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Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The dialogue is king': ‘Adolescence' sound editor James Drake on the ‘chaotic and intense' first episode
'We've worked together on pretty much all of Phil's stuff, and I worked on his very first short film,' says James Drake of how he became involved in the Netflix limited series Adolescence, directed by Phil Barantini. The two have collaborated on projects including the Boiling Point short film, feature film, and television series, all which also featured Adolescence creator and star Stephen Graham. Drake discussed the buzzy Netflix series as part of our Meet the Experts: TV Sound panel. (Watch our full interview above). Drake says that Barantini first mentioned Adolescence while the two were working on Boiling Point. 'It sounded unbelievable what they wanted to achieve,' admits the sound editor. He knew from this early moment that each episode of the show would be shot in a single, continuous take, which added to the excitement. 'He explained the opening of Episode 1, going from the car to the house to the van to the police station, all around the police station. … Nothing had been done like this, at least in the U.K.,' reflects the BAFTA nominee. More from GoldDerby 'Have I said too much?' David Chase and Alex Gibney on revisiting 'The Sopranos' for 'Wise Guy' doc - and, yes, that finale Every Disney live-action remake, ranked from worst to first (updated) All the 'Mission: Impossible' movies, ranked (updated) This unique approach to the production of Adolescence meant Drake became involved earlier than usual. 'The process was different, and really early on Phil said you really need to come to set,' remembers the sound editor. He explains that he was there for the shoot of both Episode 1 and Episode 2, which afforded him and the sound team unique opportunities: 'We had this approach where post sound and production sound were working together. … We were doing two takes a day, which meant we had down time after every single take to go away, go up to the edit room, and listen to everything.' The result was 'a huge library of 600 sound effects recorded on set' and '10 takes of each episode' from which Drake could work. SEE 'It's saving lives': 'Adolescence' stars Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper on the series' stunning success The first episode of Adolescence wastes no time in gripping the audience, as the series begins with police breaking down the door of the Miller house and conducting a home search to arrest Jamie and collect evidence of the crime he is accused of committing. 'I spent a week just on the production dialogue of that first 12 minutes,' says Drake, continuing, 'I knew that was going to be the biggest challenge we were going to have, maybe in the series.' A big element of that challenge was conveying the chaos of the situation without sacrificing the audience's ability to gleam important information. 'We needed the audience to understand as much as they could about what was going on, so it was very much taking a very slow approach with the dialogues and working through and finding alt takes,' he says, adding, 'The dialogue is king … so we're always trying to keep that clear and front and center, but also … it needed to feel chaotic and intense.' Another standout scene from a sound perspective comes much later in the episode, when Jamie undergoes saliva and blood tests and a strip search. Part of creating the intrusiveness of that scene came from 'the air condition unit in the room, the room tones being more abrasive, more uncomfortable, and being able to shave those away and have this really stark and really upsetting moment of a dad hearing his son being strip searched a meter away from him,' describes Drake. He and Barantini also wanted to foreground Graham's performance as Jamie's father, Eddie: 'It should at that moment be Eddie's breath and hearing P.C. Jenkins and Jamie going through the strip search. … When the performances are that good as well, we just want to let them shine.' Episode one culminates in a long interrogation scene, where the detectives lay out their case against Jamie to the teenager, his father, and their attorney. Drake notes that an early cut of the scene featured 'a few sounds coming from the police station,' but he and the sound team quickly realized 'we want to be behind that door and be sealed off from the world.' He shares that the biggest hurdle in getting the sound design right for this pivotal sequence was separating the performances from the technical aspects of the shoot, revealing, 'There's three or four people — camera operator, two boom operators — actually walking around that room, all throughout that scene, and in real life, that's a tiny, tiny room.' The sound editor thus embarked on a 'really careful cleaning process so we didn't affect anything, but kept every performance we could.' This article and video are presented by Netflix. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Dream Team: 'Étoile' creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino on the secrets of their partnership: 'You want to be jealous of something someone has done' TV sound editors roundtable: 'Adolescence' and 'Secret Level' 'Secret Level' sound editor Matt Yocum on using the 'punchy aesthetic' of video game audio for new animated series Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Secret Level' sound editor Matt Yocum on using the ‘punchy aesthetic' of video game audio for new animated series
