Chicago

Supervising Sound Editor - Maurice Schell

Dialogue Editor - Laura Civiello

Sound Effects Editor - Eytan Mirksy

Sound Re-recording Mixer - Michael Minkler and Dominick Travellla

Re-recording studio - Sound One Studio Two in New York City

When it comes to the sound categories for the Academy Awards there are usually two types of films that are likely to sweep the category in any given year. It would be either the big blockbuster action film of the year like Jurassic Park, or in the year I looked at a musical like Chicago. The reason why a category like sound mixing really gets musicals noticed is because of all the intricacies of the sound mix. This is a type of film where the music is the true focus of the film. Sure there is a narrative most of the type, but while the dialog may be good the reason we watch these films is for the lavish musical numbers. What makes this tricky for a re-recording mixer is for the fact that you can’t just have the music take up the sound mix. There still maybe dialog that is intertwined in the numbers as well as sound effects to help create the space of the musical performance.

One of the unique aspects of “Chicago” as a musical is all the songs are not performed in a sense of reality. They are all fantastical and through the mind of the characters not set in the real world where the actual narrative is going on. One of the Re-recording mixers Dominick Travella explained this situation as  "One of the challenges with the audio was to keep a consistency between fantasy and reality, but also make a defining line between the two," Tavella explains. "So now you're off in never-never land, but you still want to stay connected with the earth. This is done visually and editorially, and the sound has to support that structural notion."

This challenge is present in the scene I looked at in the movie of the “Mister Cellophane” song performance. During the course of the song there is a scene between Amos (John C. Reiley) meeting Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) in his office. It is a nice stark contrast from the actual song performance where Amos is singing in an empty theater to a lawyer office with a lot more ambiance going on. The music plays throughout both locations but there is a distinct difference in the sounds heard that allow you not to be confused on if these office meetings are still a thing of fantasy.

While “Mister Cellophane” maybe one of the simplest performances throughout the entire film, it is a very good demonstration on how the sound mix was approached in a musical performance. Even in just an empty theater there is still some sound effects that are needed to be put in to go along with dance moves. A problem occurred however with the Foley work not sounding proper from their recording. A solution that was created involved to play “them at half speed, which thickened them up and made them denser, so the sound had a lot more weight. Then we pitched them up. He had these big shoes on, so instead of sounding like empty shoes, the shuffle has a real determination behind it." With the pitch adjusted Amos’ shoes sound very demanding and noticeable. It almost seems to emulate an entire chorus line shuffling at once, which really helps make this performance even bigger in this empty space. Another nice touch that is done in addition to the shuffling sounds is to put reverb on his voice which really allowed the theater to feel empty. Sometimes the most simple scenes are the ones that really stand out in how effective the sound mix is.

The films mix was created in Pro Tools using a “featured-loaded DFC console.” This would be their bread and butter to do all the pitch changing on sounds and instruments in order to make sure everything went along with each other properly. With this being a musical, there could of been upwards of 64 tracks dedicated to music alone at one time.  Depending on the scene this could of included 32 for the band, 16 for vocals, and 16 for an underscore by Danny Elfman.  The other Re-Recording Mixer  Michael Minkler explained his blessing for these not being just raw recordings so he “had the flexibility to do anything I wanted at any time, but I didn't have to do a lot of processing because the cleanliness, the EQ, and overall leveling had been taken care of.”

While not having the same fancy board they had access, knowing that the main focus of the sound mix was pitch bending is something that I could easily mess around with with the plug ins I have. This actually is a different idea I never really thought of to make everything sound in rhythm with each other. This keeps it a lot easier on the ears and never takes you out of the sound mix since everything is at around the same key. For a musical especially this is a key idea that I will apply if I ever cross that path. Ironically another film I would compare Chicago to in terms of sound is the Bob Fosse Musical “All That Jazz” (Fosse also created Chicago the stage play). The musical finale to “All that Jazz” is similar to “Chicago” with it being set in fantasy but trying create a theatrical stage version of the song.

Other work by Michael Minkler includes Red, Hot Tub Time Machine, and Into the Wild
Other work by Dominick Travella includes Black Swan, The Wrestler and Mamma Mia!

Research:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050831021531/http://audiomedia.com/redesign-2003/regional-issues/issue-european/2003/2003-03/html/uk-0303-fc/0303-fc-f.htm

Chicago Mix Analysis:

Amos continues to sing Mister Cellphone on an empty stage in an empty theater. There is reverb placed on his voice to create this space (1:12:39 - 1:12:59)

Foley sound for the hat being tossed to his other hand (1:12:56)

Billy Flynn grabs telephone and foley work for that sound. (1:13:01)

Dialog occurs between Amos and Billy in an office setting (1:13:01 - 1:13:04)

Mister Cellophone music starts to underscore the office and transition back to the stage (1:13:03)

Foley shuffling on Amos that has been pitched shifted (1:13:09 - 1:13:44)

Reverb on Amos’ voice again for the empty theater (1:13:46)

More of the same shuffling done prior returns (1:13:50 - 1:13:53)

More reverb is placed on Amos’ voice (1:13:55 - 1:14:05)

Shuffling again from Amos that has been pitch shifted (1:14:06 - 1:14:07)

Dialog from Amos with some reverb for being in an office space as the music begins fades out. (1:14:08 - 1:14:12)

Door slams and some heavy reverb on it to give it a real punch and causes the final notes of the song to finish fading out transitioning to the next scene like the final curtain in a stage performance. (1:14:12)