How ‘The Power of The Dog’ Team Wove in Tension Through Sound Mix

variety.com:

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorRe-recording mixer Tara Webb and dialogue supervisor Leah Katz worked on Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” with Webb delivering a powerful soundscape based on strategically stripping the sound away while Katz protected the spare dialogue, delivered by characters incapable of facing their feelings.A lot of their early conversations with Campion centered around creating the sound of Montana and the sound of the Burbank family house, which is a pivotal part of the film’s ambiance.Ultimately, Campion was focused on the characters and the tension that underlined the relationship between the Burbank brothers Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George (Jesse Plemons), as well as their interaction with George’s wife, Rose (Kirsten Dunst), or the tense dynamic between Phil and Rose’s son Peter (Kodi Smith-McPhee).

For the vast landscape shots captured by the film’s cinematographer, Ari Wegner, Webb says, “There’s not much sound. We laid it out quite sparse, but we ended up stripping it back even more in the mix.

We maybe had a wind, panning around just to get that sense of movement.” In contrast, there was more sound in the house such as the wind creaking through the environment, layered in by sound designer Dave Whitehead, which added to the oppressiveness of the house.A terse standoff playing to the psychological aspect of the film comes as Rose is playing her piano downstairs, while Phil enters the room and starts playing his banjo.

It’s a moment that highlights the animosity between the two, as sound helps amp the tension and his mere presence is torments Rose.