Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545202
and give them perspective. It was always there just underneath so we could cut a lot tighter, be a bit harsh with processing at times, and build it up against other things. There wasn't anywhere to hide and occasionally we used little tricks to hide things under car passes or someone's footsteps down a corridor, for instance. And we had production sound, where we could use it all the time. Kiff McManus: You guys did! I was just thinking about when you were presented with a quiet room, you layered, subtly, so many different things to give the space a presence which wasn't there! We intentionally made the interview rooms as quiet as possible. And there's so much almost subliminal stuff going on in there that was all added in post which really impressed me! When watching it, I felt like there was a real opportunity effect-wise to do a lot that is kind of unseen to make it feel so realistic. It feels like you are there without seeming hyped at all. Is it just ambience and Foley? James: It was a bit more built up than that. The original edit, pre-temp, was a lot fuller, and our director said let's bring it back. We brought it back one step and before the pre-mix, he listened to it again and said let's bring it back even more. So, mostly everything that was there stayed, but we just kept pulling it back. I think by the final mix, we had just gotten it right. We were bringing up elements just to the point where you could feel them and never going further than that. There are many layers of atmosphere effects … people down corridors and voices that were built. And slowly over time they became quieter and quieter and quieter. Jules: One of the big benefits was that James spent a couple of weeks on set. This is something we are trying to do more and more of to be able to capture the real-world sound effects from the locations. Part of this stripping the show back was trying to make it more organic using those kinds of location- specific sounds. Yeah, my assumption had been that with these long shots, Kiff and Rob were essentially attached to camera; running around trying to follow actors and stay out of the oners. It is so revealing that you were on set recording bits and bobs. Kiff: It was really useful to have James around and to know what they were going to need. Because we were desperately trying to get this whole thing recorded which was quite complicated. Having James there capturing things that we could not was really helpful—because we were kind of busy! Rob Entwistle: You know we were only getting about two takes per day. Not the traditional way of shooting things at all, but it played in our favor and left space for us. We were doing one take in the morning and one in the afternoon. And in between those points, we would have time to schedule in some time with our firsts to get specific sounds. In a more traditional shoot, things don't really stop. So, the single shot approach really helped us get those things that we needed. How big were your crews on set? I'm assuming there were wires everywhere, but were there multiple booms? Kiff: We had three booms. Three firsts [boom ops], two seconds [utilities], and a trainee who worked far harder than trainees are meant to! So, yeah, a team of eight! Rob: The most wires we had at once was 32, but that was Episode Two in the school. Simon, when it got time for ADR, what were you covering in this oner situation? I'm assuming lots of group and crowds? Simon Diggins: You know, the stuff that was coming through from production was really fantastic. So, in certain moments where something happened that wasn't expected, I would be asked to cover things. But because it was a oner, Simon Diggins