Welcome to the latest episode of Art & Crafts, The Ankler’s podcast series that aims to give audiences a behind-the-scenes look and examine the careers and contributions of the talented artisans who create and design the movies and television shows we love. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
To create the world from ShogunSet in Japan at the turn of the 17th century, sound engineer Brian J. ArmstrongMPSE, says he relied heavily on “addition by subtraction.” From removing bird calls from the show’s Osaka enclave (to give it a “claustrophobic feel,” he says) to omitting all music during a scene involving a powerful earthquake, Armstrong’s editing decisions were all aimed at getting more story out of less noise.
Tim KimmelMPSE, describes a similar withdrawal of Netflix’s science fiction epic 3 Body problemwhere much of the action takes place in a VR game. “It’s light years ahead of any game today, so we really played with all the fine details and pushed it a little bit further,” he recalls. “And they said, ‘You know what? No, no, that’s actually too high. It shouldn’t be hyperreal. It should actually just be real.'”
Kimmel and Armstrong, both Emmy-nominated for outstanding sound editing (Kimmel received a second nomination for Netflix’s animated adventure Avatar: The Last Airbender), shared their career paths and creative processes with Joel D. CatalanCAS (a former Emmy nominee for sound mixing on the NatGeo series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey). This is the last of four special podcasts recorded by The Ankler on August 1st during our Art & Crafts Live event at the American Society of Cinematographers Clubhouse. (Previous episodes have been reviewed cinematography, Production design And Costume design).
Cast and crew agreed Shogun‘s sonic restraint, notes Armstrong. Hiroyuki Sanadawho plays Toronaga and is also a producer on the series, even went so far as to swing his own samurai sword on a Zoom call to demonstrate how quiet the weapon can be, as opposed to the “clanking” and “clanging” sounds of typical movie blades. Even in some scenes where Armstrong instinctively wanted to add voices – such as when a massive army is in motion – the show’s creators were determined to hold back.
“They’re soldiers. They’re samurai. They don’t talk as they walk,” Armstrong admits. “There’s no hot gossip in the samurai world.”
Transcript Here.
