AudioMedia - July 2008 - (Page 27)

PRESENTED BY: The Sound of Entertainment™ www.dolby.com/professional > a tremendous level of creativity and understanding of contemporary, avant-garde filmmaking. Timur is a progressive Russian filmmaker, and this is his largest, most ambitious project to date.” For major studio projects, directorial ambition most often requires crucial preparation from its participants; it certainly did for Stateman and his cohorts in Wanted’s sound department. The film is very intense in its application of special effects and CGI, and the sound team members were allowed to develop its palette over ample time. This created a circular, synergistic content creation process. “We’ve been part of the post-production teams from almost the very beginning,” Stateman insists. “Designers Harry Cohen and Ann Scibelli had been on the project for nine months – a very nice period of time – allowing us to develop the sound effects treatments as early as conception, pre-visualisation all the way to the final mix. We’ve been working with Timur’s CG partners and with David [Brenner], designing sounds that have influenced the development of CG images. We’ve actually provided sounds, and they have animated to those sounds; they have provided images and we have embellished to those images with sound design. Then they have added another layer of imageries to the sound. We were constantly leap frogging with each other to create a cohesive, coherent treatment.” Give And Take “The CG people would embellish the visuals to those rhythms. We composed to those rhythms. Then, we mixed all that together so that every element of the audio hands off from dialogue into sound design, into music, back into sound design, back into dialogue. Danny Elfman did a tremendous job on the music.” As a result, Wanted’s elements connect in a fantastic, magical way. “Together, it’s like witchcraft,” summates Stateman. “A heart beat becomes a musical piece that becomes a train that becomes the facial expression of the actor – all cut in rhythm and time. We’re not about the counterpoint of the rhythm; Ti m u r w a n t e d a l l t h e s e e l e m e n t s, including the visuals, to hand off from one to the other in interesting ways. When people see this film, they get it. It’s obviously structured to support this high concept that we all went into this wproject embracing.” At the physical core of Wanted is rhythm, illustrates Stateman. Clearly, the pacing and general being of the film is a result of that rhythm, as much of the film feels like a cadence and unfurls like a dance. Wanted is truly a unique take on audio-visual storytelling. It is obviously incredible but looks and sounds real. “The film is largely designed around rhythms that are organic and emotional,” notes Stateman. “We used visual rhythms generated through the film editing process, and audio rhythms that were contributed by my team at Soundelux and the music team was headed by Composer Danny Elfman and Bill Abbott, the Music Editor. We had a situation where we all handed off to another; Danny, Bill, and I and my team, including Harry and Ann, worked with the visual effects designers in Moscow. All this was headed by David and Timur into one interesting pastiche of images, rhythms, and beats.” The aural elements that ultimately became rhythms began as Cohen and Stateman collected hundreds of sounds, including details from Wanted’s production track as well as studio and Foley stage recordings. “We then created instruments that allowed us to manipulate all those elements as music, using both speed and pitch,” explains Stateman. “It’s a very organic track, and personally, a career culminating achievement, seriously. For people that hear it as it’s intended – in a good theatre – they will understand how dynamic this film really is from a sonic standpoint.” From a visual standpoint, the work of David Brenner, through rhythmic cuts, makes it all work. “We immediately developed sound design treatment for those rhythms,” offers Stateman of the creation system. Work ing I n R hythm A crucial vehicle for all of the inherent rhythm of Wanted is courtesy of a plot tool referred to as ‘assassin time.’ Stateman explains: “It is hinged on a fantasy that there’s something we call ‘assassin time’ – it’s where our lead characters can speed up their heart and respiration and slow down time. Through their expression, they can slow time and manipulate things – curve and dodge bullets, for instance.” To Stateman, the work of Film Composer Danny Elfman in particular helped develop this interesting use of manipulated time. “The music had to express ‘assassin time,’ and all sound design is in rhythm to that,” he explains. “Actors can go from a normal resting heart rate to almost 400 beats per minute and everything tracks with those click tracks. Literally hundreds of tracks are syncopated in time, handing off from the visual to the soundtrack and back into the visuals. So, the film explores this fantasy of time, and ‘assassin time’ is part of the character structure of the film. There are many, many moments in the film where we’re shaping the design and action of the film around ‘assassin time.’ The film edit, dialogue, sound effects, and music all express ‘assassin time’ in very clearly developed rhythms.” H inged O n ‘Assassin Time’ Project: Director – Timur Bekmambetov Sound Designer – Harry Cohen Sound Designer – Ann Scibelli Production Sound Mixer – Petr Forejt Dialogue Editor – Michael Hertlein Sound Utility – David Matusek Sound Utility: New York – Karl Wasserman Sound Mixer: New York – Brian Miksis Supervising Assistant Sound Editor – Branden Spencer At Universal Studios’ Hitchcock Theatre, Academy Award-winning Re-Recording Mixers Chris Jenkins and Frank Montaño finished the soundtrack “…on the latest, most modern Harrison mixing console,” explains Stateman. “They weaved all these wonderful things together and, along with my crew at Soundelux, provided Timur a beautiful sonic fabric that truly captures the rhythms that he is becoming known for. There wasn’t a ton of material, so we’re not selecting through thousands of tracks. Everything was really developed early on; that’s why we spend so many months working on it. The rhythms were developed early. So the mix challenge was keeping things expressive, rhythmic, and organised. The dynamic movement in the theatre is baked into the design. It’s a fantastic mix.” ∫ A Fantastic M ix AUDIO MEDIA JULY 2008 27 http://www.dolby.com/professional

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AudioMedia - July 2008

AudioMedia - July 2008 Contents Recording Post Broadcast What's Up UK Geofocus: France For the Record Special Report: Develop Preview SE Electronics 4400 Sennheiser MKH800 Twin Tubetech Club Final Cut: Wanted Smart AV Tango Doctor Who Made in America DSP Roundup Product Sampler: Summer Hits Edirol R44 Video Guide AMSR Fame - Le Musical Waves MaxxBCL Yamaha AD8HR Special Supplement

AudioMedia - July 2008

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