293 - The Voice and Sound of Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord

Sam Witwer — the voice of Maul himself! — joins us alongside supervising director and executive producer Brad Rau and supervising sound editor, sound designer, and re-recording mixer David W. Collins to discuss the voice, sound, and cinematic scale of “Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord.” Together, they explore how the series deepens one of Star Wars’ most iconic villains, from Witwer’s layered vocal performance and Maul’s emotional complexity to the show’s bold sound design and Dolby Atmos® mix. Collins also reflects on carrying forward the sonic legacy of Skywalker Sound, while staying open to the strange, unexpected discoveries that have always helped make Star Wars sound like Star Wars.

“Sounds can come to you at the most random times. It really is that random encounter with something that sounds funny that ends up being the gold. When I was doing recording for the next season, there's stuff that I recorded and whether I use it or not, I'm still not sure, but I'm building a library constantly by finding stuff that sounds really interesting around the house. I told this story once where I was at my daughter's game and I thought the smack of an aluminum bat would be a great element inside a laser blast, because it has that wonderful tink and echo that you could put a real low end thud in the front of that and it would be this weird thing you could process. I've done that... I just try and keep my ears open and try and learn from Ben Burtt or anyone at Skywalker that has told similar stories, because it's usually the happy accidents that cause something unexpected, which Star Wars is all about.”

—David W. Collins, Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer, and Re-Recording Mixer, “Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord”

Please subscribe to Dolby Creator Talks wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also check out the video for this episode on YouTube.

Learn more about the Dolby Creator Lab and check out Dolby.com. Connect with Dolby on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.