Hulu's Tell Me Lies follows a tumultuous relationship as it unfolds over the course of eight years. Now in its third season, the show stars Grace Van Patten as Lucy and Jackson White as Stephen, who meet at college and begin a romantic relationship. However, they quickly fall into an addictive entanglement that permanently alters the lives of everyone around them.
Sound supervisor Danika Wikke joined the show during Season 1, with its brand-new crew and post team.
“I was immediately excited by the opportunity,” she recalls. “The story was compelling, and I took the time to research the books and read several scripts before beginning editorial. Now, having just wrapped Season 3, I can honestly say the characters and storylines have only become more complex,
twisted and engaging.”
Once the team receives a locked edit, she then starts with a spotting session, alongside the showrunner, picture editor, music editor and composer.
“We watch the episode together and discuss the sound needs of each scene, establishing mood, tone and what we want the audience to feel. We also identify any technical ADR needs and flag moments that may require creative problem-solving.”
After spotting, Wikke takes the lead on cueing ADR and loop group, and coordinating with her team, which includes dialogue, FX and Foley editors.
“I’m overseeing that process, reviewing work as it comes in and making sure all the elements are supporting the story the way we discussed,” she shares. “I also handle ADR and loop-group sessions, and prep everything for the mix so it’s in the best possible shape when we hit the stage.”
During the mix stage, Wikke oversees the re-recording mixers to make sure all the creative and technical decisions established during the spotting session are carried through.
“Once we’re ready for playback, we screen the episode for the showrunner, network, producers and post team. We address notes and then send the final mix to QC before it ultimately goes to air. Then the process begins again for the next episode.”
One of the show’s ongoing challenges is managing dialogue intelligibility. Many of the characters speak very quietly — sometimes whispering or mumbling — which makes balancing dialogue levels against the noise floor particularly difficult. In addition, due to the show’s many intimate scenes, actors are sometimes not mic’d with lavaliers, requiring the team to instead rely heavily on boom recordings, which can be compromised by movement or environment.
“To address these challenges, I consistently rely on tools like Izotope RX and Hush, which are invaluable for isolating dialogue and reducing noise while preserving performance,” Wikke explains.
She points to a pool party scene in Episode 5 of Season 3 titled “I’d Like to Hold Her Head Under Water.”
“The cast wasn’t lav’d due to swimsuits and water, and there were numerous background extras creating significant noise. Extracting clean dialogue while maintaining the energy of the party by carefully rebuilding pool ambience and walla was time-consuming but ultimately very rewarding.”