The Retelling

For the last week I have been mixing cues for a feature length horror film, The Retelling. Brian Satterwhite, the composer, sends me cues in Logic and I mix them and then I stream them over the internet for his approval. The system works very well using the program, Nicecast. It allows me to broadcast straight from Logic at a bit rate of 128Kbps and higher as well as a sample rate of 48kHz. so Brian pretty much hears the mixes as I hear them.

It has been a very interesting score to mix. I enjoy the elements of mixing for film but especially horror films. Mainly because instruments don't need to sound or we don't want them to sound as they normally would in most other musical situations. I might eq a cello in a rather unconventional way or add fx to it, to make it sound particularly unusually, or in this case frightening.

Also having not yet had the opportunity to see the film I rely a lot on Brian to convey what he needs the mix to sound like so that it fits well with picture. Hearing particular percussion hits and melodies keep me curious as to how these subtle and sometimes not so subtle notes and motifs are supposed to emphasize and support the scenes in the film. It is always interesting and exciting to see the completed film with the score mixed.

So far we are staying on schedule and should have the mix wrapped up by the July 10th deadline.