The ‘Backtrack’ sound team.
By Jackie Keast
Backtrack has swept the Australian Screen Sound Guild (ASSG) awards, picking up the Soundtrack of the Year, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Design and the Members’ Choice Award.
The film, starring Adrien Brody and Sam Neill, won all feature categories except Best Film Sound Recording, picked up by Goldstone’s Nick Emond and Mike Bakaloff.
The Awards, held on Sunday at the Establishment Hotel Sydney, also saw Monsieur Mayonnaise’s sound team win Best Sound for a Documentary, while Lorne picked up Best Sound for a Short Fiction Film.
In television, Molly won Best Sound for a drama over 30 minutes, while kids program Beat Bugs snatched Best Sound for a drama under 30 minutes.
Academy Award nominated sound engineer Gethin Creagh (Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings) was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Backtrack’s supervising sound editor, Will Ward, told IF the film had presented an amazing opportunity for the sound team.
“A story of a man haunted by his past gave us all the ingredients for the soundtrack to play a major role in the storytelling. Our director, Michael Petroni, is an amazing storyteller and had a clear idea of what he wanted from the sound, but was very open to our interpretations and ideas on his themes,” he said.
“What was really exciting for us was working out how to incorporate aural links and clues throughout the film to help draw the audience into our lead character’s state of mind; plus a good scare moment is always fun. Having the opportunity to work closely with editor Martin Connor and composer Dale Cornelius allowed for a seamless creative workflow where sound, picture and music played their part to perfection.”
Backtrack’s producer Jamie Hilton gave his congratulations to Ward and his team for a “well-deserved win”, while noting the film’s absence from the AACTA shortlist.
“It’s great to see Will and his team getting the creative and technical recognition they deserve from industry experts, especially in light of the AACTAs strange omission of the film in all categories,” Hilton told IF. “We are particularly proud of Will’s sound work, Stefan Duscio’s cinematography and Dale Cornelius’s score.”
The full list of winners:
Syd Butterworth Lifetime Achievement Award
Gethin Creagh
Greg Bell Student Encouragement Award
Tara Guerrini & Mary Duong
Best Sound for a Television Commercial or Promo
Optus – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
Wes Chew, Timothy Bridge, Blair Slater, Duncan McAllister, Dan Johnston
Best Sound for an Animated Short Film
The New Adventures of Figaro Pho – Episode 32: Pharaoh Pho
Tom Heuzenroeder, Michael Darren, Duncan Campbell, Sam Rogers, Petar Ristic, Ryan Squires, Luke Jurevicius
Best Sound for a Short Fiction Film
Lorne
John Kassab, Dane Cody, Adrian Medhurst, Andy Newton, Doron Kipen
Best Sound for a Lifestyle, Reality or Live Television Programme
Air Rescue – Season 3 Episode 2
Sam Gain-Emery, Wes Chew, Dylan Barfield, Mick Boraso, Belinda Trimboli, David Sims
Best Sound for a Television Drama Series (Under 30 minutes)
Beat Bugs – Episodes: Blackbird and In the Road
Sam Hayward, Jared Dwyer, Blair Slater, Sam Gain-Emery, Nigel Christensen, Emma Mitchell, Alex Birch, Michael Newton, Reid Henry, Wes Swales, Will Ward, Dan Johnston, Andrew Simmons, Duncan McAllister, Luisa Hadley
Best Sound for a Television Drama Series (Over 30 minutes)
Molly – Part 1
James Ashton, Chris Goodes, Liesl Pieterse, Roger Van Wensveen, Alex Francis, Mario Vaccaro
Best Sound for a Documentary
Monsieur Mayonnaise
Chris Goodes, Trevor Graham, Jenni Meaney, Alex Francis, Mario Vaccaro, Diego Ruiz
ASSG Members’ Choice Award for Best Feature Soundtrack
Backtrack
William Ward, Justine Angus, Tara Webb, Liam Price, Tania Payne, Robert Mackenzie, Sam Hayward, Blair Slater, Duncan McAllister, Andrew Simmons, Dan Johnston, Luisa Bifulco, Paul Brincat, Ben Wyatt
Best Film Sound Recording
Goldstone
Nick Emond, Mike Bakaloff
Andrew Plain Award for Best Film Sound Design
Backtrack
William Ward, Justine Angus, Tara Webb, Liam Price, Tania Payne, Blair Slater, Duncan McAllister, Andrew Simmons, Dan Johnston, Luisa Bifulco
Best Film Sound Mixing
Backtrack
Robert Mackenzie, Sam Hayward
Feature Film Soundtrack of the Year
Backtrack
William Ward, Justine Angus, Tara Webb, Liam Price, Tania Payne, Robert Mackenzie, Sam Hayward, Blair Slater, Duncan McAllister, Andrew Simmons, Dan Johnston, Luisa Bifulco, Paul Brincat, Ben Wyatt