Master Classes are in-depth, interactive learning experiences focused on craft and career building and led by renowned industry experts. Topics include fiction and documentary filmmaking, TV writing and production, and navigating and succeeding in the entertainment industry.
Music and sound design are two of the most powerful tools for filmmakers to tell their stories. In this Master Class centered around the Daniels’ independent hit, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, we explore how these elements work together to communicate tone and emotion and build a unique and fantastical world.
Join Glenn Kiser, Director of the Dolby Institute, and accomplished composer, Peter Golub, who moderate a conversation with EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Re-recording Mixer and Supervising Sound Editor, Brent Kiser, Sound Designer and Sound Effects Editor, Andrew Twite, and Ryan Lott, Rafiq Bhatia and Ian Chang, the three members of the band, Son Lux, who composed the original, spellbinding score. In this session, they discuss the process by which composers and sound designers can build the world with the filmmaker and be an essential part of shaping a film’s story.
Topics covered include:
- 00:00-03:38 - Welcome and introduction from Sundance Collab
- 03:39-04:41 - Moderator introductions
- 04:42-13:11 - An introduction on sound and music from the moderators
- 13:12-16:14 - Trailer for Everything Everywhere All at Once
- 16:14-17:53 - Optimizing your Zoom for sound
- 17:54-22:10 - Panelist introductions
- 22:11-25:52 - The Daniels’ background with sound and their influences
- 25:53-31:37 - Using sound design and music to establish tone
- 31:38-54:49 - Scene breakdown: the sound and music in the laundromat
- 54:50-01:00:19 - The approach to the spotting session and overall collaboration
- 01:00:20-01:02:18 - Dialogue stems and M&E
- 01:02:19-01:05:38 - ADR and the production track
- 01:05:39-01:22:53 - Scene breakdown: the sound and music in the fanny pack fight scene
- 01:22:54-01:38:45 - Q&A
- 01:38:45-01:39:05 - Break
- 01:39:06-01:52:42- Scene breakdown continued: the music in the fanny pack fight and working together as a team of composers
- 01:52:43-01:57:07 - The approach to the music mix
- 01:57:08-02:01:30 - Editing to temp tracks and then working with composers as directors
- 02:01:31-02:04:11 - Composers working with directors who have been working with temp tracks
- 02:04:12-02:07:06 - The process of composing music for the fanny pack scene
- 02:07:07-02:08:57 - The approach to recording music and collaborating during a pandemic
- 02:08:58-02:23:12 - Scene breakdown: the sound and music in the staircase scene
- 02:23:13-02:42:05 - Q&A
- 02:42:06-02:44:45 - Wrap-up
Presented in Conjunction with
Past classes have included Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams on Documentary Storytelling, Finding Dory’s Victoria Strouse on Comedy Writing, Emmy-nominated director Lesli Linka Glatter on Blocking a Scene, The Walking Dead’s Glen Mazzara on TV Writing, and more.
Panelist
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as DANIELS - have been writing and directing together for over a decade, initially with a slew of viral music videos, commercials, and short films, then with feature films and TV directing.
They've developed a reputation for combining absurdity with heartfelt personal stories. Oftentimes they incorporate a unique brand of visual effects, and visceral practical effects into their genre blending projects.
They have directed music videos for Manchester Orchestra, Foster the People, and won a VMA for their video for ‘Turn Down For What’, which Scheinert bullied Kwan into being the lead actor in. Kwan is a really good dancer.
They wrote and directed the feature film SWISS ARMY MAN starring Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe, which went on to win the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival, received multiple nominations, and gained a large cult following.
While they were writing & developing their new movie EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, a kung fu sci-fi dramedy starring Michelle Yeoh, Scheinert went and directed a small redneck dramedy called THE DEATH OF DICK LONG, also released by A24.
They both live in Los Angeles. One of them has a son. The other has a goofy dog. But to be honest Daniel does most of the work. more...
Panelist
From the start, Son Lux has operated as something akin to a sonic test kitchen. The band strives to question deeply held assumptions about how music is made and reconstruct it from a molecular level. What began as a solo project for founder Ryan Lott expanded in 2014, thanks to a kinship with Ian Chang and Rafiq Bhatia too strong to ignore. The trio strengthened their chemistry and honed their collective intuition while creating, releasing, and touring six recordings. The result is a carefully cultivated musical language rooted in curiosity and balancing opposites that largely eschews genre and structural conventions. And yet, the band remains audibly indebted to iconoclastic artists in soul, hip-hop, and experimental improvisation who themselves carved new paths forward. Distilling these varied influences, Son Lux searches for equilibrium of raw emotional intimacy and meticulous electronic constructions. Son Lux has most recently scored the new Daniels film for A24, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. The full score album features new collaborations with Mitski, David Byrne, Randy Newman, and Moses Sumney, among others. (Photo credit: Anna Powell Denton) more...
