Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546034
33 F A L L Q 3 I S S U E F E A T U R E Ruth Adelman: The biggest part of my job is understanding the voice of the filmmaker. My working history with Steven means I already pretty much know how he'll respond to something. There's this scene, for example, where David Harbour (Floyd) is rescuing a disturbed teen from a bunch of traffic. We did a design sequence in which we made less realistic sounds become more distant and more emotional. I didn't prep it that way originally. But after I heard it again, we went back, re-prepped it, then called Steven back in and said, "How do you feel about this?" But Steven Conrad is a writer first and foremost, so his words are paramount. Our job is to make sure that every line of dialogue is pristine, clear, understandable, and lands the way the writer, director, and editor intended. There are built-in sound design moments that create tension and release, leaving room for silence before the next impactful moment. CineMontage: How did you help create those moments that let the audience connect with the characters' humanity? Rodzinski: Some of the scenes I liked the most contain really subtle body language. One scene that I'm thinking of is the "Mod- ern Love" scene with Peter Saarsgard in Episode 4, when Homer (Richard Jenkins) and Jodie (Joy Sunday) go to the roller rink to interview him. It's a 10-page scene with three characters sitting on a couch, talking, so we obviously needed to keep it paced up. I t wa s l i ke a m a s te rc l a ss wa tc h i n g how Max had placed their looks and their reactions in a way that breathed space into this great dialogue. It not only affects how you feel in that moment but also helps you absorb what they're saying. The epitome of this, to me, is at the pool house in the finale, because I'd never read anything like that. I'd never seen Jason Bateman, in particular, give a performance like that. Again, this body language that they're able to com- municate while saying the wildest things in very still shots that force them to play within a frame — it's almost like theater. SEE PAGE 47 P H OT O : H B O WEATHERMEN: Jason Bateman (top) and David Harbour (below) star in "DTF: St. Louis."