In the last of his mini-series of three documentaries recorded on a recent trip to the UK, Neil visits the home of the National Film and Television School at the historic Beaconsfield Film Studios in Buckinghamshire. On his visit, he is given unprecedented access to the workspaces, students, lecturers and visiting professionals that make NFTS such a unique establishment.  Neil talks to Stephen Holdsworth, NFTS Chief Engineer about the history of the site; Guy Hake, Senior Lecturer on the Sound Design Masters course and Sound Design Masters student Tom Bosher; and BAFTA and Academy Award-winning Supervising Sound Editor Nina Hartstone about her work delivering master classes and how, through her work, she aims to help prepare the next generation of sound professionals to be industry-ready. About the presenters: You can find more about the National Film and Television School here  Nina Hartstone at IMDb Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Dr. Neil Hillman – IMDb Programme edited and mixed by Dr. Neil Hillman on DaVinci Resolve v20. Recorded on location by Neil using a Sound Devices 664 recorder, with Sennheiser 416 and Sanken COS-11 microphones. YouTube fair use disclaimer: Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the ‘fair use’ guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. “Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticising”, where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content. Excerpts from ‘The Dinner After’ and ‘BABA’ used with kind permission of NFTS.

In this documentary, Neil looks at the emergence of location sound recording for cinema and one of the significant technological developments that enabled this.  Starting with the Italian neorealism movement of the late 1940’s, the desire for dialogue authenticity gained hold in 1950’s Hollywood films. This and the artistic truth of French New Wave filmmaking in the 1960’s led to the indispensability of the location sound recordist by the 1970’s and one of their important needs was met by the invention and refinement of the now-familiar microphone basket windshield. To help tell the story, Neil plays real-world examples of Outside Broadcast sport; excerpts from classic movies and amateur YouTube filmmakers and also talks with Radius Windshields Managing Director Simon Davies as well as the owner and MD of plastic injection moulding company Elbmar Limited, Keven Rich and the Oscar-winning feature film Production Sound Mixer - and enthusiastic Radius Windshields user - Simon Hayes.  About the presenters: You can find more about Simon Hayes’ work here The Radius Windshield site is here Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Dr. Neil Hillman – IMDb Programme edited and mixed by Dr. Neil Hillman on DaVinci Resolve v20. Recorded on location by Neil using a Sound Devices 664 recorder, with Sennheiser 416 and Sanken COS-11 microphones. YouTube fair use disclaimer: Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the ‘fair use’ guidelines of the Copyright Act. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content. Content: 02:39 – 03:25 The Bicycle Thieves, (1948), Dir. Vittorio De Sica 04:25 – 06:24 On the Waterfront, (1954), Dir. Elia Kazan 06:57 – 07:42 Breathless, (1960), Dir. Jean Luc Goddard 09:55 – 11:58 The Conversation, (1970), Dir. Francis Ford-Coppola 19:48 – 21:28 Les Misérables, (2012), Dir. Tom Hooper 27:52 – 28:50 @MakingParadiseinVA, YouTube channel (2023) 51:57 – 52:25 Wimbledon, Men’s Singles Final 2024, Alcaraz v Djokovic 52:30 – 52:38 FIFA World Cup, South Africa 2010 53:41 – 54:21 Sydney 2000 Olympics, Men’s-8 Rowing Final  

In this episode Neil and Jason speak with Dr Jesse Budel, a composer-performer, sound artist, academic and arts entrepreneur based in South Australia. As a composer, his works are for diverse media and spaces, ranging from concert works and installations to community and interdisciplinary collaborations. Jesse’s PhD research at the Elder Conservatorium of Music focussed on adapting soundscape ecology to creative process, resulting in a body of works responding to South Australian ecosystems and soundscapes. As an emerging member of the Acoustic Ecology and Ecoacoustic communities, Jesse currently serves as the Secretary for both the Australian Forum for Acoustic Ecology and World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. This is a wide ranging interview discussing the history of Soundscape Ecology, as defined by the work of R Murray Schafer and the World Soundscape Project, starting in the 1970’s, through to the present day scientific use of sound for bioacoustic research of natural environments.  About the presenters: You can find more about Jesse and his work here: https://www.jesse-budel.com/about Details about Neil and Jason’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here: https://www.audiosuite.co.uk/ Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com Further reading and links: The World Soundscape Project: https://www.sfu.ca/~truax/wsp.html Principles of Soundscape Ecology: Discovering Our Sonic World by Bryan C. Pijanowski: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo187218508.html The Australian Acoustic Observatory: https://acousticobservatory.org/ SPAT Revolution: https://www.flux.audio/project/spat-revolution/ Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system Programme edited by Jason Nicholas See Dr Budel’s Bandcamp page for a selection of his compositions here: https://jessebudel.bandcamp.com/ The final piece that ends the podcast is a clip from “Early Afternoon on the Mountain” from the Cathedrals album. YouTube fair use disclaimer: Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the ‘fair use’ guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. “Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing”, where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

