Episode 213 Dolby Creator Talks

The Sound and LEGO Animation of Piece by Piece, with Director Morgan Neville

October 15, 2024

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Pharrell Williams has had a remarkable life and career in music, which are chronicled in the film “Piece By Piece,” a uniquely animated documentary made entirely out of LEGO. Joining today’s discussion is Director Morgan Neville, Supervising Sound Editor Al Nelson, and Re-recording Mixer Pete Horner, to talk how Pharrell’s creative vision for using LEGO opened up exciting storytelling possibilities, the film’s imaginative sound design and immersive audio mix, and how they brought Pharrell’s experience with synesthesia to life through sound and animation.

This film had so many more opportunities than a documentary normally [has]. Because of animation, I felt like we could time- and space-travel… That kind of freedom I got incredibly excited by. Normally we have so many constrictions, but both in terms of what I could do with sound, but also particularly with Pharrell, what I could do visually with sound. Both in terms of creating the synesthesia effect — which he sees color when he hears sound, and that we could actually see that — and by creating the beats, represented by physical objects of color, too. So that, from a storytelling point of view, was great.

Morgan Neville, Director, Writer, and Producer, “Piece By Piece”

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