August 25, 2017

Technicolor Adds Chills to the Horror of Netflix’s Death Note

Technicolor reteams with rising director Adam Wingard to create the electrifying soundscape for his latest thriller; delivers picture and marketing services as well.

What would you do if suddenly given godlike power to summon death upon others? In Death Note, an ordinary high school student stumbles across a supernatural notebook fallen from the sky, and soon realizes it gives him ultimate control over someone’s fate, simply by inscribing their name and picturing their face.

Death Note is the latest project from rising star director Adam Wingard, a frequent collaborator with Technicolor. “We have a really good shorthand in terms of the way we work together,” the director said of his continued relationship with Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Re-Recording Mixer Andy Hay and Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer Jeffrey Pitts.

Seeking to pay homage to the original Japanese manga, Pitts traveled to Tokyo to capture authentic background sounds of the city. He then interlaced these with the sounds of Seattle, where the new film takes place, to give the project its truly unique signature and feel. While Hay mixed the dialog and music, Technicolor Sound Re-Recording Mixer Gregg Rudloff mixed the sound effects. Through numerous ADR sessions, the sound team also worked closely with actor Willem Dafoe, in the role of “death god” Ryuk, a motion-capture created CGI character. Overall, Wingard and team developed a high-energy soundscape with a throwback 1980’s vibe.

“There’s always an assurance that what you’re hearing here is exactly what you’re going to hear everywhere else,” Wingard said of his latest experience at Technicolor at Paramount. “And it’s since I’ve started coming here that I can actually sleep at night!”

Referring to colorist Skip Kimball, who handled color finishing and SDR/HDR grades at Technicolor Hollywood, the director added: “Working with Skip is great because he has worked with all of these great filmmakers. Whenever you’re referencing other movies, he has that firsthand thing. So you can say, ‘something with that kind of feel’ – and he knows exactly what you’re looking for.”

Technicolor Marketing Services worked on all trailers and teasers for the film, including significant localization services for 29 different languages.

Watch The Sound of Death Note – an exclusive, behind-the-scenes video featuring footage from the film presented by Technicolor: