Dolby Creator Talks

For our 100th episode, we are very pleased to welcome back to the podcast acclaimed director Edgar Wright, along with his frequent collaborators, composer Steven Price and sound designer Julian Slater. We discussed their latest mind-bender of a film, the psychological thriller – featuring (as Stephen King put it) "time travel with a twist" — "Last Night in Soho."

As always, this team has crafted an incredibly rich soundtrack, this time seamlessly melding sound design, score, and classic hit songs from the 1960s. They accomplished this by beginning work on the film well before filming even began.

"The great thing about working with Steve and Julian, and also my editor Paul Machliss, is that we've worked together so much, that it's great to be able to think about those [soundtrack] elements when you're writing, and also to be able to talk to everybody about it before we've shot a frame of the movie. That's an unusual thing to do with a composer, and an even more unusual thing, probably, to do with Julian — to talk to a sound designer about a film where you haven't shot a frame of it yet. But, as with 'Baby Driver' and with this, it's something where I include everybody very early on."

— Edgar Wright, Director and Co-Writer, "Last Night in Soho"

"It's kind of how it goes with Edgar. As I leave one movie he's talking about three or four possibilities for his next ones. And sound is always entwined in there. And conversations start, even at that point, even as we're finishing the current movie. He's already thinking about the next one. When there's a collaboration that runs as deep as ours does, including Paul [Machliss] as well, it just makes for a great breeding ground of ideas."

— Julian Slater, Supervising Sound Editor and Re-Recording Mixer, "Last Night in Soho"

The film is now playing in Dolby Cinemas and it is spectacular to experience in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®, so be sure to get your tickets soon.

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 incredible new adaptation of "Dune," from director Denis Villeneuve, has some astonishing sound work, fully embracing the immersive capabilities of Dolby Atmos®. Creating this soundtrack was a long and painstaking process, which began in pre-production, as Denis took a novel approach by bringing his sound team and composer on board very early in the process. This gave them extra time and creative freedom to unlock some truly next-level artistry on this film. We recently sat down with Denis and his all-star sound team of Mark Mangini, Theo Green, and Ron Bartlett, to discuss this and their approach to this very ambitious project. 

"[A]t the end of the day, you're not mixing sound, you're mixing an image. It's storytelling. And everything that pulls you away from the screen is bad for me. But with the sound of Atmos, what I like is that I just have the impression that I'm diving INTO the image."

— Denis Villeneuve, Director, "Dune"

In the US, "Dune" is available to watch in a Dolby Cinema near you and on HBO Max.

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. 

We're taking a few weeks off of our regular posting schedule to put together some exciting new episodes for you.

We will be back to our regular schedule at the end of October with our special coverage of "Dune." We recently sat down with director Denis Villeneuve and his all-star sound team, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, and Ron Bartlett, to discuss their approach to this unbelievably ambitious project. This was our first in-person podcast in well over a year and we can't wait to share it with you upon our return. 

So make sure you are subscribed. You won't want to miss this episode. 

Also coming up, we have our 100th episode! So, we'll be doing something special to mark that occasion, as well. 

And in the coming weeks and months, we will have even bigger episodes of the Dolby Institute podcast, including more deep dives into the careers of legendary sound artists and some explorations into a some new terrain for us. We are in the planning stages of our first-ever episodes about some very exciting new video game releases. As you may already know, there is some truly incredible sound work being done in that world, and we can't wait to explore it further with you. 

So stay tuned for all of that. See you again in late October! And thank you, as always, for listening.

Today we're speaking with the creators of "Come From Away," the Tony Award-winning Broadway show, and the latest to get a streaming release, this time on Apple TV+. Joining us are the creators and writers of the book, music, and lyrics, David Hein and Irene Sankoff, and director Christopher Ashley.

The show is set in the week following the September 11 attacks and tells the true story of what transpired when 38 planes were ordered to land unexpectedly in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland when the US unexpectedly closed its airspace. The characters in the musical are based on real Gander residents as well as some of the 7,000 stranded travelers they housed and fed.

