Dolby Creator Talks

NOTE: This episode contains spoilers.

We are back from a short break, as we’ve been working on a couple of very big episodes. But in the meantime, we had the privilege to speak with Michael Giacchino, the director of Marvel’s “Werewolf by Night,” a super fun and spooky “television special” on Disney+, perfect for this Halloween season.

Joining us for the discussion is much of his post-production team: Re-recording Mixer Juan Peralta, Editor Jeff Ford, Supervising Sound Editor Josh Gold, and Dialogue and ADR Supervisor Chris Gridley. Maybe it’s because Giacchino, one of Hollywood’s top film composers, is usually a member of the post team, but his rapport with his crew is apparent in this lively discussion. Clearly this team had a blast working together and that infectious spirit continues here.

We discuss the challenges of making a modern Marvel film in a Classic Hollywood “creature feature” style, the directorial advantages of being your own composer, that wild flame-throwing tuba, and so much more.

“I even had some music that I had written that was going to be in the movie itself, thematically. And so I could play that for the actors and just have the sense of tone — so they'd get it immediately. It's something weird about music, the moment you hear it, it puts you in a place, you know? And so it was nice to have that. So that helped me figure out tones on set the entire shoot, for it was always in my head.”

— Michael Giacchino, Director, Marvel’s “Werewolf by Night”

Very special thanks to our friends at Disney, Marvel, and especially Skywalker Sound, who were instrumental in pulling this conversation together for us.

Be sure to check out Marvel’s “Werewolf by Night” this spooky season, available now, exclusively on Disney+, in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.

Please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also check out the video for this episode.

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NOTE: This episode features clips mixed in Dolby Atmos®. For best results, please listen to this episode with headphones!

Podcasts have exploded in popularity in recent years, and creators have been exploring new ways to create fully-immersive experiences for their listeners. In today’s episode, we speak with a few of the companies that are on the cutting-edge of crafting a truly cinematic experience for audio storytelling in podcasts, from QCODE and Wondery, the latter of which is now delivering podcasts in Dolby Atmos® — for a next-level listening experience — via the Wondery+ app. This innovation has made it possible to drop a listener directly into the world of a podcast like never before.

“The beautiful thing about mixing in Atmos is you're really designing in a spatial environment. Our team is able to think about how objects sound around the listener in a spatial environment that's additive to the storytelling. So it's not just about that mono experience, let alone stereo. But really, we try to be thoughtful about how we use the technology to enhance the storytelling and immerse a listener into the actual world of the story.”

— Steve Wilson, Chief Strategy Officer, QCODE

Throughout this episode, we have included several clips of recent shows, which were all mixed in Dolby Atmos®, so you can experience just how immersive this technology can make a podcast feel. So, please, if you can, listen to this episode with headphones.

How to listen to podcasts in Dolby Atmos®.

Check out the free trial of Wondery+.

FEATURED in today’s episode, all of these podcasts were mixed in Dolby Atmos®:

- “Electric Easy”

- “Jacked”

- “Listening In”

- “Soft Voice”

- “Who Killed Daphne?”

Hollywood Reporter - “Wondery to Release Podcasts in Dolby Atmos Format,” by Carolyn Giardina.

Please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast 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. 

If you caught the last installment of the Thor franchise, then you already know that director Taika Waititi has taken this particular series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a considerably more comedic direction. And Thor: Love and Thunder continues that trend. This film has some very funny sound moments, including a jealous battle axe, Russell Crowe doing an over-the-top Greek accent, and a pair of screaming goats. Literally. 

But how does creating a soundtrack for comedy — and specifically a superhero comedy — differ from crafting a typical superhero action movie? Joining us to discuss that on today's episode are the film's re-recording mixers Onnalee Blank and Brandon Proctor, supervising sound editors Daniel Laurie and Baihui Yang, and sound designer Samson Neslund.

"We were like, 'well, how do we make that sound fun and magical and ridiculous, but still be grounded somehow? And actually feel like it's a boat?' I mean, that goat boat is ridiculous. And of course the goat [is] screaming. They're just screaming throughout the whole film. And we kept talking like, 'is it gonna be too much screaming? Do we outplay that joke?' You just never could get enough screams. You just need more. And [supervising sound editor] Baihui [Yang] would laugh every time a scream happened. [So] you're like, 'nope! Still working.'"

— Brandon Proctor, Re-recording Mixer, Thor: Love and Thunder

Thor: Love and Thunder is in theaters now! And be sure to check it out in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos® where available.

Please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast 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. 

Quick Content Warning: There is some colorful language in this podcast episode. Listener discretion is advised.

