Really enjoyed the movie ‘Coda’. It had me laughing and crying. When it comes to praising good sound in a movie, it’s so easy for me to talk about Dune as having great sound. They used so much of it to influence and define the world and story. BUT, what I loved so much about Coda was I rarely noticed the frame, light or sound. Typically when I watch a movie the artist in me notices all those elements. Commenting in my head about how the cool light is so luminous, love the contrast ect.. With Coda every element seemed to serve the story. The actors, directing, cinematography, production design, costumes and sound kept me locked into the story.
What I loved about the sound in Coda is I didn’t notice it until they wanted me to. There is one scene where the sound entirely drops, which was necessary and powerful.
This has been my continued path as a collaborating artist, whether I’m backing a song on drums, or mixing/editing sounds to picture. It has never been about how many fills I can slip into a song. It was about how to accompany the song and story to be most impactful without taking away from the singer/song. This is the same approach I take with Sound Design. I want the story and performance, in every moment, to shine over the sound. I strive for the sound to be one with the stories world and to enhance it but never distract.
Also, there are a lot of females in the heads of departments of this movie. Just saying!