Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/987065
While background trees and distant movements in ambience were clearly covered in sfx, there was layer upon layer of trees and bushes to fill up the sound and create intimacy and texture. Ryan explains his secret to providing rustling movements that can play over other rustling layers was to EQ and mix for perspective. "I usually like to work with frequencies. I record a high, a mid, and a low. The background, I'll make a little deeper. The front, I will make a little brighter … I like to mix for perspective. I want to give them [the re-recording mixer] something they can bring up and play." Indeed, the level of separation for the close-up hand movements and footsteps played perfectly over the continuous body movements or multiple chimps tussling in the jungle, as well as the emphatically exploring Jane. I never found myself as a viewer feeling as elements of movement meshed together so much that their intended source of sound was not identifiable. Derek Lee, the scoring mixer, received the multitrack from Philip Glass' team and ultimately provided stereo music stems to David Fluhr for final mix. The time frame provided to complete the scoring mix was a little over a week. When asked if there was anything special or unique about the project, Derik recalls, "Technically, there was nothing out of the ordinary but anytime you have an opportunity to work on a project with Philip, it is a special project." David Fluhr echoes this sentiment. Fluhr expands, "I used three full premix days to mix all the music elements into 7.1. Philip Glass gave me total control over the mix and spreads … about 50 pairs of orchestral and electronic stems. Once it was premixed 'in the box,' director Brett Morgen and I continually fine-tuned until we released it." As a viewer, I specifically found the use of thick expansive backgrounds over very detailed panned Foley and sfx to be incredibly immersive in the final mix. I remember specifically feeling surrounded by apes and in one shot where Jane sits peacefully under a tree, I felt a chimp's body approach her (my) right side and breathe curiously over her (my) shoulder. Warren Shaw was the supervising sound editor and sfx re-recording mixer on the project. Warren contracted the Foley and sfx editorial and prepared all the chimp sounds from scratch over the course of a year. David estimates it took 5-6 weeks of him and Warren mixing over the course of a few months to complete this project. David summarizes the goal of the project: "The project for me was very attractive on several levels. Brett Morgen said from the beginning he wanted to create an 'opera,' and not a 'traditional mix,' which would enhance Jane Goodall's life story presentation. We had lots of time to experiment with sfx and music, and Nat Geo gave us what we needed. To be able to participate and learn so much about Jane and her commitment to the earth and the preservation of its creatures was a real honor." Jane has been incredibly received. It garnered dozens of awards, as well as a BAFTA nomination. The sound team specifically won a MPSE Golden Reel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing for a Documentary Feature, and became our own CAS Award winner for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures for a Documentary film. Congrats to an incredible team on this amazing success and adventure.