DRAMA | SOUNDTRACK
“In terms of the plug-ins I use, it’s fairly minimal, as most of my work is done using detailed editing and clip gain. I use the Avid TCE to time stretch and compress and I primarily use iZotope RX for all other purposes - removing undesirable noises (eg mic thumps, tones, etc), EQ, de-essing, increasing or decreasing gain, all with a pretty light touch. I don’t like dialogue to be over-cleaned. If I need to do any pitch shifting, I use Melodyne. For conforming the rushes, I use EdiLoad.” NINA HARTSTONE
Having many ears is always good, particularly when you’re in a final mix
your FX premix time, foley premix and then you get to the final and your music. Music is usually being recorded during that premix stage and you get demo tracks to work against. On this film, there was so much music, we needed a music premix week.” The final mix took place at Twickenham, using a largely conventional, if upscale, Pro Tools set-up. “We had more systems than you’d normally have on the mix stage”, Hartstone explains, “the music system, the dialogue system, FX system.” Finalising any film requires a variety of different versions, and Hartstone notes: “We spent a lot of time doing the deliverables. Having many ears is always good, particularly when you’re in a final mix.” Nina Hartstone’s Academy Award for Best Sound Editing was one of four Oscars netted by Bohemian Rhapsody , among a slew of other prominent accolades. The experience was, she remembers, far from simple, given the unavailability of the star voice. “Even on A Star Is Born , they could get them to sing it again! But we got to the end of the film. It was a brilliant time – what’s bad about sitting in a theatre listening to Queen music?”
IMAGES There were three sources for the voice of Freddie Mercury, including Rami Malek and a soundalike
46 DEF I N I T ION | APR I L 20 1 9
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