247 - The Sound of Severance

Dolby Creator Talks

NOTE: This episode contains SPOILERS from the second season and season finale of Severance.

Today we let Kier guide us into the extraordinary sound work of season two of "Severance," the hit Apple TV+ series from creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller. Focusing on the groundbreaking storytelling of episodes 207 and 210, Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer, and Re-recording Mixer Jacob Ribicoff, Re-recording Mixer Bob Chefalas, and David Schwartz (the Production Sound Mixer on those two episodes), break down how they crafted the show’s eerie, minimalist sonic landscape. They explore everything from the show’s surreal dreamlike ambiences and rhythmic sound/music interplay, to that unforgettable marching band sequence in the season finale.

“One of the primary objectives, according to Ben [Stiller], was that Lumon should be a quiet place, a place with the air sucked out of it… I thought, wouldn't that be really interesting to create room tones out of breathing, out of breath, and actually just fold those in and mix those in with normal room tones? So there's kind of some animal breath and some human breath in there — like, very long… just a breath that just goes on for an entire scene.”

—Jacob Ribicoff, Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer, and Re-recording Mixer, “Severance”

Be sure to check out “Severance,” now streaming on AppleTV+, in Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®.

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