Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/941133
that suddenly stops. That's not natural. The main thing we covered in loop group was that transi- tion. We can get the size and energy of a crowd from library sounds but that pivot point is nigh upon impossible to achieve with library effects," explains Parker. Another important element of selling that saloon scuffle was making it sound like it's coming from inside the building. To create that effect, Parker likes to use a process of reverb before EQ. He asks his effects editors to deliver their sounds with a rendered reverb, something appropriate for the space in which the sound is happening. Then the mixers can EQ the top end to synthesize the feeling that it's coming through a wall. "That way it feels more like the reverb is taking place on the other side of the wall, inside the building. I find that sounds better than having the EQ first fol- lowed by the reverb," says Parker, who likes to use The Cargo Cult's Slapper plug-in when creating different perspectives. Another sonic storytelling opportunity comes later in the film, when Lefty Brown and his com- panions are tracking the outlaws across the plains of Montana. Lefty decides to explore a bit on his own after the sun has set. Insects sing as a light wind rattles the dry grasses and desert scrub. Lefty's boots crunch on the parched soil (thanks to the expressive Foley provide by artist Vicki Vandegrift). In the dark, he crosses paths with the outlaw Frank (Joe Anderson), who takes a shot at Lefty. Parker notes that director Moshe really liked to have big, cracking gun sounds. "He wanted the guns to do a very specific job in this movie and that is to take advantage of the silence we've set up and really drive the power of the shot home for the viewers," Parker says. The gunshot in that scene was particularly jarring because it happens in near silence. The sounds leading up to it have imperceptibly dimin- ished over time. "It's all about the negative space in a situation like that. We've surreptitiously low- ered all of the ambient sounds over the course of two minutes, which has the effect of drawing the audience in. From a technical perspective, we're removing sounds in order to create more contrast between the quiet moment before the gunshot and the gunshot itself," concludes Parker. BEIRUT Director Brad Anderson, known for Next Stop Wonderland and The Machinist, recently pre- miered his latest film Beirut at Sundance. Beirut (written by acclaimed screenwriter Tony Gilroy) tells the story of U.S. diplomat Mason Skiles (Jon Hamm), who left Lebanon in the 1970s after his wife's violent death. Ten years later, Skiles returns to a war-torn Beirut per CIA request to negotiate the release of his friend Cal, who happens to be their head of Middle Eastern operations. Before Anderson began work on the director's cut, the sound team — led by supervising sound editors Ruy Garcia and Lon Bender (also re-re- cording mixer) — were busy compiling a library of sounds for Anderson to use in his edit. That library included era-appropriate vehicles and weapons, explosions, ambiences, backgrounds, crowds and sound design elements for the styl- ized sequences. "They were using our sounds for that edit and that was very helpful because that meant they already had a sound sketch for the film," says Garcia at Technicolor PostWorks NY (www.postworks.com), where they handled sound editorial and mix on the film. The film is set in Beirut of the 1970s and 1980s but it was shot in modern-day Morocco. The sound team helped to sell the film's setting through their choices of backgrounds and crowds. "We tried to be respectful to the setting, keeping to the period and to the Arabic language. We went to archival sounds, period library sounds and The sound team compiled a library of 1970s-era sounds for Beirut. Supervising sound editor Parker likes to use The Cargo Cult's Slapper plug-in. Director Brad Anderson Lon Bender