Interview: Mac Smith
With over 24 years of experience in sound for picture, Mac has done sound design and sound editing for feature films, documentaries, animation, short films, theater, radio, Disney theme parks, video games, AR & VR. He currently is a supervising sound editor for Skywalker Sound, and was kind enough to answer a few questions via email. (Edited slightly for clarity.)
What is your first step when you start working on a new film?
I have a conversation with the filmmakers as early as possible. Perhaps it’s only with the director, but oftentimes it includes the picture editor and producer. It’s important to establish a relationship with the filmmakers and get a sense of the way that they communicate. Usually I like to read the script, or see the film before this initial meeting. My first impression will spark ideas and questions which will inform me on which direction to head with the early sound design experiments.
What makes the difference between a decent audio mix and a great mix for a documentary?
I really love documentaries that immerse you in that world of the subject(s). If a documentary can make me feel that time and place then it’s really doing its job. Sound can really help carry the audience through the story. Sound can be very informative about the conditions that people are living in day to day. It can make things sound pleasant, joyful, uneasy, or dangerous.
It helps when the filmmakers are thinking about sound while they’re shooting and editing the film. Films are often designed to be wall to wall dialogue and music, which doesn’t leave room for anything else. Too much talking can exhaust an audience and if there’s too much music, then the music is no longer being effective either. A great mix helps propel the story and immerse the audience. It can leave the viewer with a feeling that lasts well past the last frame of the picture.
Documentaries can throw curveballs at you at any time. What is an unexpected twist that stands out to you in your career, and how did you respond?
There was a young filmmaker that I worked with many years ago who was shocked when they found out we were using sounds that we added in our sound editing process. They thought it was unethical to put in sounds that weren’t captured when the cameras were rolling.
Yes, we edit sound effects from sound libraries and our own personal recordings into documentaries. It’s not with the intent on deceiving the audience, it’s to help them go on the ride of the narrative. Being emotionally authentic is often more important than being truly authentic to a specific location and time. That being said, we do make an effort to find sounds that are realistic to the different settings in the story.
This filmmaker came around once we demonstrated how empty and thin the film would sound. The truth is that all documentaries are a manipulation of reality whether people know it or not. All filmmakers choose what goes into the film in the picture editing process and which things are left out.
How do you create emotional connection with the audience in a documentary through sound?
There are numerous ways to convey emotion with sound. An example that I often give is to think about a scene in a suburban neighborhood; nice homes with well manicured lawns. As a sound editor, we can add pleasant songbirds, or the opposite, crows cawing. The audience will feel something quite different depending on which of those end up playing in the scene. They feel a sense of tranquility or the inverse, that something is not right. Some viewers are savvy and know that we’re manipulating the feeling of the scene, but most don’t clock this. Many people think that they’re hearing what was happening when the cameras were rolling.
We can go as far as putting in something quite jarring compared to what you are seeing. Imagine beautiful and pleasant sounds against something that’s visually brutal and horrific. That would absolutely create an emotional response.
What do you wish other filmmakers knew about the sound design process?
I’m an advocate of getting sound artists involved earlier than you would expect. Sound can do a tremendous amount of storytelling, but the visual elements have to leave room for these moments. It doesn’t hurt to get your sound designer onboard in the early stages of production, or even in pre-production. Sometimes it’s just a conversation and other times we can do rough sound sketches to get the imagination of the filmmaker going. Filmmaking is an incredibly collaborative medium and it’s hard to do incredibly effective sound work if we only brought on at the eleventh hour. Don’t let your producers convince you to wait until the end to worry about sound.
What project in your documentary filmography are you the most proud of, and why?
That’s a hard question since I’ve worked on so many incredible documentaries. There are things about each one that stand out. If I had to pick one it would be the documentary “Ghost Fleet”. It’s a heart wrenching story about young men from Thailand who are enslaved on fishing boats that never come back to port. They are brutalized both physically and psychologically. The film goes to amazing locations in Thailand and Indonesia. The filmmakers really trusted us and let us push the boundaries with sound. We put together this sound design montage at the beginning that I’m really proud of. There are also moments that we get very quiet in the film which is another effective way to lean into the emotion of the story.
What documentary has impacted or inspired you the most?
The one that comes to mind is “The Territory”. It’s a film about a small, nearly extinct tribe of indigenous people in the jungle of Brazil. The film shows all sides of people in the conflict and does it so well. My friend Peter Albrechtsen did the sound design along with Rune Klausen, and it’s really visceral. They also collaborated closely with the film’s composer Katya Mihailova. She went along for some of the filming in Brazil and recorded a bunch of sounds that she used in her score and also gave those recordings to the sound designers. This early collaboration is a perfect example of what can be done when you get the sonic artists involved near the beginning.
What’s up next for you, and how can people see your work?
I’m currently working on two feature length documentaries that Louie Psihoyos is involved with. I collaborated with Louie on the film “The Game Changers” before the pandemic. That was a big project and we enjoyed working together. He’s really interested in sound and how it can immerse the audience. There’s no release date on these films so I don’t know when people will be able to see them.
As far as my other work, It’s spread all over the place since I also do a lot of sound for narrative features, animation, and episodic shows. If you want to check out the other things I’ve worked on then you can go to my IMDb page.
Looking for editing help with your documentary? Let’s chat.