Mixing at SKYWALKER SOUND

Word to all!

Kicking it large at the RANCH again, this time with the whole family. We came in last Saturday and hung in the San Fran area for a few days before the mix began on Wednesday. Matt then came in on Monday and we tooled around town for a few days. It was a real hoot.

It felt great to come in through those gates again, head to SKYWALKER SOUND and see the old ALTERED crew mixing the new film. I was surprised to see Mark Berger there, a veteran of ALTERED that wasn’t supposed to work on this film because of is schedule. I guess something opened up so it was very cool to see him and Kent behind the big console again.

We’re in the ORSON WELLES studio this time and it’s the same sweet set-up that we had before. There’s the huge mixing room where they project the film and do all the work and then there’s the client room, where we just sit around and get fatter on all the great little snacks and drinks they have at our disposal. The kids love it. They leave quite a mess, though.

On our way back from lunch that first day we ran into Michael Cronin, riding around the Ranch in style in a convertible. I’ve been bragging about this place for so long that he had to come and experience the Ranch for himself.

Matt, Michael and I gave the guys some notes on REEL 1 and we headed back to check-in at the Inn. We got the DOROTHY PARKER suite this time and Cronin got the AKIRA KUROSAWA, which I had never seen before. Pretty damn tight. We ended the night with some chill time by the fire at the Inn and that was the end of that.

Next day was our first breakfast at the Inn and then we headed for the mixing stage again, where we gave the first set of notes on REEL 2. We did lunch, walked around the Main House for a while, then headed to the pool for a mid-day swim. It was pretty hot so the water felt wonderful.

It’s tough work mixing a film.

Back after the swim to give the sound boys some more notes and then we were done for the day.

Friday was Cronin’s last day with us, so it was a kind of a sad day. We gave notes in the morning, went to lunch at the main house, said goodbye to Michael and off he went.

It was good having Cronin around for a few days. We miss him a lot after all the time he spent with us editing the film. He sat in on the mixing of the first three reels and gave some good notes, plus he had a ball just hanging at the Ranch, taking it this amazing place. The family and I were very happy he made it out.

Headed back to SKYWALKER for afternoon notes and then our weekend began! Not a bad first week of sound mixing.

The film is sounding terrific, by the way. I get carried away with being at this place but we can’t forget the reason we’re here, and SEVENTH MOON is sounding better every day. I’m really excited by how this film is turning out. The reaction I’ve been getting from people is pretty unique. It already has a lot of fans.

Gregg, Adrian, Amelia, Rob and his son Peter arrived yesterday so the whole gang is here now. We’re doing a dinner for the whole sound crew tomorrow night at the Inn. Adrian is cooking with some help from Stef. Should be a good time.

Gregg and Rob are mighty impressed by the sound, and they’ve only seen Reel 4, which we finished today. Gregg says he really likes how the music sounds. He’s hearing a lot of it for the first time since we did the mix. It is sounding pretty sweet. I’m so happy with what Tony and Kent did.

Tomorrow we do Reel 5 and then we screen the whole film on Wednesday morning at the Stag Theater at SKYWALKER SOUND. We give them final notes and they implement them the rest of the day on Wednesday and all of Thursday.

Then Stef, the kids and are gone back to Maryland on Thursday night. Leaving at 11:30 at night so that flight should be a real doozy.

Anyway, things are good and the film is working. Let’s hope for the best.

Over and out from the Ranch.

-ed

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