Glenn Freemantle

In conversation with Jean Martin
16 June 2015, Pinewood Studios, W-London, UK

Glenn Freemantle is a British film sound designer. He has been working in the film business for more than 35 years. He has designed the soundtracks of over 140 films. His company Sound24 Ltd. is based in Pinewood Studios, West of London. He was nominated for an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire (UK 2008, D: Danny Boyle) and won an Oscar for Gravity (UK, USA 2013 D: Alfonso Cuarón).
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Sound design in a film is the dialogue, music and sound effects - all three put together because you are all hearing them. It is the shape you want to get to. You want to go up or down and you want the viewers to feel. It is not just that sound that makes you a sound designer.
Glenn Freemantle

Part 1

keywords: Everest (2015); simplicity; how we perceive sounds; gestures; layers of sound; giving shape to sounds; the physicality of sound; many kinds of wind;

Part 2

keywords: preparing the final mix; keeping a fluent mix throughout the post-production; adding and sunstracting sounds; surround mixing: Dolby Atmos; danger of doing too much; a sound design symphony; Never Let Me Go (Mark Romanek, 2010); quietness: less is more; vitual mix: a mix is ready before the final mix; the final mix in one go; clarity and space; in the final mix focus on making the film; creating a curve or arc; Sunshine (Danny Boyle, 2007); John Murphy, film composer; competition between music and sound design in Everest; digital sound is intricate and allows quiet moments;

Part 3

keywords: Archiving sound; Tarzan (2016); sounds associated with certain films; Ex Machina (2015): making a robot sexy through sound; Nicolas Becker (sound designer, Paris); Electroacsoutic listening aesthetic; Gravity (2013); how to get into the film industry; Paddy Kingsland: BBC Radiophonic Workshop; luck; Jim Shields; working as a team: against hierarchy; sound24: a boutique company; Everest; dialogue editors are female; foundation of sound design: good dialogue editing (loudness, audio perspective, room acoustics); radio mics; dialogue: we want to hear and understand it;

Part 4

keywords: working repeatedly with same director; trust; 127 Hours (Boyle, 2010); aspiring sound designers: learning; technology can run away with you; understaning the film, the person (director), what we are trying to achieve; every film is different; it takes a team to make a film soundtrack: big egos have no place; mixing in a big theatre;