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C A S Q U A R T E R L Y S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 33 riors. At times, more than 14 tracks of footsteps and 24 tracks of Foley are delivered to sound editorial. He credits Tim Kimmel, supervising sound editor, for his skillful cueing. On a project of this scope, the tendency can eas- ily be to over cue, which can slow down productivity in Foley, editorial, and later in post. Bret explains, "He's [Tim] really got it down to a science. He knows what we are going to do, what will help, and what we should be spending our time on." This must have certainly been a godsend on "Hardhome." Brett explains how mic placement is paramount in making plot-specific Foley shine in situations like large battle scenes, as well as appear natural to the environment. "We typically use one or two close mics and a room mic blend to differentiate between story point Foley and background schmutz. Proper microphone placement is always very important. Too close, too far, wrong prop, or shoes and it turns into exactly what we don't want to sound like: Foley. We are always striving to blend and sit in the production track as best as we can." In a VFX-heavy show like Game of Thrones, the realism created by his work to place char- acters into these worlds is truly convincing. Onnalee Blank CAS and Mathew Waters CAS: Re-recording Mixers Onnalee and Matt have a very high level of expectation for each other and themselves, as well as the clear goal of creating a fluid mix that feels like a true marriage between dialogue, music, Foley and SFX and takes the viewer on a journey. Matt explains, "We definitely work hard to match spaces and style. We take pride in working together. We talk about [how sometimes] we will go to a theater and watch a big film where the sound mix seems like awesome pre-dubs but they never seem to fit togeth- er. We pride ourselves in having one fluid, cohesive track." Onnalee reiterates, "Matt and I are always matching our reverbs together to help Foley and dialogue sound as one. We talk about how we should make a scene sound and feel. [For] the big sequences, we come up with a game plan before we start mixing how the scene should be shaped in order to create depth." On Game of Thrones, Matt and Onnalee reference the temp guide mix from picture editorial on larger scenes, but they remain open to new ways of attaining the emotional intent. Onnalee explains, "We watch and take note of how they temped certain sequences … It is our job to present a new idea but with From left: Presenter Steve Venezia CAS, Brett Voss CAS, Onnalee Blank CAS, Mathew Waters CAS, and presenter Dana Gourrier. Photo: ©Ana Gibert 2016 the same intentions as the temp. Sometimes our ideas work and sometimes not. But what is great about the creatives that we work for is they love hearing new things and allow us to tell a story with sound as long as it helps and supports the story they are trying to tell." The battle scene's music drops out in one sec- tion, revealing carnage and evoking a hard, sober- ing feeling of horror and panic. Onnalee explains how this decision came to be. "There wasn't any- one telling us how we should shape the scene. This is something that Matt and I decided together in order to create some shape to the very long battle sequence." Matt concurs. "We mix these long battle scenes with the intent to change them up throughout the scene to help cre- ate emotion and excitement. We always fear that it will just be loud and have no peaks and valleys. We work hard to ensure the ride doesn't get stale." Later, when we are fixed on the Night King and he raises the dead, sound design and music seem to merge to a point where identifying one against the other is almost impossible. Onnalee breaks it down. "That particular sound was both [music and SFX]. Matt had quite a few sound design elements and I also had music. We took some music out in certain spots to blend it [better] with the sound design to create this eerie sound on the army of the dead. I am not scared of manipulating the music to blend with the sound design so we can't tell which is which in some cases. And when that happens, it is fun. Our composer gives us such a wonderful score to play and mix!" She also elaborates. "The zombie vocals were challenging because they could have easily just been monster sounds, but we really wanted to make them sound different since magic drove them to move and be zombies in the first place." If the sound of Game of Thrones has a trademark, it is its dynamic detail. There is always a twist or turn around the cor- ner in the soundtrack to drive the story. "Hardhome" was no different and it all happens as a result of continual collabora- tion, attention to detail, and a clear commitment to finding the best ways to use sound to tell the story. Bravo. Photo: HBO