140 - The Sound of Avatar: The Way of Water

As we continue our 2023 Awards coverage, today we are talking to the sound team behind another film on the Best Sound Academy Awards shortlist — “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

Joining us is four-time Academy Award winning re-recording mixer, supervising sound editor, and sound designer Christopher Boyes; supervising sound editor Dick Bernstein; re-recording mixer Michael Hedges; sound mixer Julian Howarth; and supervising sound editor Gwendolyn Yates Whittle.

As you’ll hear about in detail in this interview, every member of the sound and music teams needed to work very closely together, in a concerted effort, to make the sound of this film as clean and as clear as possible. Or as James Cameron would often put it, “clarity is king.” Easier said than done with a movie this complex.

“In the end, Avatar — visually — is such a complicated image. And I think the human brain can easily take that in and enjoy it. But we — delivering the sound of Avatar — have to work against that, because the human brain can look at all those beautiful visuals, but can't necessarily process a thousand different sonic notions. Really, we wanna simplify it and get the sound to speak to the story that we're trying to tell. And it's not part of the story, it doesn't belong in the track.”

— Christopher Boyes, Re-recording Mixer, Supervising Sound Editor, and Sound Designer, “Avatar: The Way of Water”

“Avatar: The Way of Water” is now in theaters, in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®, where available.

Be sure to check out our earlier episode with Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, on dialogue editing and ADR.

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