The sound of Blade Runner 2049 is striking. Even non-sound folk are likely to recognize the crucial role it plays throughout the expansive follow-up to Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi cult classic. Artfully sweeping from immersive to hyper-focused to nearly silent, the film’s stellar sound propels the viewer through a dystopian world feeling at once futuristic yet jarringly human.
Leading the sound team was supervising sound editor Mark Mangini: winner of the 2016 Best Sound Editing Academy Award for Mad Max: Fury Road, and renowned audio post veteran with over 100 film credits across several decades.
Since partnering with Mangini earlier this year to develop his personal sound library, The Odyssey Collection, the team at Pro Sound Effects has become quite familiar and increasingly fascinated with his expert, philosophical approach as a sound artist. Read the conversation with Mangini here for an exclusive in-depth look at his team’s brilliant work on the highly-anticipated film including the commanding use of dynamic range, creating major sonic elements, leveraging his sound library, and why science fiction is his favorite film medium to work in.
