More than 550 editors, re-recording mixers, sound designers, composers, chief engineers, facility owners, educators and technologists from across the country visited Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif., on Saturday, October 13, for the fifth annual Mix Presents Sound for Film & Television.
From the opening keynote speech on” The Art of Interactive Storytelling: From the Campfire to the Virtual,” by longtime supervising sound editor, sound designer and interactive audio pioneer Scott M. Gershin, to the closing Dolby Atmos clip of Venom at the Sound Reel Showcase, attendees were treated to 12 hours of nonstop sound-for-picture education.
The main Mix Panel Series, held in the Burt Lancaster Theater, featured: a sound editorial focus in Sound Design for Animation, sponsored by Event Partner MPSE; a mixing panel on Mixing Dialog: The Audio Pipeline, sponsored by Event Partner CAS; and a technology panel on Building an Immersive Room: Small, Medium and Large, sponsored by Westlake Pro.
Additional programs were held in the Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage, where the Cinema Audio Society presented the popular Parade of Carts & Bags and a panel on Ambisonic Recording, and the Composers Lounge, now in its second year as a living room-style forum within the Anthony Quinn Theater, sponsored by Soundworks Collection.
At the large Cary Grant Theater, Avid held presentations on The Sound of Streaming Content; Monitoring and Control for Immersive Audio; The Future Is Female; and S6 Console Demos. Dolby, meanwhile, took over the new Theater 1, a mid-size Dolby Atmos sound design suite where Will Files works and presented The Dolby Atmos Experience and Hands-On Lab, along with a special packed hour with Will Files playing back tracks from Venom. Yamaha/Steinberg had a hit with the new Nuendo 8.3 and its collection of VR/AR-friendly tools, to go with speakers, keyboards, Cubase and the powerhouse Nuage. Meyer Sound took over two rooms, one to show a mid-sized Acheron immersive system in Will Files’ other sound design room, along with a stereo playback of the still-new and revolutionary Bluehorn System.
Other sponsors included Formosa Group, which hosts the popular Sound Reel Showcase, featuring reels from 11 films, introduced by members of the sound team; RSPE Audio Solutions; Sound Particles; iZotope; Tonsturm; and Audionamix.
For audio podcasts of the panels and a photo gallery, visit www.mixsoundforfilm.com. In the meantime, here are a few highlights from the Saturday at Sony.
