Fantastic Beasts and
Production mixer Simon Hayes & sound designer
Niv Adiri create an intriguing, magical soundscape.
by Jennifer Walden
On the spacious backlot of the Warner Bros. Leavesden facility, located in England’s
‘green belt’ outside London, director David Yates
and his production team worked a bit of Hollywood magic. They constructed a slice of New York
City, circa 1930, and even populated the streets
with;era-appropriate;vehicles,;all;in;an;effort;to
make the fantastical world of Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them seem believable. According
to;production;sound;mixer;Simon;Hayes,;the;film
was shot mainly on that purpose-built set, with
a few scenes shot in the studio on green screen,
and a few more shot on the streets of Liverpool,
since it happens to share some architectural sim-ilarities with 1930s New York City.
Capturing the dialogue on set posed several
challenges, but Hayes and his team designed a
careful plan in pre-production. Once the cameras
started;rolling,;they;felt;confident;they;had;ev-
ery angle covered. Hayes says, “A byproduct of
shooting with multiple cameras in exterior loca-
tions;is;that;it’s;very;difficult;to;get;production
sound. It’s very noisy, with wind and other real
elements, so we had to pull everything out of the
bag.”
Hayes’ recording plan included mic’ing each
actor with two lavs and having double coverage
with the boom mics as well. Handling the booms
were Arthur Fenn and Robin Johnson — two op-
erators who have worked with Hayes on more
than;45;films.;“Arthur;[Fenn];and;I;got;our;start
together on Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
for;director;Guy;Ritchie.;Then;Robin;[Johnson]
joined;us;on;our;next;film,;Fanny and Elvis. Ever
since then we’ve made a pact with each other,
and we’ve made it work,” says Hayes.
Where to Find Them
