Michael Minkler and Bob Beemer Found Euphonix Console Critical to the Movie’s Mix

Palo Alto, February 26th 2007

Euphonix, a world leader in large-format mixing consoles and control surfaces, congratulated Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton on their Oscar®-winning sound mixing for Paramount’s “Dreamgirls.” The team used the Euphonix System 5-F dual operator console at the Todd-AO West mixing stage to prepare Bill Condon’s adaptation of the Broadway musical for the big screen.

For six years running, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated a film mixed on a Euphonix System 5 digital audio console for Best Sound Mixing. Four of those films — “Black Hawk Down” in 2001, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” in 2003, “King Kong” in 2005 and now “Dreamgirls” — have won the award. Minkler, the lead mixer, has a few ideas why Euphonix is a perennial contender.

“Automation on the Euphonix digital console was critical to the ‘Dreamgirls’ mix,” Minkler said. “We had massive amounts of audio data to handle. Two Pro Tools systems with over 200 tracks were required for the music tracks alone. Thankfully, Euphonix provides the flexibility we wanted to make the system work for us — not the other way around. We were able to focus on the art of the film, the delicate blend of sound elements, and not the technology.”

The System 5-F digital film console is specifically configured with motion picture mixing in mind. Euphonix has worked closely with major film mixing studios such as Todd-AO, Pinewood-Shepperton and Park Road Post to create an uncompromising digital audio system that's easy to learn and designed for fast access to film-specific mix controls. The system is fitted with a film-style monitoring panel including pec-direct switched and joysticks. The dual-operator System 5-F at Todd-AO West used to mix Dreamgirls has 64 faders and can control over 300 channels. The system is situated on one of Todd-AO’s premiere dub stages in Santa Monica, Calif.

“‘Dreamgirls’ has a mix that never stops moving,” Minkler told Variety magazine in an interview on February 7, 2007. “The film moves between moods that are dramatic, theatrical, cinematic, musical, comical, all in an instant. The picture, sound elements and music are all moving targets on musicals. The trick is to fit all the pieces of the sound puzzle together on an emotional level.”

Minkler, a third-generation Hollywood sound re-recording mixer, now has three Oscars among his 10 Academy nominations. Beemer has four Oscars in his seven nominations and Burton has two Oscars in his seven nominations. Garnering that kind of recognition takes more than raw engineering talent, however. Today’s films require a level of craftsmanship, organization and coordination to keep hundreds of sound sources moving smoothly.

“The workflow we required was specific and demanding,” Minkler said. “The ease with which you can control hundreds of tracks and gain fast access to the EQs, dynamics and pans on the System 5-F is what really counts. I can’t begin to describe how important that is for a project of this scale.”

“I’m proud to have been part of this production,” Minkler said, “and I’m grateful for the intelligent tools at my disposal to bring sound to life.”