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Deluxe Toronto: Where Resident Evil: Retribution got its mix. A unique aspect of the Hotel Transylvania mix is that it often changes very quickly from a busy action/adventure-type soundtrack, to a very quiet moment. "There are a lot of moments that are very singular and stand alone, and then we might take everything 180 degrees in a different direction for just a brief moment and then back again," explains Rubay. "We might be shutting everything down and going for a really simple and singu- lar moment in sound, and then back to a very complex moment right after that." The director, Genndy Tartakovsky, who is known for his work on the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series, designed Hotel Transyl- vania to look very modern, with a lot of detail, but it also includes elements of classic cartoons. "Genndy is a real classic filmmaker in the sense of his attention to detail," says Rubay. "Mixing in old cartoon sounds in a few places was a lot of fun, and animation buffs might have a few little giggles from some sounds here and there that were very much throwbacks to the way things were done." In addition to classic cartoon sounds, Rubay created some very new and unique sounds. For a flying table scene, Rubay had to come up with a sound that fulfilled a laundry list of sonic criteria. The tables are ghost- driven, but since it's a family film, it couldn't be scary. The sound needed to convey a sense of action and excitement, but without being too big or loud. "They had to sound like everything but not sound like anything," says Rubay. "They had to be cool and awe- some and dynamic, and very much like a big action/adventure type of thing. They had to be fun, and yet it had to be something that is okay for families." Another integral sound in the film was that of the vampires changing between human form and bat form. Rubay worked closely with sound effects editor John Dunn, as well as with sound designer John Pospisil. Both Dunn and Pospisil had previously worked with Rubay on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The bat transformation sound 36 Post • October 2012 needed to instantly register with the audi- ence so that even without visual reinforce- ment, the audience would know what was happening. "It was a fairly complex sound and it evolved over months and months," Rubay describes. "There were a lot of things that we went through, and by the time we got to the final mix it became unquestioned. I find it to be very original. We all agreed that it's not something we had heard before." The music for Hotel Transylvania was cre- ated by Mark Mothersbaugh. Semanick lis- tened to all the intricate parts of the score to become thoroughly acquainted with the music so when it came time to mix in the dialogue and effects, he knew what lines of music should come through the mix. Semanick approached it one scene at a time with the question: What is the emo- tional impact of the scene? "During the mix, some of the smaller parts in the score start to get lost, so if I know it pretty well then I can add back in a little flute line or clarinet line that seems to be getting lost. I can push that up and get that in between the dia- logue or effects and that helps emotionally at times." John Kurlander, who recorded the score, provided Semanick with a 5.1 break-out of the orchestra, as well as some individual spot mics that gave Semanick the ability to bring individual parts up or down in the mix. "For instance, if the brass was getting too loud, I could take the spot mics out and set them in more. Once you start adding ambient back- ground and dialogue, different elements of the score or even songs get lost sometimes. It's nice to have some control to be able to push things through." Semanick also mixed the dialogue in the film. The hotel's interior reverbs were craft- ed using customized settings on a Lexicon 960. The voice sound for the suit of armor was created using a modified oil drum pre- set on the 960. "I like the Lexicon 960. It's one of my favorite reverbs. It's very smooth, especially on the decays of the reverbs," www.postmagazine.com says Semanick. The level of the dialogue drives the over- all level of a film, and Semanick is most proud that the mix on Hotel Transylvania doesn't get overly loud. "It's a family film and we tried to make it comfortable. With ani- mation like this, there is so much going on visually that sometimes you don't need a lot of sound. You don't want it to be sensory over-load. You have to be careful. I thought we got a really good balance. It's entertain- ing. It's funny. The sound adds to that, and helps to tell the story." RISE OF THE GUARDIANS The DreamWorks Animation film, Rise of the Guardians, will be in theaters on Novem- ber 21. The fantasy-adventure story puts a new spin on the role of traditional childhood fairy tale characters like Santa, the Easter Bunny, and Jack Frost. As the guardians of childhood, they team up to protect innocent children from the evil Pitch. Though still in the pre-dub stage at press time, consider- ation of the 3D visuals has an impact on the sound design. Sound designer Richard King approached this film like he would any other live-action film, except this isn't a live-action film. Oscar- winner King, who worked on Dark Knight Rises and Inception, believes that is exactly why he was hired for the job. "We just began by doing what we would do for a live-action film. We looked at the picture, and at the story, and we tried to come up with sounds that would help strengthen the story and make the story elements and the characters more tangible." King was pre-dubbing in the studio at DreamWorks Animation (www.dreamwork- sanimation.com) using Avid Pro Tools 10 and a Euphonix console with Meyer loudspeak- ers. He's been working on the film full-time since July, and will finish the final mix on the Neve DFC at Fox Studios around mid- October. King plans on keeping everything in Pro Tools throughout the entire mix process.