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FOLEY TEAMS www.postmagazine.com 23 POST NOVEMBER 2016 textures. For example, walking some of the footsteps in dirt, or adding a va- riety of organic materials to the sand pit helped to distinguish Moana's bare feet from Maui's bare feet. For the clothing, Roesch notes the costume designer provided them with a cheat sheet of textures that helped them zero-in sonically on each character's outfit. They also looked for ways to cover a wider frequency range when possible. For example, when Maui transforms into a bird, the Foley for his wing flaps are a combination of high-, mid- and low-frequency sounds. "We used a feather duster for a high, feathery sound, and a shirt flump for mid-range definition and low-end power," says Roesch. The footsteps for the Kakamoras — the tribe of aggressive Tiki-beings reminiscent of coconuts, was one sound that Roesch and Roden per- formed together, as were the foot- steps for a group of people dancing in the background, and several sounds related to the boat, like the rigging and rope handling. To create the Kakamoras' footsteps, Roesch used pieces of wood shake shingle that he drummed his fingers on, or tapped with parts of coconuts or whole coco- nuts. Roden adds, "Sound supervisor Tim Nielsen also wanted these charac- ters to sound funny, so we drummed our fingers on top of a wet cham- ois. We recorded that element on a separate track to allow total control of when and how much of that they wanted to use in the final mix." To help differentiate the sounds on the recording side, Curtis exper- imented with mic positions and EQ settings that would accentuate any unique sonic qualities. He says, "We would constantly try taking the mic a little off axis or pushing it further back from the sound source. For example, it was a case-by-case basis whether the grass worked better up close or a little further away. Mixing other materials with the grass would help too, so that it didn't sound so brittle or too crisp." Curtis uses the Sennheiser MKH 800 for close-miking, and a Sennheiser MKH 8020 for the room mic. Each mic lends a different char- acteristic to the sound. Depending on the scene, Curtis could choose to blend the two mics together in a multi-mic approach, or select a single mic that best captures the sound for that situation. The multi-mic setup — with the close mic and room mic blended together, allows Curtis to change the perspective of the sound. For example, Curtis employed a multi- mic setup to record Moana's feet during a scene in which she is fleeing from the inside of a cave. Most of Curtis's EQ work is done via outboard gear, with either a GML or SSL EQ. "I will EQ the signal before it actually goes into Pro Tools," Curtis explains. He's currently running Pro Tools 12 with an Avid S6 24-fader con- sole. Roesch notes, "Scott does what he can on his end to help with the differentiation. And Tim [Nielson] was giving us feedback on what he wants. We were getting a lot of collabora- tive input and that makes our lives so much easier." Roden concludes, "I feel lucky to work for eight hours every day with people that I respect and enjoy being with. We learn from each other and have fun together. It's great we have found that chemistry as a team." THE SYNC TANK — THE MAGICIANS As masters of their trade, The Sync Tank Foley team does not need to be jacks of all audio post. "We're not your typical post studio. We strictly do Foley here and it is our lives," says The Sync Tank owner and Foley artist Jody Thomas, who's won an Emmy and an MPSE award for her work on HBO's The Pacific. The Sync Tank (www.thesynctank. com) is located in California's Santa Monica Mountains. There, Thomas is joined by Foley artist Elizabeth Rainey, who's performed Foley at several major studios, on films like 3:10 to Yuma and Seven Pounds. Thomas says, "Elizabeth and I first met when we were coming up in the ranks of Foley more than 20 years ago. We worked together on and off for many years. It's only been in the past few years that the stars aligned and we were able to come together here." Completing the team is Foley mix- er TJ Boyd, a two-time MPSE winner for the features 7 Minutes and All the Wilderness. He joined The Sync Tank just over a year ago. "TJ is new to the crew, but he is a welcomed and much-treasured addition," shares Thomas. "We make a good team because we all share a commonality in our sensibilities, in what we want to achieve." Over the years, budget and time constraints have squeezed post production schedules, especially for series work. The production quality has gone up, but the time table has remained the same. Weekly one-hour episodics typically allow for two full days of Foley, but those days are jammed with cues. For The Sync Tank team, trust and respect are their keys to delivering a consistent Foley package week after week. "We make a good team because there is a certain level of trust," says Rainey. Thomas adds, "Efficiency is par- amount and trust is a huge factor in that. These days, there are fewer Foley teams who have come togeth- er in an organic way and are not the solo artists or 'arranged' partner- ships so many sound houses and studios currently employ. But teams are so valuable in my opinion. The symbiosis in our team effort is what brings forth a consistency of quality, and I think that is what keeps the clients coming back." The Sync Tank has just started on their second season of the Syfy series, The Magicians, and recently complet- ed their second season of the now defunct Aquarius on NBC. "When a show gets renewed and we get to do another season, we have the history of the season before," notes Thomas. Established sounds are consistent from season to season. They know which elements go into making the sound of the contents of Quentin's messenger bag in The Magicians. And they had quick access to the Skywalkers' (L-R) Curtis, Roden and Roesch. CHRIS HAWKINSON The Sync Tank's (L-R) Rainey, Boyd and Thomas.