To mark the 21st anniversary of the IFTA awards, we are showcasing Irish talent who are blazing a trail across our industry, working in front of and behind the camera.
Hosted in association with IFTA, this Q&A Series connects with Irish talent who represent a range of disciplines across our industry.
We find out about their approach to craft, working on the projects they’ve been nominated for, and the best piece of advice they’ve been given in their career.
Nina Rice was a production sound mixer on two of 2023’s most talked about films, Barbie and Saltburn. She is nominated for two IFTAs in the Best Sound category. Nina Hartstone and Adam Scrivener are also nominated for Best Sound for Saltburn. Rice’s other recent credits include The Crown and This Is Going To Hurt.
IFTN: Tell me about your experience working on Barbie and Saltburn, and your collaboration with the projects' respective directors and HODs.
NINA: “Both Barbie and Saltburn were dream jobs and it will be very hard to top these. I was a huge fan of both Greta Gerwig’s and Emerald Fennell’s work. Their past films are incredible, so I was honoured to be a part of both Barbie and Saltburn as the production sound mixer.”
“With Barbie, Greta and I sat down and worked out how we would approach each scene from a sound perspective. We had huge dance sequences with dialogue intertwined throughout so to get the dialogue we used a lot of hidden earpieces, and with the collaboration of the wonderful cast we were able to capture clean dialogue on set. Greta loves the dialogue to overlap and sound natural, so I used a mixture of boom mics and personal radio mics to achieve this and to not restrict the artists’ comic timing.”
“Saltburn was an entirely different beast. The script was so engaging and there were so many little details within it that I was excited to capture. As Emerald intended, we were a small crew in mostly one location for the shoot, so it was a very intimate production. Every cast member was delivering amazing performances for each take, so the pressure was on to make sure, as a sound team, that we were prepared and focused for every slate.”
“To have the opportunity to work with both directors in the same year was a real privilege and I’m extremely proud of both projects.”
IFTN: Is there one thing about your craft that you would like the public to be more aware of?
NINA: “When it comes to the awards seasons the names listed are the heads of the various sound departments, who deservedly get their recognition, but I’d like to make the public more aware of the production sound floor team who are responsible for gathering the on-set sound.”
“Without my expert boom operators knowing their craft and placing the microphone in the right place for a shot, or my radio mic technician perfectly hiding a microphone in an actor’s costume, none of these unique performances would ever be captured and enjoyed by cinema audiences.”
“There are countless tasks and choices made by the floor team who are at the sharp end, by the camera lens, for every shot of the film so I’d like to shout out these sometimes unsung heroes.”
IFTN: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in your career?
NINA: “Best advice, developing your ears and listening skills is crucial. Learn how to listen, to the space and to people. There’s also a lot of planning, knowing all the tools you’re going to use ahead of time and how they work together and capturing the best sound to deliver to post-production.”