Season 3 of the eleven-time Emmy winning series LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS hit Netflix on May 20th and we are delighted to sit down with creator Tim Miller, supervising director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, and supervising sound editor Brad North to discuss how they managed to succeed where so many others have failed — creating a hit anthology television series.

"It really comes down to who's doing the shorts. There's been a lot of care trying to match-make: The shorts, the stories, the directors, and the studios. You've got a whole lifetime of experience with people and studios that Tim has worked with at Blur. People that have been doing incredible content, that maybe haven't had the opportunity to do a feature yet, because of the size and experimentalism of that particular place. And to be able to hook them up with really good, solid stories that they can put all of their effort into making that, actually, great. You're not spinning a lot of wheels here. You're doing amazing. Everything goes right to the screen."

— Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Supervising Director, LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS

Be sure to check out LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS, only on Netflix.

Please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast 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. 

The latest season of "Stranger Things" finally returned to Netflix on May 27th and we are so excited to sit down with the creators of the show, along with several key members of the post-production team, to discuss the sound, music, and editorial process behind this wildly successful series. 

This is a supersized episode of the podcast with a TON of bonus guests. Joining us are the creators (as well as writers and directors) Matt and Ross Duffer; composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein; re-recording mixers Mark Paterson, Craig Henighan (also the sound supervisor), and Will Files (also the supervising sound editor); and the editor of the series, Dean Zimmerman.

This conversation offers an incredible glimpse into the creative process of what makes "Stranger Things" work so well. And it's apparent from this conversation that it has a lot to do with how much this team trusts each other in order to work so seamlessly together.

"Yeah, there's a lot of people who work on the show. But in terms of making big, big decisions, say in post-production, shaping the sound and the music of the show, it's a pretty, actually, tight knit group. And I think we've all gotten to the point where we really respect and trust each other. And then it's just a creative collaboration... It feels weirdly the same as it did season one."

— Matt Duffer, Co-Creator, "Stranger Things"

Be sure to check out "Stranger Things," only on Netflix.

Please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast 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. 

The newest and final installment of the Jurassic World franchise roared into theaters on Friday and we are delighted to share this conversation with director Colin Trevorrow and his sound team, to discuss how they crafted the soundtrack to this latest dinosaur Summer blockbuster. On today's podcast:

— Colin Trevorrow, Director and Co-writer 

— Christopher Boyes, Re-recording Mixer 

— Pete Horner, Re-recording Mixer 

— Al Nelson, Sound Designer and Supervising Sound Editor 

— Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Supervising Sound Editor 

Jurassic World Dominion features another monstrous soundtrack that these dinosaur epics are known for. But as you might have guessed, keeping those big action set pieces sonically coherent enough for an audience to actually enjoy is a very complicated, but also enjoyable, challenge for the sound team.

"One thing that we take for granted as humans, when we walk into a chaotic environment, our brains are actually mixing that environment for us. Where what we choose to focus determines what we're actually hearing. In a theater, we have to do that for the audience. If we just put all the sound in, then you don't hear anything — because it's chaotic and our brains are not able to do that in a theatrical setting. So as mixers, Chris and I are collaborating, trading off, 'OK, this is a moment for dialogue. This is a moment for dinosaurs...' And then in the midst of it, somehow there's an orchestra playing. And so we have to also make room for themes, which are incredibly important to how you experience the scene and feel about it. So that's the challenge and, honestly, the excitement of doing a scene like that. You have everything at your fingertips and you have to decide, 'What are we hearing here? What are we hearing here?' So it's really fun."

— Pete Horner, Re-recording Mixer, Jurassic World Dominion

Be sure to check out Jurassic World Dominion in theaters, and ideally at a Dolby Cinema, near you!

https://www.jurassicworld.com/

Please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast 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. 

Legendary sound designer and re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom joins us once again, this time to discuss his groundbreaking work on Steven Spielberg's classic film, "Jurassic Park" (1993), ahead of the upcoming premiere of the final film in the franchise — "Jurassic World: Dominion." Amazingly, even nearly 30 years later, Rydstrom's work on the original film still holds up incredibly well.

"I have a theory that — especially in the early days of computer graphics — sound needed to be real. Even more so, like real sounds. Synthesized sounds are hard to do [and] not so interesting, usually. So I knew we needed to be real. But in this case, it has to ground visuals that you can't believe, right? So the sound had to be organic and real. So the first thing I did is record as many animals as I could."

— Gary Rydstrom, Sound Designer and Re-recording Mixer, "Jurassic Park" (1993)

Rydstrom and his team recorded dozens of animals and layered those tracks together to create the unforgettable sounds of the dinosaurs, as showcased in the behind-the-scenes documentary: "The Making of 'Jurassic Park,'" directed by John Schultz, which we feature in today's episode:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256908/

"Jurassic World: Dominion" will be available in theaters on June 10th in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®, where available.

https://www.jurassicworld.com/

Please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast 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. 

