The work of Skywalker Sound has been part of our personal movie soundtrack for decades. In much the same way as ILM have dominated Visual Effects, Skywalker Sound have ruled the world of audio, winning 15 Academy Awards from 62 nominations and delivering soundscapes that help transport us from our cinema seats or sofas and into different worlds. In my first article for SkywalkerSound.com I sat down with nine-time Academy Award nominated Sound Designer Ren Klyce to discuss 2024’s highest grossing movie, Inside Out 2.
“I met with the filmmakers to find out what their priorities were, specifically what they were concerned with or what they felt was needed for the storytelling through sound,” explains Klyce. “What’s great about the Pixar team is that they’re very open to getting people like me involved early on, and they’re not precious or guarded. They’re very comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
Incoming director Kelsey Mann had sequences in Inside Out 2 that were key moments for him, and it was the job of Klyce and his team to bring those moments home. “He really wanted to discuss what the sense of self is,” remembers Klyce. “In our world, it’s a place located in Riley’s mind that we first saw via Joy and Sadness. They both descend down an elevator to this place that is covered with water, with nerve endings that go upwards into what is the emotional center of her brain. In the water are memories, and as these memories float around, they hit the nerves and the nerves vibrate and send fragments of her personality up, which form Riley’s sense of self. This was a very important sequence for all of the filmmakers involved, because they wanted to establish that in the beginning everything’s calm and great. Riley’s a happy young girl on her way to becoming a woman, but because she’s now in puberty, things are going to change.”