If this sounds like a big story, that's because it is. And just how do you pare that down into a tight, Broadway show, with no intermission? It was a challenge:

"I feel like one of the first questions you ask about a musical or a film or a play is, "who's the lead?" And ["Come From Away"] doesn't have one. It's got twelve actors playing hundreds and thousands of people. So its emotional event is so spread out. But one of the things we do have that kind of replaces that is the delight of twelve actors transforming. And you come to know those twelve, even despite the fact that they're gonna play many different parts. So the pleasure in theatrical and acting transformation gives us a lot of juice that you wouldn't have with just a lead. And also, there's no villain! But everybody does have this shared trauma around 9/11, if you were old enough to have lived through it. And how you deal with that trauma turns out to be the problem that everyone's trying to solve."

— Christopher Ashley, Director, "Come From Away"

The musical premiered on Broadway in 2017 and was nominated for seven Tony awards, including Best Musical, Book, and Score, and Christopher Ashley won the Tony for Best Direction.

You can watch the filmed version of the Broadway show, right now, on Apple TV+.

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. 

Dr. Michelle Fournet and Dr. Ellen Garland, the scientists featured in the new Apple TV+ documentary "Fathom," believe the songs of the humpback whales to be perhaps the oldest form of verbal communication between intelligent life on planet Earth. A language and culture which may predate humans' by millions of years. 

You may think scientific curiosity then set out to decipher this language so that we would be able to communicate with these fiercely intelligent mammals directly. But as it turns out, that is not exactly the point...

"I have given a lot of thought to understand why the scientists are doing what they're doing. And the point is — to understand what the whales are saying to each other. And I think there's a number of reasons for that. One of them is ethical — [not] interfering too much with the natural goings on of another species. But two, I think it's, for them, more interesting. [The whales] have a lot more to say to each other than we have to say to them. I think [Dr.] Michelle [Fournet] would say, 'they're saying everything we need to understand. We just need to actually just listen to them. And maybe not talk for once.'"

— Drew Xanthopoulos, Director, "Fathom"

So just what are the whales saying to each other? And how did the filmmakers convey this foreign language so beautifully through sound and image? We sat down with Director and Cinematographer Drew Xanthopoulos, along with Sound Supervisor and Re-Recording Mixer Brad Engleking of TBD Post, to ask exactly that.

Be sure to check out "Fathom" now on Apple TV+.

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. 

WandaVision was a breakout hit this past year, and it appropriately has a whopping 23 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and more for Writing, Acting, Directing, and a couple of well-deserved nods in the Sound Editing and Sound Mixing categories. And if you've seen the series, it should be clear why — this show mixes stylistic formats in some truly bizarre, but also satisfying, ways. At times it harkens back to the sitcoms of yesteryear — even filming part of an episode live in front of a studio audience, in order to capture an authentic laugh track — and other times like what one would expect from a series taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So how did the sound team pull all these disparate stylistic elements into such a cohesive and satisfying amalgamation? Well, we sat down with them to ask exactly that.

Joining us this week is Danielle Dupre, Re-Recording Mixer and Dialogue Editor (and Daytime Emmy Winner); Kim Foscato, Supervising Sound Editor (and previous Primetime Emmy winner); Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Supervising Sound Editor and Dialogue Supervisor; and Steve Orlando, Sound Designer.

"After I was able to sit down and watch all the episodes, we had a really exciting conversation. Because all of us — combined — we've worked on a fair amount of Marvel features. And we were just so excited to have the opportunity to make it sound a little bit differently than what we would automatically think that direction that Marvel [typically] goes. I remember watching it like a month out before the mix and it just sparked my excitement so much. And I went back and I binged 'Dick Van Dyke' and 'Mary Tyler Moore' and 'Brady Bunch.' And then we started mapping out how things were going to sound, and how they were going to change, throughout the series."

— Danielle Dupre, Re-recording Mixer, "WandaVision"

You can check out all of WandaVision right now on Disney+.

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. 

