to say and hard to do, but it's a super important aspect of the mixer's role. You become a referee between all the parties. There are things that you may want to fix but you can't. The mixer needs to find a way that's respectful of everyone else's goals and desires in the time available. I've been working on the film for several months by the time directors and producers come to the final mix. The filmmakers will be hearing things for the first time—kind of like a wild mix—and it can be perceived way too loud, or not loud enough. They might be asking—Where's this? Where's that?— and you must be respectful, kind, and gentle, assure them things will be OK. Let's go back to the beginning. How did you get into creating sound for films? I really wanted to be an architect. I was getting ready to go to university at a time when the world was upside down, like it is now. It was in the '70s, and there was a gasoline crisis and a recession. I was working as an engineer and my co-worker said, "You know, this thing is going to shut down the construction industry for a long time." To which my boss at the time said, "I know you want to go to university, and you want to study to be an architect. I wouldn't try to talk you out of that but if there's anything else that you're interested in, you should give it a try." Well, I knew some people who were in the TV commercial L-R: Skip, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jose Antonio Garcia CAS