Episode 107Dolby Creator Talks

The Sound of Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley

December 23, 2021

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In Part Two of our conversation about "Nightmare Alley," we are joined by an impressive team of sound artists, who worked very closely with Guillermo del Toro in crafting this film:

We've included some additional material from our one-on-one interview with the director himself, so that we could discuss some key creative decisions and how the team responded to his direction. They remarked not only on his famous eye (and ear) for detail, but how every creative decision seemed to be driven, as always, by story:

One of the things Guillermo said to us is — it's really important that we emphasize the freedom in poverty at the carnival, and the restriction and that suffocating isolation in the wealthy back half of the city, once they start to succeed and they go to the big city. That was the big global bird's-eye note. And so from there forward, that would influence every choice that got made, as we started doing pre-design elements and sourcing the bits that would eventually build the cacophony that was the carnival and the Copacabana and all.

Nathan Robitaille, Supervising Sound Editor, "Nightmare Alley"

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