The Best of Mix Sound For Film – Awards Season: ‘Wicked’

Los Angeles, CA (January 27, 2025)—Our recent Mix Presents Sound For Film: Awards Season all-day virtual event highlighted some of the most amazing work happening in motion picture sound right now. We spoke with 13 sound teams from some of the top films released in 2024; here’s one of the most notable moments and insights from the day:

Simon Hayes, Production Sound Mixer

“You know what was really important was that Jon Chu from the get-go wanted to go live as much as possible. I took every single experience that I’ve had recording live vocals, and rather than stick to one methodology, we broke the script down track-by-track, dance move-by-dance move, and just worked out exactly what was the most appropriate workflow to be able to deliver live solo vocals on each track.

“Of course, ‘Defying Gravity’ is a big moment because we’ve got someone flying through the air on wires, doing acrobatic stunts, singing and we had to have wind firing at her. Paul Korbold and the special effects department developed silent wind tubes. Normally, we get big fans out and that means that we’re gonna re-record in ADR, whether it’s dialog or singing. So we’ve got wires, we’ve got air, we’ve got someone singing while they’re doing somersaults, and it worked out really, really well. I’ve got to say, what was fantastic about it was that Cynthia was wearing a hat, and I had a beautifully placed lav mic right in the peak of her hat, which meant that wherever she went, that microphone was literally in a perfect position, whether she was upside down or flying at high speed. That was a real, real godsend.”