Best audio on entertainment
Winner: Evolutions for Top Gear: Polar Special
Q&A with Stewart Harper, dubbing mixer at Evolutions
What was your audio set-up on this project?
“Protools HD3 system and ProControl.”
What were the most notable and challenging aspects to your audio work on this project?
“My concern with this job was that the Arctic plains are silent. I didn't want to just smother the whole thing in Arctic wind, but did want to fill out the soundtrack at times. So it lent itself to sound design at times just to keep the soundtrack interesting. Luckily the Toyota Hilux featured in the programme sounded great.”
What set this Top Gear episode apart from other jobs you've worked on?
“Although I've mixed many episodes of Top Gear before, this felt completely unrelated. It showed the presenters on a pretty rough journey and although at times I had to balance the screaming engine against equally loud music there were also many quieter more tense moments of drama.”
What was the biggest challenge overall?
“There is always a very tight schedule with Top Gear. Fortunately, for Polar Challenge, I had a couple of extra days. The really interesting part will come when they decide to mix it in 5.1.”
The jury's verdict:
According to Dennis Weinreich, the audio work on Top Gear always rates highly with Conch juries. “The way it's constructed and put together has some real challenges from a sound point of view,” he says. “It's always entertaining and does a good job.
“This particular show was incredibly challenging - not simply a case of shooting these guys on a track somewhere.”
In Polar Special, Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May attempted to become the first men ever to drive a car to the North Pole, using a heavily modified Toyota pick-up truck, while Richard Hammond went the more traditional route using a sled pulled by a team of dogs. “This trek through the Arctic Circle was difficult,” says Weinreich.
“It sounded great. It looked great. However the post-production team weren't in a position to take a lot of wild tracks. It sounded completely natural and yet was very, very exciting.”
Best TV dubbing mixer
Winner: Pip Norton, Breathe Post Production
What have you worked on recently that has been particularly challenging?
“Every project brings its own challenges. I'm about to start on a drama for the BBC about Mills and Boon. The story is told across three different eras: Edwardian, the 1970s and the present day. While they are doing the fine cutting we are talking about the ways to differentiate the eras and play with the juxtapositions, while giving the drama an overall shape. I like to be involved at the earliest opportunity, especially with the current trend for shortening schedules.”
To what do you think you owe your success?
“I believe that one of the most important things in this profession is to enjoy your work, encouraging a relaxed and creative environment to work in. This way you achieve the best results.”
What are the biggest challenges facing audio in broadcasting?
“Tightening budgets and schedules.”
What, in your opinion, is the best piece of TV audio design?
“Any audio design that creates a subtext within a scene, rather than being an accompaniment, impresses me.”
The jury's verdict:
“Pip is someone who everybody in the industry knows and everybody has great respect for,” says Dennis Weinreich, head of the Conch judging panel. It's an opinion underlined by Norton's list of recent credits which include dubbing mixer duties on Most Sincerely, Hughie Green, The Curse of Steptoe, Ballet Shoes, Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me and as ADR on Doctor Who.
“We thought that the pieces we saw just stood out as top television,” says Weinreich. “Just really, really good. It's not enough to paint pretty sound pictures. What you want is sound which helps to deliver the story. It's got to drive the narrative. It doesn't have to be TV drama. We had the advantage that a lot of the people who are in the judging had already seen the Hughie Green show. But we thought Pip, as usual, really rose to the occasion on this one. It just sounded fantastic.”
Award-winning drama director Robin Shepherd provided a testimonial for Norton, praising her offerings of innovative ideas and clever solutions. “I think it was her time to win,” said Shepherd, “because she has delivered consistently high quality and inspired results over a period of years and that deserves to be recognised.”
Best audio on TV/film documentary
Winner: Molinare for Michael Palin's New Europe
Q&A with George Foulgham, senior dubbing mixer at Molinare
What, in your opinion, really makes the series stand out?
“John Pritchard's high quality location sound recording. He also spent time recording lots of useful atmospheres. Having Michael Palin in the studio recording the commentary at least a week before the mix allowed us to shape the mix around his narration.”
Were there any unusual aspects to the post work?
“Because I have worked with the Palin team in the past, I was consulted from the first day of shooting to the final days of mixing. In this case, the crew were using HD and hard disk location recorders for the first time.”
Have you done this sort of programme before?
“I've worked on Sahara with Michael Palin and Himalaya with Michael Palin. All three series have garnered Bafta nominations in the category of factual sound.”
What was the biggest challenge overall on the audio?
“The challenge is always to raise the creative bar from the previous series. Hopefully that is achieved from working with a highly professional team and from the passion that we all bring to the job.”
What, in your opinion, are the biggest challenges facing audio in broadcasting today?