On today's episode, we welcome the filmmaking team behind the new 3-part documentary about Kanye West from directors Coodie Simmons & Chike Ozah, which debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival and is now available on Netflix.

This film features some of the most intimate and vulnerable footage you may ever see of the iconic and enigmatic hip-hop star. It's clear that Kanye gave the filmmakers not just unprecedented access to his personal life, but also a great deal of his trust.

"Kanye was always my brother. We had like 500 hours of footage on Kanye, but it was years of us being connected, you know what I mean? So it was more than just filming... It was a relationship. He was definitely a little brother, which I always wanted. I think I found a little brother in Kanye."

— Coodie Simmons, Co-Director, "jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy"

Joining the conversation is re-recording mixer Paul Hsu, to tell us how he crafted such an incredible soundtrack, often from single audio sources and decades-old videotapes.

Please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also check out the video for this episode.

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Part two (of two) of our exclusive, in-person interview with the filmmakers. If you missed part one, be sure to check out that episode (#121) from earlier this week, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

Joining us again are directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as "Daniels"), as well as the film's sound designer and sound effects editor, Andrew Twite, and the re-recording mixer and sound supervisor, Brent Kiser.

Today we're devoting the entire episode to the music of "Everything Everywhere All at Once" because it was such an intensive process. So much so that the composers, the indie band Son Lux (comprised of members Ryan Lott, Ian Chang, and Rafiq Bhatia) spent an unusually long time working very, very closely with the filmmakers on this project:

"They came on before we started photography. They helped us write some songs that needed to be on camera. Like the fake musical and stuff. They gave us their entire library of all their personal projects, as well as all their records [and] instrumental versions. And we cut the whole movie to their music. And then they were on during the whole edit, working on the score. So they were part of the project for over two years and created over two hours of original music."

— Daniel Scheinert, co-director, co-writer, and co-producer, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

If that sounds like a lot, that's because it was. As part of this episode, we also speak with Ryan Lott, the founding member of Son Lux, to describe his journey working on this film and all its many parts, including crafting different musical styles for each multiverse, collaborating (and singing a duet!) with Randy Newman, as well as discovering the artistic potential of working in Dolby Atmos®.

"There were times where we were very specific about 'the front wall' and keeping most things really focused on the front wall. And then, finding moments and specific elements too that could basically embrace you, sonically. And I started to think, during that mix, how that is a musical choice. That's an artistic choice. That's not just a technology choice. That's not just an engineering thing."

— Ryan Lott of Son Lux, composer, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Be sure to check out "Everything Everywhere All at Once" at a cinema near you, now playing in Dolby Atmos®, where available.

Many thanks to our friends at A24 for helping us pull this conversation together! 

If you enjoyed this two-part conversation with the filmmakers, please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, as we have many more episodes just like this one coming up in the near future!

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. 

Part one (of two) of our exclusive, in-person interview with the filmmakers of this mind-blowing new film, now playing in cinemas. 

We are joined by the directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as "Daniels"), as well as the film's sound designer and sound effects editor, Andrew Twite, and the re-recording mixer and sound supervisor, Brent Kiser.

If you haven't seen "Everything Everywhere All at Once" yet, it is an incredible example of genre-bending experimentation taken to the absolute extreme. And the directors worked closely with the sound team, in order to craft one of the biggest independent action films in recent memory.

"We knew we wanted to create something that somehow bridged the gap between big blockbuster action films and really intimate risk-taking indie films. And we wanted to find a way to do both at the same time. To carve out space for independent films in theaters, because that's something that's slowly being carved out more for these big, big IP blockbuster films. And we wanted to create a family drama that could basically stand up against those films. So we knew we wanted to make it really entertaining, but also we wanted to give ourselves a challenge of creating a multiverse film — that actually stared at infinity and actually went all the way to its logical, terrifying conclusion — and yet still pulled you back from the brink of meaninglessness and gave you a warm hug by the end."

— Daniel Kwan, co-director, co-writer, and co-producer, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

To see just how the filmmakers pulled off that incredible challenge, be sure to check out "Everything Everywhere All at Once" at a cinema near you, now playing in Dolby Atmos®, where available.

Many thanks to our friends at A24 for helping us pull this conversation together! 

Remember: This is only PART ONE of our conversation with the filmmakers of "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Please subscribe to Sound + Image Lab: The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, so that you don't miss PART TWO, which will debut later this week.

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.