When the sound shortlist was revealed Dec. 21, several pros were tapped for their work on two movies, among them rerecording mixer Kevin O’Connell, who, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, emphasized that he’s incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work with both Barbie and Oppenheimer’s directors and sound teams. O’Connell famously won his first Oscar for 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, which was also his 21st nomination. Earlier noms include classics such as 1986’s Top Gun and 1992’s A Few Good Men. And he’s one of numerous sound vets returning for this season’s sound bake-off.
Of America Ferrera’s now-famous Barbie monologue, O’Connell — who credits the team that includes supervising sound editors/designers Ai-Ling Lee (also his fellow rerecording mixer) and Dan Kenyon — says that at one point, background sounds such as birds and music were considered. But director Greta Gerwig’s intention was to “strip it down to the bare core of what she was saying and how she was saying it.” He adds, “It was our duty to do the right thing in that scene, which is get out of the way. Make sure you understand every syllable of what she is saying, and make sure you’re not distracted for one second from the power of her words.”
He adds that Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan is also all about details in the sound. For instance, in a scene from the biopic, the bomb’s been boxed up and is being transported for the government. “The whole way, we’re hearing the chains pounding against the side of that wooden crate, and the average person wouldn’t think much about what that is, but Chris knew that that was adding a whole bunch of tension to that scene, not to mention the impending doom that was to follow,” O’Connell says. He praises Oppenheimer’s entire sound team, which included supervising sound editor and designer Richard King, a four-time Oscar winner who also represents two films on the sound shortlist, having also served in the same roles on Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein drama Maestro.
Another double-duty contender: Rerecording mixers and multi-Oscar nominees Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic were on the teams for Maestro and Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi drama The Creator.
This story first appeared in a January standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