“Given the pressure of limited time and budgets, the biggest challenge is the demand in high-end drama and documentaries for sophisticated soundtracks.”
The jury's verdict:
“This year's TV documentary submissions were of an incredibly high standard,” says Dennis Weinreich of a shortlist that included two other BBC shows - Coast and The Passions of Vaughan Williams. “There were strong opinions on shows, but everyone agreed that they were all amazing.”
However, Michael Palin's New Europe was the show that stood out, explains Weinreich. “Molinare was dealing with Michael Palin walking in fairly inhospitable locations. The sync sounded really good, as was the way it was handled against the post-production elements.”
It just sounded like something, which when it came to an end, that you wanted to keep going.”
The series was one of the most watched factual television programmes of the last year, earning producer Prominent Television and Molinare a Bafta nomination. At Molinare, Lisa McStay was responsible for tracklaying and George Foulgham was dubbing mixer, assisted by James Cullen. The series was comprised of seven BBC 1 hours with a stereo mix and seven international versions with a stereo and a 5.1 mix. In addition, there was over an hour of DVD extras in stereo.
Best audio on TV drama
Winner: Hackenbacker for Ashes to Ashes
Q&A with Nigel Heath, co-director/owner, Hackenbacker
What did Hackenbacker bring to Ashes to Ashes?
“Having worked on the prequel series, Life on Mars, we set out on the Ashes path knowing that the show should sound as if it was from the same ‘sonic family', but with a different slant and tone. I think our sound working style sat pretty nicely with the shooting, cutting and grading from the picture department - that for me is always a joy to see happen and is sometimes trickier than one would think.”
To what do you owe your success?
“We owe our success largely to returning business from directors with whom we have worked. We try and do our best for the show - whatever the budget. We believe in working hard to convey the director's dream.”
What's been your best/favourite TV work from Hackenbacker in the past year or so?
“I've just wrapped on mixing Charlie Brooker's drama Dead Set for E4/C4. We mixed in 5.1 for the HD transmission and DVD versioning and did a left-right remix for the standard definition transmission. The track is cool - sound effects and a great score by Dan Jones working in tandem with plenty of ‘jump' moments defined by the horror genre of the show.”
What are the biggest challenges facing audio in broadcasting?
“The obvious budget issues are a huge factor. On a more creative level we have to keep things fresh, exciting and challenging for the viewers. It's time for some new approaches now and we're up and ready for them.”
The jury's verdict:
“Here you've got a piece of very unusual television,” says Dennis Weinreich of Ashes to Ashes. “You've got a tremendous amount of scope for doing interesting things with sound. You can chose to do something really special that's still totally believable. And that's what Hackenbacker did. The foleys were outstanding. I thought that the dialogue editing was terrific. Technically, it was very good. Creatively, it just worked.”
This workmanship was also one of the reasons that the Conch judges deemed Hackenbacker to be TV sound facility of the year. “There are people who go into business because it's a good thing to do to make money and there are people who go into business because they have a great passion for what they do,” says Weinreich.
“And there is no question in my mind that Hackenbacker has great passion for audio. Being passionate is a great thing but you also have to have great skill. And it, as a company, has always exhibited really high standards. This is a company where people love what they do and that feeling comes over in so many of the projects they produce. Their dedication to quality is unquestioned and it comes right from the top.”
Best TV sound editor/designer
Winner: Chris Roberts, Ascent 142
What TV productionshave you worked on recently that have been particularly challenging?
“The Diary of Anne Frank - the script was fantastic, but the challenge for the sound team was to create a sense of claustrophobia and confinement.”
What's been your proudest achievement in TV audio?
“On Tess of the D'Urbervilles (BBC1) we were able to spend that little bit more time adding touches here, finessing things there, finding ways to really help the sound support the story.”
What in your opinion is the best piece of TV audio design?
“The new version of Battlestar Galactica changed the perception of what genre shows can do and the approach to the sound design really helped with that shift. I've been really impressed by the way the sound on Mad Men helps sell the period, and Life on Mars had some wonderful subtleties.”
What are the biggest challenges facing audio in broadcasting?
“Currently, rates and expectations. We all know that there's a lot less money around, but clients still have the same, if not higher, expectations. It's up to us to manage those expectations.”
The jury's verdict:
Film editor Pia Di Ciaula is enthusiastic when praising sound editor Chris Roberts: “He's developed high technical skills and has a lovely quality in dealing with people that allows him to get the most out of actors. He is very creative in his sound editing by salvaging as much from the original production track as possible, but also getting automated dialogue replacement that matches perfectly in sync and performance.”
Roberts provides an essential service on a production by taking the original location sound files, conforming them to match the cut, then editing them so they run smoothly, making it as easy as possible to balance them in the final mix.”
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