Creating the voices of Barbie and Oppenheimer – The Hollywood Reporter

Kevin O’Connell worked on both Barbie (left) and Oppenheimer.

Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Brothers; Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

When the audio shortlist was revealed on December 21, several professionals were selected for their work on two films, including re-recorder Kevin O’Connell, who spoke with… Hollywood ReporterHe emphasized that he is very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with both of them Barbie And OppenheimerDirectors and sound teams. O’Connell won his first Oscar in 2016 Hacksaw Ridge, which was also his twenty-first nomination. Previous names include classics like 1986 The best And 1992 Some good men. He is one of several vets returning to participate in this season’s Bake Off of the Voice.

From the now famous America Ferrera Barbie O’Connell – who credits a team that includes supervising sound editors/designers Ai-Ling Lee (also his re-recording colleague) and Dan Kenyon – says that at some point, background sounds like birds and music were taken into account. But director Greta Gerwig’s intention was “to strip it down to the essence of what she was saying and how she was saying it.” He added: “It was our duty to do the right thing in that scene, which was to get out of the way. Make sure you understand every syllable of what she says, and make sure you’re not distracted for even a second from the power of her words.

He adds that Oppenheimer Director Christopher Nolan is also all about detail in the sound. For example, in a scene from the biopic, the bomb is placed in a box and is being transported to the government. “All the way through, we were hearing chains banging on the side of that wooden box, and the average person wouldn’t think much about what that was, but Chris knew that was adding a whole bunch of tension to that scene. Not to mention the impending doom that was He will follow.” He praises OppenheimerThe entire sound team, which included supervising sound editor and designer Richard King, a four-time Oscar winner who also stars in two shortlisted films for sound, also served in the same roles on Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein drama Artist, band leader.

Another double contender: Re-recording mixers and multiple Oscar nominees Tom Ozanic and Dean Zupancic were on the teams for Artist, band leader and Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi drama the creator.

This story first appeared in the January standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.