As we continue our coverage of the 2021 Emmy Awards, we recently sat down with the Emmy-nominated editor and sound team for the fantastic nature program / retrospective biography / urgent and dire warning for humanity, "David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet." The film pulled material from over 50 years of Sir David's career to create what many believed to be his final big documentary. And working on the film was an understandably emotional experience.

"The way David likes to do his narration records is — we'll do a complete run through. So that first run through is like watching the film, sometimes. And I have to say, there were several points — and I'm sitting there just recording it, pressing record and sort of watching it through — that I was really choked up, as it's David telling his story. And it was lovely.  Afterwards, I came out into the room and he just said, 'thank you.' You know he was obviously moved and touched by the film and just basically said, thank you for making such a great film, which told what he wanted to say, so eloquently. And he was obviously moved by it as, as we all were."

— Graham Wild, Dubbing Mixer, "David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet"

We're very pleased to share with you this interview with Editor Martin Elsbury, Supervising Sound Editor (and previous Emmy winner) Tim Owens, and Dubbing Mixer Graham Wild about their process of pulling together such a marvelous film using so much original and archival footage, and making such a moving portrait of a career and a planet on the brink, all in a running time of just under 2 hours. The film has 5 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Picture Editing, Outstanding Sound Editing, Outstanding Sound Mixing, and Outstanding Music Composition.

Be sure to check out "David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet" 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. 

As we begin our coverage of the 2021 Emmy Awards, we're excited to sit down today with Sound Designer, and 3-time Emmy Winner, (and returning guest) Craig Henighan, and Supervising Sound Editor and Dialogue Editor, as well as 4-time Emmy Winner, Brad North — who are nominated again, this time for their incredible work on the Netflix animated anthology series, LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS. They are nominated for Outstanding Sound Editing and the series itself is nominated for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program. And the series is exactly that — Outstanding.

So, just how difficult is crafting a sonic landscape for animation? Especially for animation which takes place in a completely alien landscape? And one which utilizes cutting-edge photo-realistic computer animation? As you can imagine, it's very challenging. But also, it turns out, very fun. And you can tell these sound artists had an absolute blast creating a whole new world for their nominated episode, "Snow in the Desert," In Dolby Atmos®.

"With no production track, it's literally from the ground up. Which is why animation is so fun. Especially things like this — the world is your oyster, to a certain degree. You've obviously got to follow visuals and you've got to follow story, which is always, ultimately, the biggest point of it all. But within that framework, there is tons and tons of opportunities for sonic details and little things and stuff that you might not even hear on the first watch."

— Craig Henighan, Sound Designer, LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS

Be sure to check out LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS 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. 

"Nine Days" is an unusual and remarkable film. A kind of supernatural fable about aspiring souls enduring a rigorous interview process in order to get chosen for life. It is an incredible debut from gifted filmmaker Edson Oda, and we are very proud to see this film finally get a theatrical release, as it was a recipient of the Dolby Institute Fellowship, which gives independent films funding to mix their films in Dolby Atmos®. And we couldn't be more pleased with how this film turned out!

We recently spoke with writer and director Edson Oda, supervising sound designer Mac Smith, and re-recording mixer Brandon Proctor, about how they managed to craft such a thought-provoking film which asks some of the most provocative questions about existence itself. But it does so in a very subtle way, as the film invites audiences to craft their own interpretations and meanings. This was all very much by design:

"As a filmmaker, we always want to give enough [information] and not give more than that. And I'm not just talking about storytelling. I think it's [the same] for sound or images – or anything – when you're telling a story. You want to leave some gaps, so the audience can fill in those gaps with their imagination. I think that's, for the most part, the thing that can happen when someone has contact with any piece of art, or any piece of work, or anything that they see: 'Okay, now I'm going to complete this with my assumptions, with my images, with my history, my imagination.'"

— Edson Oda, Director, "Nine Days"

The film just entered a wider release, so be sure to check out "Nine Days" in a Dolby Cinema while you still can. 

Many thanks to our friends at Sony Pictures Classics for giving this film the release it deserves and for helping us pull this conversation together this week.

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.