FX's The Bear is nominated for eight Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation. This isn't the first time the show's soundtrack has been recognized, as it won Emmys for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing in prior seasons.
Steve “Major” Giammaria, Scott D. Smith and Evan Benjamin make up the sound team that work on the show, which brings chef Carmy Berzatto from the fine dining world back home to Chicago to run his family’s sandwich shop after his brother’s death. Now far away from what he's used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing realities of small business ownership, a strong-willed kitchen staff and his strained familial relationships.
Here, the sound team share details on how the show’s soundtrack has evolved since its first season and how things conclude in Season 5.
How has your approach to the show's sound evolved over the course of the show up through the most recent season?
Scott D. Smith: “Having a better understanding of how the shooting and editorial style of the show has evolved has helped to give us a better handle on what might be important in the final edit. This allows us to focus on getting the best production track possible for setups where the dialog plays a key role in the storyline. There is virtually no ADR done on the show, so getting a clean production track wherever we can is of vital importance.”
Evan Benjamin: “As the show moves through different phases, my approach has to change to deal with whatever challenges are presented by that shift. When the show was all cross talking and shouting, I tried to make that as clear as I could. Now that the show is more peaceful, I try to help that along the best I can. Season 5 and its nonstop rain presented different issues, along with different techniques to try and deal with it. The end goal is always the same: making sure nothing gets in the way of telling the story showrunner Chris Storer and the rest of the team want to tell.”
Steve “Major” Giammaria: “Since my approach is always ‘story first,’ that never changes. The execution shifts, based on the season and episode. If we’re in the chaos of the early Bear kitchen as it breaks down, or the subtle precision of the Ever kitchen, the execution is different. If it's the quiet contemplation of Season 4, or the final, ever escalating onslaught of a never-ending bad day in Season 5, the textures change, but it’s never just sound for the sake of sound. Finding new ways to help tell the story, or knowing when to get out of the way, was such a fun challenge across all five seasons. They gave us such a beautiful and complex structure to play in.”
Can you talk about the role sound plays in the series and the services your team provided?
Scott D. Smith: “Our team handles all aspects of the production sound during shooting. In addition to the dialogue recording, we also try to record effects or ambiance that we feel are of importance in the scene (for example, we will frequently record stereo tracks of group responses such as ‘Yes, chef!’). Since the actors typically aren’t available as a group after shooting has wrapped, it’s important to get whatever we can during production.”
Evan Benjamin: “I am part of the sound editorial team, which includes SFX, Foley, music editors, as well as myself on dialogue. My job on dialogue is to take all the material Scott records during production and, given how the editors have cut it, try to make it as seamless as possible. So a scene made up of multiple takes that all sound different should end up sounding as if it was recorded in one take. This ranges from easy to near impossible.”
Steve “Major” Giammaria: “I take everything Evan does with the dialogue, and sound effects editors (Jonathan Fuhrer, Matt Snedecor), ADR supervisor (John Bowen), music, and Foley (from our friends at Alchemy) and figure how to fit it all together. Sound is such a vital part of this show and we are so fortunate that from script, to set, to the picture edit, everyone is aware of what sound can do and gives us a structure with which we can really shine. Without foresight, and without understanding, we are limited in our ability to help enhance the viewers experience of the story.”
Can you talk about the sound in Season 4, Episode 3 (“Scallop”)? What was challenging, difficult or unique in that episode?
Scott D. Smith: “The biggest challenge for ‘Scallops’ (and the show overall) from a production perspective, is that we never know what’s going to happen in a scene. Rehearsals are few, and if we do get one, it’s typically just for blocking. So trying to anticipate the actors’ dialog and the camera setups (which are primary two cameras, hand-held) requires trying to second guess not only what the actors will do, but what the camera ops might go for. Our boom operators have to constantly monitor what is happening with the cameras, as well as what the actors position and dialogue.”
Evan Benjamin: “I think the unique thing about that episode was the long scene at the end between Carmy and Clare. It’s a real payoff emotionally and people were waiting for it, so it needed to be great. Beautiful and quiet, so I spent a lot of time trying to make it as quiet as possible. Weirdly, the toughest part about it was the moment at the front door with Ted and Kelly. Lots of crosstalk from characters that had to be eliminated.”
Steve “Major” Giammaria: “’Scallops’ was a great slice of what Season 4 was all about sonically. It’s quieter, lots of conversations, less yelling, less chaos. The team is finally getting it together through repetition. There is restraint in the kitchen (sometimes!), and it’s reflected in our soundscape. This episode in particular, a lighter, less intense song leads service and leads us to a catharsis in the (fake) snow.”
In Season 5, which began streaming in late June, what stands out to you from a sound perspective, and what made it especially memorable?
Scott D. Smith: “The primary theme of Season 5 is water. Water everywhere. Rainwater, plumbing, you name it. While it makes for an interesting part of the storyline, it’s a real challenge to try and get clean dialogue in those kinds of conditions. Our boom operators always had their rain gear close at hand, and all the wireless mics on the actors had to be protected from the deluge of water that frequently accompanied a scene. Our special effects team did everything they could to help us, but there’s only so much that can be done.
“Thanks to some absolutely stellar work on the part of dialogue editor Evan Benjamin and re-recording mixer Steve “Major” Giammaria, the dialogue still came out pristine and allowed for the addition of SFX and music, without detracting from the core on-screen work of the actors. A delicate balance that is hard to achieve.”
Evan Benjamin: “That's very nice of Scott. I’d say he did his best under very trying conditions for a production mixer. Yes, rain (so much rain), and also the idea of resolution, the restaurant crew working as a real team, and the resolution of everyone’s stories. I have had more than one person tell me they teared up watching that last episode. We really ended up with a beautiful and emotionally satisfying end to a great series.”
Steve “Major” Giammaria: “I think from a sound perspective, Season 5 is a perfect culmination of everything we’ve done leading up to it. We get to play everything: tension, chaos, precision, quiet contemplation…sometimes all at the same time. You have classic Bear cooking montages, you have rain, thunder, pipes bursting, guests chatting, chefs yelling. We get to play every note we have in order to bring the series to a satisfying conclusion. We were able to get as crazy and loud as pipes exploding (which include animal noises, kids screaming, balloon squeals, grenades, and maybe some water) and as quiet as soft rain on the dining room window while Richie waits for the delayed customers. For me it was such a gift to end the series by supporting such an amazing range of emotional notes sonically.”