BAFTA award-winning and Academy Award-nominated Audio Mixer Mike Prestwood
Smith is currently relying on NUGEN Audio’s Halo Upmix for the Twentieth Century Fox
sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
Based in Hollywood, Smith is a re-recording mixer who landed his big break in 2000
when he received a BAFTA nomination for his work on Billy Elliot. He has since gone
on to mix more than 100 films and received an additional seven BAFTA nominations,
one win for Casino Royale (in 2006) and an Academy Award nomination for his work
on Captain Phillips. He has also worked on several, large franchise films including
Harry Potter and The Hunger Games as well as helping define film genres with such
offerings as United 93 and Deepwater Horizon.
Smith uses NUGEN Audio’s Halo Upmix as his main stereo-to-7.1 music upmix tool.
“There are several software upmix tools available, but retaining the integrity of the
stereo image and overall phase and EQ structure of the original source is super
important,’ he says. “NUGEN Audio does this wonderfully and with a fantastically
usable interface and exceptional sound quality. The centre balance is especially useful
for theatrical mixing, and the diffusion option for surround channels is also a great
feature. Aside from my work on Kingsman, I also recently used it on Peter Burg’s
Patriots Day to open up the wonderful score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.’
With several instances placed across stereo stems, Smith is able to immerse the stage
without losing the integrity of the front balance. “This is particularly important for high
volume action mixes where the smallest shifts in sound pressure can make huge
differences to overall sound balance,’ adds Smith. “I’m currently using it on
Kingsman: The Golden Circle for upmixing stereo source tracks to 9.1 with the Halo
3D Immersive Extension. The interface is very intuitive and now having the ability to
spill into the ceiling channels is fantastic.’
The Halo Upmix delivers naturally extracted and expanded soundscapes, or when
required, can generate full cinematic Dolby Atmos enhancement. With unique centre-
channel management, including switchable dialogue extraction, Halo is intended for all
types of production from archive restoration and TV in addition to feature film
applications. Real-time analysis of the original stereo material identifies and extracts
locational cues, without the introduction of any artificial reverberation, chorusing or
delay into the downmix — leaving the character of the original source material intact.
In addition to NUGEN Audio’s Halo Upmix, Smith relies on Pro Tools® and also uses
automated plugins for dialogue premixing. “My workflow is all about software,’ he
says. “While I’m still very much a buttons and faders person, I’m always open to new
and better sounding tools. I now primarily use Pro Tools S6 and a combination of
plugins from Waves, iZotope, FabFilter, NUGEN, Exponential Audio and more.’
According to Smith, to be a good mixer, you have to have a “balance of technical and
social ability with an emphasis on the latter. A good understanding of film language is
essential as is an ability to find the consensus and confidently lead in that direction.
While the mix stage can be a political and emotional crucible, it is also an intensely
creative place and crystallising a soundtrack from bits and pieces into a cinematic
experience can be thrilling.’
For more information about Halo Upmix, as well as the complete NUGEN Audio
product family, visit www.nugenaudio.com
