Roberto Cecchini of bicoastal/international The Artists Company, and John Benson, formerly of Industrial Light+ Magic, San Rafael, Calif., have launched visual effects shop Orphanage Spots, which has offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco….David Bowie has signed with bicoastal RSA USA’s Top Dog Films to direct commercials and music videos. This marks the first time that the singer/songwriter/producer/actor has formally been represented as a helmer…. Director Earle Sebastian has signed with bicoastal You Media for exclusive commercial and music video representation….Hollywood-based Orbit Productions has signed director Paul Santana…. Nonfiction spots, Santa Monica, and Paris-based Dissidents have entered into a reciprocal representation and co-production agreement. Both companies represent documentary filmmakers for commercials. Dissidents will handle spot production and representation in France for nonfiction’s U.S. roster. Conversely, nonfiction will do the same in the U.S. for the Dissidents lineup of directors….After nine years, New York-based boutique agency Dweck! is closing its doors. The agency is perhaps best known for its Cannes Gold-Lion winning ads for Dial-A-Mattress, directed by John O’Hagan of bicoastal/international hungry man. At press time, the future plans of Michael Dweck, agency chairman/creative director, were not yet known….Director Sam Raimi is again available for commercials via bicoastal Zooma Zooma, after wrapping principal photography on Sony Pictures Spiderman feature…Kieran Walsh, creative director/senior visual effects/Henry artist, R!OT Manhattan (formerly Manhattan Transfer), New York, has been named as the North American regional winner of the International Quantel Artist of the Year Award presented at last month’s Promax & BDA Conference & Exhibition in Miami…OC Post, the Orange County, Calif.-based editorial, design and finishing house, has changed its name to Stun Gun. Involved primarily in spot work, the boutique continues to be headed by president/CEO Ken Anderson….
Craig Henighan Sounds Off On “Deadpool & Wolverine”
Hollywood lore has it that character actor Edmund Gwenn--while on his deathbed--quipped, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
The second part of that darkly witty utterance remains all too true today as Craig Henighan--a Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Oscar nominee in 2019 for Roma--can attest in that he had to grapple with the sonic of being comic for this year’s box office hit, Deadpool & Wolverine (20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios).
The degree of inherent difficulty was ramped up even further because Deadpool & Wolverine had to seamlessly bring together high action-adventure exploits with moments and dialogue that tickled the funny bone. There’s a mesh of humorous banter--a staple of the franchise--along with major spectacle replete with explosions, fights, an impactful score and off-the-wall musical numbers.
Henighan explained that among the prime challenges for him from a sound perspective was having to make sure every joke landed within the construct of a superhero film. The tendency for a tentpole movie of this variety, he noted, is to gravitate towards big, loud audio spanning music, dialogue and sound effects. But the unique comedic element of Deadpool & Wolverine necessitated that re-recording mixer and supervising sound editor Henighan strike a delicate balance. “You need to get out of the way for the comedy,” he related. The jokes in a superhero film become “a real dance” as Henighan had to establish a rhythm that did justice to both the comedy and the action as the narrative moves back and forth between them--and sometimes the funny and the high energy, high decibel superhero dynamic unfold simultaneously in a scene or sequence. The “sonic fabric” has to... Read More