Panelist
Andrew Twite is an award-winning sound designer based in Los Angeles with over fifteen years of industry experience spanning feature films to documentaries and adult animated comedy. In 2008, Andrew won the MPSE Golden Reel Award as the dialogue editor of RETURN TO HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL for Best Sound Editing for Direct to Video. He earned an additional three MPSE Golden Reel Award nominations for sound editing STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, RICK AND MORTY, and BOJACK HORSEMAN.
Andrew most recently sound designed A24’s critically-acclaimed drama EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE starring Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan from directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (the Daniels).
Andrew first worked with the Daniels on their Gotham Award and Indie Spirit Award-nominated film SWISS ARMY MAN starring Daniel Radcliffe. Andrew has sound designed numerous award-winning films and television series including Alma Ha’rel’s breakout feature HONEY BOY which won the Sundance Special Jury Prize among several other notable awards. His credits further include Hulu’s thriller feature RUN starring Sarah Paulson; the adult animated series BIG MOUTH, ROBOT CHICKEN and DREAM CORP LLC; and the hit YouTube Red series ESCAPE THE NIGHT created by Joey Graceffa. more...
Panelist
Brent Kiser is an Emmy-winning sound designer and the founder of post sound company Unbridled Sound based in Los Angeles. His 15 year career in sound spans feature films, TV series and documentaries. Brent most recently served as the sound supervisor on A24’s critically-acclaimed drama EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE starring Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan from directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (the Daniels). Brent first worked with the Daniels on their Gotham Award and Indie Spirit Award-nominated film SWISS ARMY MAN starring Daniel Radcliffe.
He also served as the sound supervisor for various films and television series including Alma Ha’rel’s breakout feature HONEY BOY which won the Sundance Special Jury Prize among several other notable awards; Netflix’s MURDERVILLE and UNTOLD docuseries; and the 2021 Sundance comedy film TOGETHER TOGETHER.
Brent’s work on the History Channel’s GETTYSBURG (2011) earned him the primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming, and the MPSE Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Long Form Documentary. He later received his second Emmy nomination as the sound supervisor of Netflix’s WILD WILD COUNTRY, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and was executive produced by the Duplass Brothers and the Way Brothers.
In addition to film and television, Brent’s past credits include commercials, podcasts, art installations and visual albums such as Frank Ocean’s Endless. He graduated from the Savannah College of Art & Design and is a Kentucky native. more...
Moderator | Director, Film Music Program
Peter Golub is the composer of numerous works for film, the concert hall, theatre and dance. His film scores include: FROZEN RIVER (directed by Courtney Hunt and nominated for 2 Academy Awards); THE LARAMIE PROJECT (for HBO); THE GREAT DEBATERS (directed by Denzel Washington and co-composed with James Newton Howard); WORDPLAY; COUNTDOWN TO ZERO; SOUND OF A DREAM; and SONGS MY BROTHER TAUGHT ME (dir. by Chloe Zhao). more...
Glenn Kiser
Moderator | Director of the Dolby Institute
Glenn Kiser is the Director of the Dolby Institute, Dolby’s initiative to bring education and inspiration to filmmakers and content creators about the creative use of sound and picture in storytelling. Previously, Kiser was the VP & General Manager of Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Sound, where he oversaw sound work on film projects such as AVATAR, THE INCREDIBLES, the STAR WARS prequels, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, and the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and HARRY POTTER films.
Moderator | Director, Collab Courses & Events
Patty West is a producer and educator based in California. She led the Directing Workshop for Women and the Thesis Program at the American Film Institute prior to joining the Sundance Institute. She came to Sundance Collab in December of 2019 and now serves as the Director of Courses & Events.
West is a Chicago native and holds a B.S. from Northwestern University, an M.F.A. from the AFI Conservatory and an Executive M.B.A. from Quantic School of Business & Technology. She is a member of the Producer's Council of the Producers Guild of America. more...
Tags:Music & Sound Design