Dolby Creator Talks

Academy Award®-winning composer Ludwig Göransson returns to the Dolby Institute Podcast to discuss his 2024 Academy Award-nominated score for auteur filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s latest film, with guest host Jon Burlingame. They discuss the composer’s process which, on this film, was anything but traditional, including why he composed over three hours of music before principal photography even began.“But then the real job begins when [Christopher Nolan] comes back and he goes into the edit bay and he sits there with [picture editor] Jennifer Lame and they start putting together the movie. And they put together the scenes. And they already put my music in those scenes, from what we’d already written. So when I see the first cut it already has all my music in it.”—Ludwig Göransson, Composer, “Oppenheimer” Be sure to check out Oppenheimer at a Dolby Cinema® so you can enjoy the film and Göransson’s score in stunning Dolby Atmos®.Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Fresh from their Academy Award®-winning work on “Top Gun: Maverick,” supervising sound editor James Mather and re-recording mixer Chris Burdon return to the Dolby Institute Podcast, along with picture editor Eddie Hamilton, to discuss the sound of the latest installment in the action-spy series — 2024 Academy Award-nominee in the Sound category, “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.”If you haven’t already, be sure to see Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One in a Dolby Cinema®:“What Dolby Atmos® allows us to do is make [the sound design] that much more immersive. I have that many more channels that I can be planting sounds in a way that just makes it completely immersive, you won’t hear any other way.”—Christopher McQuarry, Director, “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One”Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

A new, exclusive interview with Phedon Papamichael, the director of photography of the latest (and final?) installment of the Indiana Jones franchise. He and director James Mangold had to contend with a myriad of unique challenges on this film, including matching and updating the classic “Indy look,” filming more chase scenes than you can count, and working with cutting edge VFX to “de-age” Harrison Ford, making the 80-year old action star look the same age he was when he shot Raiders of the Lost Ark!“Initially, when we started testing it before principle photography, I was presented with some concerns and restrictions. Like, ‘if you can match the lighting to existing lighting from other [Indiana Jones] movies, it'll apply easier, it'll be more successful.’ I go, ‘well, that's gonna be tricky. In every sequence I have to see [if] he has a similar sidelight or a top light?’ It turned out that wasn't really a factor. We also didn't realize, the turnaround time ended up being pretty quick. We were getting results back within a few days. We saw that, ‘wow, this is really gonna work!’ And we were all very impressed, including Harrison. He was like, ‘it's bizarre seeing yourself.’”— Phedon Papamichael, Director of Photography, Indiana Jones and The Dial of DestinyBe sure to check out Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®, where available.Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Director and Co-Writer Peter Sohn and Director of Photography Jean-Claude Kalache join us this week to tell us about the making of Elemental, Pixar Animation Studios’ most ambitious movie to date. We discuss Pixar’s famously demanding story development process and why this film took years just to get to an outline, how this film deals with some much more grown-up themes than the typical Pixar fare, and the unique challenges of animating two lead characters made up entirely of either a glowing, iridescent flame (Ember) or a blob of translucent liquid (Wade).“We had done some [early] experiments with Ember [and] when we turned her fire on for the first time, she looked like a Balrog from Lord of the Rings! She looked terrifying. She was this very realistic demonic fire… And when [Wade] is in the basement, he has a different look. His whole body turns a different color. And then when he is outside in the sunlight, his whole body turned into something else. He was awful! He was so hard. <laughs>”— Peter Sohn, Director and Co-Writer, “Elemental”Be sure to check out Elemental in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®, now playing in Dolby Cinemas® and theaters near you.Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Former DGA president, and one of the most successful directors working in television, Paris Barclay joins us on the podcast to discuss his remarkable work on episodes six and ten of DAHMER, season one of Ryan Murphy’s series, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” But it was work we almost didn’t get to see, because he was initially very reluctant to take on the job.