How ‘The Woman King’ Sound Team Set the Tone with That Opening Sequence [VIDEO]

Awards Daily talks to supervising sound editor Becky Sullivan and re-recording mixer Anthony Lamberti about their work on The Woman King and why they are a bit of “sound chefs” with their sonic seasonings.

The opening action sequence of The Woman King certainly sets the tone for the whole film, and that’s in part due to the sound work from supervising sound editor Becky Sullivan and re-recording mixer Anthony Lamberti.

“Gina [Prince-Bythewood] wanted to have an organic sound to the film,” says Sullivan, “and so it was basically right from that start—get the sounds of Africa in. You can hear the winds and a little bit of bugs and an atmosphere. So then when we come into the scene, we hear the audiences enveloped in the sounds of Africa and the night sounds. When the guys are at the campfire, you can hear the crackling of the fire, and then they hear that little sound, and then he stops and you see the women rise out of the grass and the sound of the swaying of the grass. It’s an awesome start.”

“This is the first time where we see the women warriors,” continues Lamberti. “That first battle when they’re looking to free some of these other villagers who’ve taken some of their people. We wanted to kick off that first battle and let people know, this is what to expect. These women are really going to come in and take over.”

I had a great conversation with Sullivan and Lamberti about how they balanced all of the sonic environments in the film, whether sound carries currency when it comes to characters like King Ghezo (John Boyega), and how they tackled that intense final fight sequence. Watch below!