'One of my favorite parts of my job is the variety,' says Matt Yocum about the diversity of projects on which he has served as sound editor. An Emmy Award winner for The Last of Us, he has worked on both television and film, from live action to animation. 'Animation really does stand out amongst the herd of other possible choices,' says the designer, because 'you're not necessarily tied to any 'natural conventions.' You're able to bend things and go further and manipulate sounds in different ways and be more exaggerate.' Yocum has brought that approach to the Prime Video animated series Secret Level and discussed the show as part of our Meet the Experts: TV sound panel. A self-professed gamer, Yocum delighted in taking part of Secret Level, which he describes as 'an immense undertaking.' He explains, 'Although they're all animated, each episode is in its own genre and has its own world with its own rules and set of logic and creative approach.' The first season of the show features 15 episodes inspired by 15 different games, ranging from Dungeons and Dragons to Pac-Man and beyond. More from GoldDerby 'Have I said too much?' David Chase and Alex Gibney on revisiting 'The Sopranos' for 'Wise Guy' doc - and, yes, that finale Every Disney live-action remake, ranked from worst to first (updated) All the 'Mission: Impossible' movies, ranked (updated) Even though Yocum brought a unique approach to each episode of Secret Level, he introduced cohesiveness across the entire season by drawing upon principles of video game sound. He explains, 'Game audio has, in a lot of cases, this specific, punchy aesthetic. There's something hyper-real about things and impactful.' The sound editor aimed to 'bring that punch and that largeness and that impact and the visceral nature of things' to all 15 installments. SEE 'Secret Level' creator Tim Miller explains how he gets writers to create short stories based on video and role-playing games One of the standout episodes of the season from a sound perspective is 'Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear.' This entry was a massive undertaking for Yocum because, in his words, 'The edict from the director, Dave [Wilson], on day one of Warhammer was, 'Nothing in the Warhammer universe is small, so everything needs to be huge.' These are huge titanic marines and they're flying in big ships and they're shooting huge guns and they're carrying big swords.' From his perspective, the challenge of executing something so humongous in sound design is, 'If everything is a 10, then nothing is a 10.' 'The trick on something as loud and as big and as rambunctious as Warhammer is to create pockets in order to create contrast, because the way you achieve something feeling 10 is by perceiving it and following it with moments of fives or sixes or sevens,' describes Yocum of his approach to adding variety to the massiveness of the fifth episode. He adopted this method 'so that the loud stuff feels loud,' punctuated with 'moments of soft.' Warhammer is also unique because of its overall lack of dialogue, save for some introductory narration and a line or two throughout. Director Wilson came into production with 'this whole sweeping, flowing backstory' that the audience might not understand, but which Yocum found tremendously helpful. 'I actually love knowing that stuff," observes the supervising sound editor, continuing, "It gives me the why behind every sound, so in those pockets of quietness, I can pull from those ideas and create things.' This article and video are presented by Prime Video. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Dream Team: 'Étoile' creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino on the secrets of their partnership: 'You want to be jealous of something someone has done' TV sound editors roundtable: 'Adolescence' and 'Secret Level' 'The dialogue is king': 'Adolescence' sound editor James Drake on the 'chaotic and intense' first episode Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cannes 2025: Why Oscars could be next for Palme d'Or winner Jafar Panahi's ‘It Was Just an Accident'
The 2025 Cannes Film Festival concluded on Saturday following two weeks packed with screenings, stars, press, and parties. With the prizes having been handed out for the festival's 78th anniversary, awards pundits can now start looking at what contenders might be in the best spot to get into the upcoming Oscar race. This year's prestigious Palme d'Or was awarded to It Was Just an Accident from the long-persecuted Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. The revenge story centers on five former prisoners who believe they've identified and found the person responsible for torturing them. It's Panahi's first project since his ban on making films was lifted by the country's religious leaders who had imprisoned him for 'propaganda against the Islamic Republic.' It marks the second Iranian film to win Cannes' top