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www.postmagazine.com 10 POST AUGUST 2015 IZOTOPE RX HELPS DAREDEVIL DIALOGUE EDITOR OVERCOME NOISY NEW YORK CITY CAMBRIDGE, MA — iZotope Inc.'s (www.izotope. com) iZotope RX was recently used to overcome the challenges of working with audio captured in Manhattan for the acclaimed Netflix series Marvel's Daredevil. The show was recently nominated for a 2015 Emmy for "Outstanding Sound Editing." Daredevil is the alter ego of Matt Murdock, a blind, crime-fighting vigilante who protects the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. A child- hood accident blinded Murdock while abnormally heightening his remaining senses — in particular his hearing — to superhuman levels. Sound is a critical aspect of the show as it helps convey to viewers how Murdock interprets his world sonically rather than visually. "From the very begin- ning, we knew that sound was going to play a huge part," explains Christian Buenaventura, Emmy-win- ning dialogue editor at Technicolor Sound Services. "Creating the backgrounds of Hell's Kitchen, deciding what exactly Matt Murdock hears in the flurry of city chatter, having the rate of the heart- beats that Matt hears hit at exactly the right points — every part of the editing and mixing process was very meticulous, and we are very proud of how everything turned out." Dialogue editors typically work with audio re- corded on-location. When the filming takes place in an inherently-noisy environment like New York City, they have to deal with a lot more than the typical ticks, pops, and production movement sounds, Bue- naventura says. "With its relentless honking, sirens, screeching subway trains, music bumping from cars, not to mention the sound of nine million voices, New York will find a way to make a scene difficult to edit." One of his main go-to tools for saving dialogue captured on-location, whether it's the cacophony of New York sidewalks or someplace a little more tranquil, is iZotope's RX audio repair and enhance- ment software. "I use RX because it's a life saver," he explains. "Brake squeals or back-up beeps, no prob- lem. Lavalier mic cutting off or boom mic bump? Got it covered." But RX does more than just remove noises — it can actually save otherwise great footage from the cutting-room floor. "There are many scenes that I have cut that would not have been possible unless I had [the] Spectral Repair [feature of RX]." Buenaventura recalls working on a scene shot in Washington Square Park, where a street performer was drumming and singing in the background, as the actors delivered their lines. Rather than hav- ing to use ADR to recapture the actors' dialogue, Buenaventura used RX's Spectral Repair and "some fancy editing" to remove the street performer and achieve the right sound. "Spectral Repair has always helped me in this bind," he explains. "I could easily see brake squeals to take out over dialogue as well as people talking who aren't supposed to." "When I first began using it, I thought it was the future," he remarks. "RX is so reliable and I know what it's going to do for me. I use every single plug- in in RX because I know it will get the job done." For more on "Daredevil," turn to page 37. BITS & PIECES MPC LAUNCHES 'VR' TEAM LONDON — VFX studio MPC (www.moving-picture. com), here, has established a creative and technolo- gy-led VR team it's calling MPC VR. The group will focus on immersive exploration across industries, including advertising, feature film, architecture, entertainment content and experiential event production. MPC VR will be fully integrated with Technicolor's research and innovation expertise for VR and AR, includ- ing 2D stitching workflow, 360 stereo virtual cameras, and realtime rendering solutions. These technologies will work hand in hand with Technicolor's high dynamic range 4K picture and audio processing tools. Dedicated VR artists are located across MPC globally. With an evolving set of tools for both 2D and 3D, the MPC VR team will push into new areas, such as motion capture, light field and fully interactive realtime game experiences. The company has appointed Tim Dillon (pictured) as executive producer for VR. He will be charged with driv- ing the strategic business development across all MPC studios. Working with him are advertising VFX executive producers at each location. "I'm thrilled to be heading up MPC VR, and to be continuing to build our portfolio and R&D in this expand- ing area," says Dillon. "We're looking to collaborate with the creative industry and bring VR concepts to life with the same level of visual and technical expertise MPC is known for in its advertising and feature film work."