228 - Director Steve McQueen and the Sound of Blitz

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen joins us to discuss his latest feature, “Blitz,” alongside his acclaimed sound team. The film, which explores the harrowing experience of the London Blitz during World War II, is shortlisted for Best Sound at the upcoming Academy Awards. In this episode, McQueen and his team take a deep dive into the process of creating a visceral, immersive soundtrack that captures both the chaos and quiet moments of survival, all presented in stunning Dolby Atmos®. And the film starts off with a literal bang, all designed to plunge the audience directly into the horrors of this place and time.

“The backbone of [films], for me as a filmmaker, is sound. It's always been sound. Sound is much more important to me than images in some ways. Because when you hear something, you feel the weight of it. When you hear something, you sort of even smell it… Images, yes, they illustrate. But they don't tell you about the size and the mass of things. And that's what we wanted to jump in with two feet with, immediately. With that terror.”

—Sir Steve McQueen, Director, Producer, Screenwriter, “Blitz”

Joining today’s conversation:

- Sir Steve McQueen – Director, Producer, and Screenwriter

- Paul Cotterell – Re-Recording Mixer and Supervising Sound Editor

- James Harrison – Re-Recording Mixer and Supervising Sound Editor

- John Casali – Academy Award®-winning Production Sound Mixer

Be sure to check out “Blitz,” now streaming on AppleTV+ in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.

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