“This one was a hard NO. Um, ‘I'm doing a series about Jeffrey Dahmer and I want you to be a part of it’ is not a call that I'm delighted to receive. <laughs> So I said, ‘listen, I'm of an age where I lived through Jeffrey Dahmer and I know what Jeffrey Dahmer did to black and gay men like myself. And I don't think it's worth doing another story that looks at Jeffrey Dahmer and in any way makes him a more credible, emotional, positive figure.’”— Paris Barclay, Director, DAHMERSo why did Paris decide to take the gig, and how did he manage to craft such beautiful and heartbreaking stories depicting the impact of one of the most grim serial killers in history?This is just one of two podcast episodes we’ve done on this season of the series, so be sure to also look for our podcast episode with the producers and key members of the crew.Be sure to check out DAHMER in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos® on Netflix.Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Key members of the team behind DAHMER, season one of Ryan Murphy’s hit series “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” join us this week to discuss the challenges of balancing this gripping portrayal of the notorious serial killer, and his impact on the communities he preyed upon, without glorifying or redeeming Jeffrey Dahmer’s horrific acts.“‘Monster’ doesn't just relate to the guy with the knife. It relates to the society in which he was working within, and how he was able to get away with what he was doing for so long,”— Regis Kimble, Producer and Supervising Editor, DAHMERJoining us is Executive Producer and president of Ryan Murphy Productions Alexis Woodall, Re-recording Mixer Laura Wiest, Production Sound Mixer Amanda Beggs, and Producer & Supervising Editor Regis Kimble. This is just one of two podcast episodes we’ve done on this season of the series, so be sure to look for our episode with Paris Barclay, the director of episodes six and ten, which will be released later this week.Be sure to check out DAHMER in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos® on Netflix.Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

For our 150th episode of The Dolby Institute Podcast we’re delighted to bring you filmmaking advice for first-time filmmakers… FROM first-time filmmakers. We have gathered a panel of emerging directors, fresh off the premieres of their very first films, to share their insights, triumphs, and challenges in this candid round-table discussion. What hard lessons did they learn? And what would they do differently next time?“As the director, everything that goes wrong is my fault. And you have to take full responsibility. Because you're in charge... It was a hard experience. It was bumpy. But it made it so that, in the future, I am prepared and I know how this system works. I [now] know how the machine works and I can operate in it smoothly.”— Thomas Sawyer, Writer and Director, "Sirens"These insights are from a group of young filmmakers who took part in the “Finish the Script Challenge,” a collaboration between the Dolby Institute and Ghetto Film School. With an open-call submission process and mentorship by Academy Award-nominated director Carlos López Estrada, each year recipients receive a $25,000 grant and access to resources to finish their short films in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.Whether you're a film student, an aspiring director, or a seasoned pro, we hope you find the candid advice in this episode helpful and inspiring. Be sure to check out each of the films from our panelists, along with behind-the-scenes featurettes by documentary filmmakers Ian Sotzing and Jordan Fatke. — “Pause/Play” by Kaitlyn Ali — “Fruits of Your Labor” by Britney Bautista — “Sirens” by Thomas Sawyer — “Zora’s Last Day on Earth” by Miguel Ramirez — Behind the Scenes: Finish the Script Year 2 Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Independent filmmaking legend Robert Rodriguez joins us this week, along with his composer and son Rebel Rodriguez, to discuss their mind-bending new action-thriller, “Hypnotic,” starring Ben Affleck. We discuss how they finally completed this film after years of Covid-related delays, why the director still prefers Austin over Hollywood (as his production hub), and how he’s made filmmaking a truly family affair. In addition to Rebel's score, the film benefited from the creative input of Robert's daughter, Rhiannon Rodriguez, who contributed to the storyboards. Racer Max Rodriguez and Rocket Rodriguez, Robert's other sons, brought their respective expertise to the table as well — Racer Max as the a co-writer and producer, and Rocket as an editor.“Now they’re the age where I was when I was doing ‘[El] Mariachi’ and ‘Desperado’ and all that. And I was like, wow, I was on fire back then, with all these ideas. No wonder these guys are [too]. If I need help with ‘Hypnotic,’ I need myself from 20 years ago to come help me finish this thing. And I got them, I got a whole bunch of them! <laughs> So they come with all these great ideas and it's like, wow, divide and conquer. Let's just take over this thing. They're becoming essential to my process, for sure.”