‘West Side Story’ Rerecording Mixer Andy Nelson On Every Song’s “Own Level of Complexity”

Nelson just scored his 22nd Oscar nomination for Steven Spielberg’s film.

March 2, 2022

Caraolyn  Giardina

From left: Mike Faist, Ansel Elgort and David Alvarez in 20th Century Studios’ 'West Side Story.' COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

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Andy Nelson was mixing Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans on the day he received his 22nd Oscar nomination — a record for the most noms in the sound category (he’s also tied with Randy Newman for the third-most noms among living persons) — which recognized his work on West Side Story. An Oscar winner for Saving Private Ryan and Les Misérables, he celebrated West Side Story‘s good news with Spielberg (nominated for best picture and director) and his sound team, which also includes seven-time Oscar winner (and 20-time nominee) Gary Rydstrom. “It was a terrific morning for us all to be together, with the added bonus of John Williams coming in … to look at a reel that we were working on, but he was also there because we were going to celebrate his 90th birthday.”

The U.K. native discovered his passion for cinema at age 16 while working as a projectionist and learning about the various roles in filmmaking until sound caught his attention. “What intrigued me was the emotional connection that sound could give to the image,” Nelson remembers of his formal training after joining the BBC, adding that he gravitated toward mixing “because it was the last creative process where everything came together.”

He moved into features — an early favorite assignment was Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket — and was working at Shepperton Studios before an offer brought him to Toronto, followed by the chance to move to storied Todd-AO in Los Angeles.

“I took over the legendary A Stage — which was this gigantic room,” he says. ” I was very intimidated when I first went into it because that’s the room that [Robert “Buzz” Knudson] had worked in for years and had done Cabaret, The Exorcist and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Spielberg also had worked in that room and asked Nelson to mix Hook. So began their collaboration, which has spanned 20 films and brought them to Spielberg’s first musical. (Nelson also has earned Oscar noms for Evita, Moulin Rouge! and La La Land.)

Elgort with Rachel Zegler COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

“Every song had its own different level of complexity,” he says of West Side Story, citing “Tonight Quintet,” which cuts back and forth between various groups of castmembers. “It’s such an ensemble scene, and you have to clarify all the different lines of vocals … because it’s cut so that each lead vocal would appear onscreen, but they continue singing offscreen. So you’re trying to create a balance that works visually but is also very musical.”

The song was prerecorded, but Nelson explains that each individual was mic’d, meaning each was a single track, allowing him to be precise with placement of each voice in the mix. “It gave it a real sense of reality and life that you can only really do on a cinema screen,” he says. “I also had to make it work so that if you closed your eyes, it was still working perfectly as a song balance.”

On partnering with Spielberg, Nelson says: “What I love about Steven is his emotional response to the work; that’s why he’s such an extraordinary filmmaker. It all comes from the heart, and I’ve always felt that’s where I operate from. I get what he’s trying to do and say, and that’s helped the success of our relationship.”

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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/west-side-story-rerecording-mixer-oscar-nomination-1235097479/