honor after Taste of Cherry (tied with The Eel from Japan) in 1997 from Abbas Kiarostami, whom Panahi worked for as an assistant director before making his own movies. More from GoldDerby 'Have I said too much?' David Chase and Alex Gibney on revisiting 'The Sopranos' for 'Wise Guy' doc - and, yes, that finale Every Disney live-action remake, ranked from worst to first (updated) All the 'Mission: Impossible' movies, ranked (updated) This year's jury was led by Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche and included such big names as Oscar winner Halle Berry, Emmy-winning actor Jeremy Strong, South Korean director Hong Sang-soo and Indian auteur Payal Kapadia. In recent years, Cannes has served as a major catalyst for Academy Award contenders. Last year, three of the films in the official competition reaped bids for Best Picture: Emilia Pérez, The Substance, and Anora, with the latter winning both the Palme d'Or and the Oscar. Four of the last five Palme d'Or winners have nabbed Best Picture nominations: Parasite (2019), Triangle of Sadness (2022), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), and Anora (2024). Other recent films that received Cannes recognition and became big Oscar players include Drive My Car, The Zone of Interest and BlacKkKlansman. SEE Lights, camera, Cannes! Red carpet photos and A-list presentations from the 2025 film festival Since the Palme d'Or was established in 1955, 43 winners have amassed 149 Academy Award nominations. Nineteen of these have claimed a combined 38 Oscars. Six years ago, Parasite won both the Palme and Best Picture Oscar, making it the first film to do so since Marty pulled off the double play in 1955. That character study was the first of the 19 Palme d'Or champs to land a Best Picture bid, followed by Friendly Persuasion (1957), M*A*S*H (1970), The Conversation (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Apocalypse Now (1979), All That Jazz (1979), Missing (1982), The Mission (1986), The Piano (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), Secrets and Lies (1996), The Pianist (2002), The Tree of Life (2011), Amour (2012), Parasite (2019), Triangle of Sadness (2022), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), and Anora (2024). Considering Panahi's troubled relationship with Iran's religious leaders, the idea that the country would submit the film for Best International Feature at the Oscars seems, at best, questionable. However, it could be submitted by France or Luxembourg as the film was a coproduction with those countries. This happened last year when another Iranian film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, was submitted by Germany. Six Palme d'Or champs have gone on to win this Oscar (previously called Best Foreign-Language Film): Black Orpheus from France (1959), A Man and a Woman from France (1966), The Tin Drum from West Germany (1979), Pelle the Conqueror from Denmark (1988), Amour from Austria (2012) and Parasite from South Korea (2019). Ten other Palme winners were nominated: Keeper of Promises from Brazil (1962), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg from France (1964), Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior from Japan (1980), Man of Iron from Poland (1981), When Father Was Away on Business from Yugoslavia (1985), Farewell My Concubine from Hong Kong (1993), The Class from France (2008), The White Ribbon from Germany (2009), The Square from Sweden (2017) and Shoplifters from Japan (2018).The Grand Prix, the runner-up to the Palme d'Or, went to Sentimental Value from Norwegian director Joachim Trier. The film centers on the strained relationship between an actress (Renate Reinsve) and her estranged director father (Stellan Skarsgård). Trier's last film, The Worst Person in the World, won Best Actress at Cannes in 2021 for Reinsve and scored Oscar nominations for Best International Feature and Original Screenplay. Seventeen Grand Prix winners have earned 35 total Oscar nominations, with seven films scoring 10 wins. Two years ago, The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, won this and earned five nominations including Best Picture, and won two trophies (International Feature and Sound). Five of the other six — Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion from Italy (1970); Cinema Paradiso from Italy (1989); Burnt by the Sun from Russia (1994); Life is Beautiful from Italy (1998); and Son of Saul from Hungary (2015) — won Best International Film. Life is Beautiful also won Best Actor and Best Original Dramatic Score. The 2018 winner of the Grand Prix, BlacKkKlansman, won Best Adapted Screenplay for Spike Lee. The Jury Prize was shared between two films this year: Sirât from French-Spanish director Óliver Laxe and Sound of Falling from German filmmaker Mascha Schilinski. The films that have won here don't correlate as much to the Oscars, but last year's winner, Emilia Pérez, bucked that trend when it scored 13 nominations and two wins: Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldaña) and Original Song. All told, 15 films that have won the Jury Prize have amassed 52 Oscar nominations and 11 wins. Among these victories were one for Best Picture (All About Eve which played at