— Robert Rodriguez, Director/Producer/Co-Writer/Co-Cinematographer/Editor, “Hypnotic”Be sure to check out Hypnotic, now in theaters.Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.About Dolby: Dolby transforms the science of sight and sound into spectacular experiences. Through our innovative research and engineering, we develop breakthroughs that we share with the world through collaborations that span artists, businesses, and consumers worldwide. These breakthroughs deliver incredibly vivid experiences in the cinema, at home, at work, and on the go — experiences so lifelike that people feel as if they’ve been transported into a cinematic story or a pulsing sphere of music, a distant conference room or an action-packed game. In both entertainment and communications, through audio and imaging, we give everyone the power to see, hear, and feel the spectacular.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Polite Society had one of the biggest debuts at this year’s 2023 Sundance Film Festival and it’s easy to see why. The film is wild, fun, chaotic mashup of genre and style, everything from kung fu action to dark comedy to paranoid spy thriller to coming-of-age drama (and more!) is deftly mixed into this little firecracker of a movie, which was made with an astonishingly small budget during the height of the COVID-19 Omicron surge. Despite these challenges, the film is a masterclass in nailing tone and also turning that tone on a dime. But finding that right balance was no easy feat, requiring lots of trial and error.“It starts with the script… but it’s really found in post, in the edit, how we’re cutting, the rhythm to which we’re cutting, finding the right music, the right score… All of it working together. It became so important. Because as we were test screening it, we could feel audiences weren’t going with us, tonally. And then all we had [left[ was to edit the sound. To kind of find it, and sort of play around with it, and see how we could bring audiences with us.”— Nida Manzoor, Writer and Director, “Polite Society”Joining us on the podcast is the team who “found it.” Writer and director Nida Manzoor, director of photography (and Aikido black belt) Ashley Connor, sound designer and supervising sound editor Jay Price, and re-recording mixers Tushar Manek and Simon Hill.Be sure to check out Polite Society, now in theaters.Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.About Dolby: Dolby transforms the science of sight and sound into spectacular experiences. Through our innovative research and engineering, we develop breakthroughs that we share with the world through collaborations that span artists, businesses, and consumers worldwide. These breakthroughs deliver incredibly vivid experiences in the cinema, at home, at work, and on the go — experiences so lifelike that people feel as if they’ve been transported into a cinematic story or a pulsing sphere of music, a distant conference room or an action-packed game. In both entertainment and communications, through audio and imaging, we give everyone the power to see, hear, and feel the spectacular.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. 

Today we have an exclusive interview with the writer and director of Evil Dead Rise, Lee Cronin, along with sound designer and supervising sound editor Peter Albrechtsen. We discuss how they made this super fun addition to the Evil Dead franchise as well as their collaborative process in crafting one of the creepiest soundtracks you’re likely to experience this year. “Despite the fact that it was contained I wanted the movie to feel epic. And I knew that sound would play a very very important role in that because Evil Dead movies are contained. That’s kind of part of their DNA.”— Lee Cronin, Writer/Director, Evil Dead RiseWe have some “epic” clips to share with you, as well as a breakdown of that excruciating cheese grater sequence, so this episode is not for the squeamish. This interview was recorded live at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival.Be sure to check out Evil Dead Rise, now in theaters.Please subscribe to The Dolby Institute Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.You can also check out the video for this episode.About Dolby: Dolby transforms the science of sight and sound into spectacular experiences. Through our innovative research and engineering, we develop breakthroughs that we share with the world through collaborations that span artists, businesses, and consumers worldwide. These breakthroughs deliver incredibly vivid experiences in the cinema, at home, at work, and on the go — experiences so lifelike that people feel as if they’ve been transported into a cinematic story or a pulsing sphere of music, a distant conference room or an action-packed game. In both entertainment and communications, through audio and imaging, we give everyone the power to see, hear, and feel the spectacular.Learn more about the Dolby Institute and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.