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If you don't think sound editing and mixing is a creative process, think again! Our guests are both nominated for Emmy Awards for their work on the Apple+ miniseries Masters of the Air—and they might be identified as Masters of the Ear. They have created a soundscape that is the equal of a major Hollywood feature, as you'd expect in a high-profile show executive produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Steven Spielberg. Mike Minkler is also a third-generation soundman with three Oscars to his credit—so far—and was Leonard's first guest when he started teaching at USC twenty-six years ago. Jessie is as impressed with our guests as her Dad.
This week we discuss the sound, music, and cinematography of “Masters of the Air,” the epic WWII limited series from Apple TV+. With so many films and shows about World War II over the past several decades, one of the biggest challenges of the series was keeping things fresh. So the creative teams took some ingenious approaches to give every episode and action sequence a unique look, sound, and feel.“Because there's so much time spent in the air with these planes, and so many different planes, we really wanted to sell the geography of each location within each plane and also each and every different plane. So one of the ways that we did that was that Mike [Minkler] and I had the different sequences cut by different people, with a fresh take. Or I did this particular sequence, and then I would hand it off to another editor. Or they would do that, and then pass it to me. And so we had a lot of interplaying around with each other's material, which I think keeps it really fresh, whilst not just copying and pasting material. When you have this much time in the air, you really need to keep the listener involved and their ear kind of excited at all times.”—Jack Whittaker, Supervising Sound Editor, “Masters of the Air”Joining our conversation:- Supervising Sound Editor Jack Whittaker - Re-recording Mixer Duncan McRae- Re-recording Mixer Michael Minkler- Composer Blake Neeley- Cinematographer Jac FitzgeraldBe sure to check out “Masters of the Air” on Apple TV+.Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks, wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Peter J. Devlin, recently elected as a Governor of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, has worked on more than 70 films and been nominated for five Oscars including Black Panther, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, Transformers, Star Trek (2009) and Pearl Harbor. He received a BAFTA nomination for his work on Star Trek and a Primetime Emmy nomination for Star Trek: Picard. He has worked closely with some of the top directors in film, including Michael Bay, Ryan Coogler, Ron Howard and Patty Jenkins. Earlier in the year he wrapped his work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and is thrilled to have just worked with Chris Pine, who is making his directorial debut with the upcoming film Poolman. A past CAS Board member, it was his first CAS nomination for Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday that introduced him to the organization in 2000. Since then, he has received multiple nominations. Born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Devlin knew that he wanted to work in film after seeing Jaws as a teenager. Though his school principal told him his dreams were “pie in the sky,” he applied for a trainee audio assistant position at the BBC in Belfast in 1981. Initially thinking he might move into the camera department, he quickly realized his true interest was in production sound. To prepare for the interview, he spent his days in the local library reading as much about microphone principles, recording techniques and filmmaking as he could find. He got the job, which proved the perfect training ground, with the BBC's wide range of productions, from news, to sports, to concerts and to radio drama. “I had great mentors, and I learned about all of the different disciplines of sound there.” Devlin's focus and persistence were evident as he took the next step, writing to directors he admired, including Michael Mann. He still has the letter Mann sent him in 1987, inviting him to visit the set of Miami Vice. From there, Devlin forged connections with others in the industry, landing his first job in the United States, working in commercials. Eventually, he moved into television and film. Today, Devlin continues to adapt to the ever-changing technologies that enhance storytelling through production sound mixing. While he wishes that he had today's tech for some of the films he worked on in the past, he says, “The most important element will always be the work of the sound department as a team, boom operators and sound utilities. Their expertise allows me to concentrate on recording performance and create tracks that can elevate a scene when they are handed off to our colleagues in post production.” Devlin joins an illustrious group of past CAS Career Achievement Honorees including: Anna Behlmer, Willie Burton, Tom Fleischman, Les Fresholtz, Ed Greene, Tomlinson Holman, Doc Kane, William B. Kaplan, David MacMillan, Paul Massey, Scott Millan, Mike Minkler, Walter Murch, Andy Nelson, Chris Newman, Lee Orloff, Richard Portman, John Pritchett, Don Rogers, Gary Rydstrom, Dennis Sands, Randy Thom, Jim Webb, Jeffrey S. Wexler and Charles Wilborn.
Three time Academy Award-winning re-recording mixer Mike Minkler, multiple Oscar-nominated supervising sound editor Wylie Stateman, and effects mixer Christian Minkler discuss how they recreated 1969 Los Angeles for director Quentin Tarantino, including their approach to building the distinctive sound of the vintage television shows within the movie. They deconstruct the sound of the extraordinary Spahn Movie Ranch sequence, and discuss why Tarantino chooses to use songs rather than traditional musical score.
On the 40th anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars, 3-time Academy Award-winning re-recording mixer Mike Minkler talks about his work on that seminal movie. Topics include how he first got hired to work on the sound, the process of pre-mixing various sound elements, the first use of front-back panning, the birth of separate low-frequency effects (called "Baby Boom" at the time), Dolby Stereo, Dolby A noise reduction, the transition from magnetic to optical soundtracks, how THX was born to assure the quality of commercial presentation, the movie's impact on the cast and crew the first time they saw it, how the future of movie sound was influenced, answers to chatroom questions, and much more. May the force be with you! Host: Scott Wilkinson Guest: Mike Minkler Subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
On the 40th anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars, 3-time Academy Award-winning re-recording mixer Mike Minkler talks about his work on that seminal movie. Topics include how he first got hired to work on the sound, the process of pre-mixing various sound elements, the first use of front-back panning, the birth of separate low-frequency effects (called "Baby Boom" at the time), Dolby Stereo, Dolby A noise reduction, the transition from magnetic to optical soundtracks, how THX was born to assure the quality of commercial presentation, the movie's impact on the cast and crew the first time they saw it, how the future of movie sound was influenced, answers to chatroom questions, and much more. May the force be with you! Host: Scott Wilkinson Guest: Mike Minkler Subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
On the 40th anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars, 3-time Academy Award-winning re-recording mixer Mike Minkler talks about his work on that seminal movie. Topics include how he first got hired to work on the sound, the process of pre-mixing various sound elements, the first use of front-back panning, the birth of separate low-frequency effects (called "Baby Boom" at the time), Dolby Stereo, Dolby A noise reduction, the transition from magnetic to optical soundtracks, how THX was born to assure the quality of commercial presentation, the movie's impact on the cast and crew the first time they saw it, how the future of movie sound was influenced, answers to chatroom questions, and much more. May the force be with you! Host: Scott Wilkinson Guest: Mike Minkler Subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
On the 40th anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars, 3-time Academy Award-winning re-recording mixer Mike Minkler talks about his work on that seminal movie. Topics include how he first got hired to work on the sound, the process of pre-mixing various sound elements, the first use of front-back panning, the birth of separate low-frequency effects (called "Baby Boom" at the time), Dolby Stereo, Dolby A noise reduction, the transition from magnetic to optical soundtracks, how THX was born to assure the quality of commercial presentation, the movie's impact on the cast and crew the first time they saw it, how the future of movie sound was influenced, answers to chatroom questions, and much more. May the force be with you! Host: Scott Wilkinson Guest: Mike Minkler Subscribe to Home Theater Geeks at https://twit.tv/shows/home-theater-geeks Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.
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