Cannes in 1951, the year after its Oscar romp) and two for Best International Film (Mon Oncle in 1958 from France and Z in 1969 from Algeria). Best Actress was presented to French performer Nadia Melliti for her work in The Little Sister by Hafsia Herzi. The 23-year-old was a student in Paris when she was discovered by Herzi and had never acted in a film prior to this. She portrays a college student from a French-Algerian family who begins to carve her own identity after she begins her studies. Twenty-two past Cannes champs for Best Actress received nominations from the Academy, and five won: Simone Signoret for Room at the Top (1959); Sophia Loren for Two Women (1961); Sally Field for Norma Rae (1979); Holly Hunter for The Piano (1993); and Saldaña for Emilia Pérez (2024, Oscar won in the supporting category). Best Director went to Brazilian auteur Kleber Mendonça Filho for The Secret Agent. The political thriller is about a technology expert on the run in 1970s Brazil. The Oscar track record for this award is not great. Only seven of the helmers who prevailed here went on to contend at the Oscars: Robert Altman for The Player (1992); Joel Coen for Fargo (1996); David Lynch for Mulholland Drive (2001); Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel (2006); Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007); Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher (2014); and Pawel Pawlikowski for Cold War (2018). Both Fargo and Babel also earned Best Picture bids. The Secret Agent also took home the Best Actor honor for Wagner Moura's performance in the film. Sixteen winners of the Best Actor award at Cannes have been nominated by the Academy with the most recent being the 2019 champ, Antonio Banderas, for Pain and Glory. Five have taken home the Oscar: Ray Milland for The Lost Weekend (1945); Jon Voight for Coming Home (1978); William Hurt for Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985); Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009, Oscar won in the supporting race); and Jean Dujardin for The Artist (2011). A Special Jury Prize was awarded to Chinese director Bi Gan for Resurrection. The science fiction drama is about a woman who finds herself trapped inside of several dreams. Films that have received special honors at the festival have not had much luck at the Oscars. The most prominent instances were in 1992 when Howard's End won the 45th Anniversary Prize for James Ivory, 2002 when Bowling for Columbine won the 55th Anniversary Prize for Michael Moore, and last year when Mohammad Rasoulof won a special prize for The Seed of the Sacred Fig. Howard's End scored nine nominations including Best Picture and three wins that included Best Actress (Emma Thompson) and Adapted Screenplay. Bowling would go on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and Seed scored a nomination for Best International Feature. Best Screenplay was awarded Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for Young Mothers. The Belgian filmmaking brothers are perennial favorites at Cannes with their films having won almost every prize at the festival. The only one they've never claimed is the Jury Prize. Their latest centers on five teenage mothers and their children as they are living in a housing center for teenage moms. Last year's winner here, The Substance, became the second screenplay winner to score a Best Picture nomination after Drive My Car became the first in 2021. Both these films scored corresponding screenplay nominations at the Oscars as well. The Substance would go on to win last year's Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Five screenplay winners at Cannes have gone on to claim the International Feature Oscar: Mephisto from Hungary (1981), No Man's Land from Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001), The Barbarian Invasions from Canada (2003; also nominated for Original Screenplay), The Salesman from Iran (2016), and Drive My Car from Japan. Two others were nominated: Footnote from Israel (2011) and Leviathan from Russia (2014). Here is the complete list of Cannes winners: Palme d'Or: It Was Just an Accident Grand Prix: Sentimental Value Jury Prize: (tie) Sirât and Sound of Falling Best Actress: Nadia Melliti, The Little Sister Best Actor: Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent Best Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, The Secret Agent Best Screenplay: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Young Mothers Camera d'Or: Hasan Hadi, The President's Cake Camera d'Or Special Mention: Akinola Davies Jr., My Father's Shadow Special Award: Bi Gan, Resurrection Short Film Palme d'Or: 'I'm Glad You're Dead Now,' Tawfeek Barhom Short Film Special Mention: 'Ali,' Adnan Al Rajeev Golden Eye Documentary Prize: Imago, Déni Oumar Pitsaev Golden Eye Documentary 10th Anniversary Prize: The Six Billion Dollar Man Queer Palm: Hafsia Herzi, La Petite Dernière SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Marilyn Monroe movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best Clint Eastwood movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best Morgan Freeman movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best Click here to read the full article.