In this documentary, Neil travels back to his home town of Birmingham to learn more about what he considers to be the city’s best kept cultural secret – Grosvenor Road Studios: the family-run sound facility that came to be known as ‘Birmingham’s Abbey Road’. Still in operation today, the studios were founded 80 years ago by John Taylor, and his business partner Charles Hollick, to record music - which they did prolifically; as well as expanding into creating soundtracks and recording dialogue for iconic television series’ and blockbuster movies. To help reveal the story, Neil talks with John Taylor’s wife and creative partner Jean Taylor, their two successful musician sons Christopher and Richard Taylor, and Birmingham popular music academic, Jez Collins, from the Birmingham Music Archive. About the presenters: You can find more about Chris Taylor’s work here You can find more about Richard Taylor’s work here  The Birmingham Music Archive is here Details about Neil Hillman and Jason Nicholas’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Dr. Neil Hillman – IMDb Programme edited and mixed by Dr. Neil Hillman on DaVinci Resolve. YouTube fair use disclaimer: Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the ‘fair use’ guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. “Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing”, where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

In this episode, Neil and Jason talk to behaviour analyst Michelle Mills-Porter, about the challenges faced by creatives: particularly freelancers who work in ad-hoc teams and find themselves having to adapt to others' behaviour. Through understanding our own driving forces, Michelle explains how we can realise the powerful potential within us all to reap the rewards of our own unique, valuable, and often transferrable, skills. Michelle is a compelling speaker, with an equally compelling back-story; it's one that gives hope to anyone finding themselves questioning their own worth in the current, sometimes bruising, climate of the film and television industry. *The Clarity and Essence reports referred to in this podcast are available to download here About the presenters: You can find more about Michelle and her work here Details about Neil and Jason’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system Programme edited by Jason Nicholas YouTube fair use disclaimer: Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the ‘fair use’ guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. “Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticising”, where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

In this episode, Neil and Jason talk to the prolific British composer David Lowe about his rise to success and his musical milestones along the way—from work experience at BBC Radio Birmingham to composing the BBC theme that has heralded the corporation’s global news output for more than 25 years. With familiar theme tunes for internationally syndicated TV programmes such as ‘Grand Designs’ and ‘5th Gear’, unforgettable commercials for British Airways and DHL, and even a number one in the indie chart, it’s all been a dream come true for a Sutton Coldfield schoolboy with a passion for synthesisers. About the presenters: You can find more about David and his work here Details about Neil and Jason’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system Programme edited by Jason Nicholas YouTube fair use disclaimer: Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the ‘fair use’ guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. “Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticising”, where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

In this episode (Part 2 of 2) Neil and Jason talk in-depth and ‘totally technical’ about the musical Wicked with the Oscar-winning Production Sound Mixer Simon Hayes and on set music editor Josh Winslade. We discuss the creative decisions behind Simon’s sound recording strategy, his timing and justification for switching to digital radio mics and the low-down on how a great relationship with the Visual Effects supervisor is so important in the quest for capturing the best possible performance from artists on set. About the presenters: You can find more about Simon and his work here Josh Winslade on IMDb Details about Neil and Jason’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system Programme edited by Jason Nicholas YouTube fair use disclaimer: Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the ‘fair use’ guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. “Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing”, where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

In this episode, (Part 1 of 2), Neil and Jason talk in-depth and ‘totally technical’ to the Oscar-winning Production Sound Mixer Simon Hayes, and on set music editor Josh Winslade, about their complex and unique playback and recording arrangements for capturing live vocals and authentic performances from lead actors Cynthia Erivo and Ariane Grande; as well as providing an insight into how to keep Jeff Goldblum happy in-between takes (and it partially involves jazz…).   This is the most comprehensive account of the Wicked gig and rig yet recorded, and best of all, it’s in the words of Wicked’s own sound wizards.   About the presenters: You can find more about Simon and his work here: https://www.simonhayes.com Josh Winslade is here on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7016150/ Details about Neil and Jason’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here: https://www.theaudiosuite.com Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and https://www.soundformovingpictures.com   Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman –  IMDb: www.imdb.me/neilhillman   Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system   Programme edited by Jason Nicholas   YouTube fair use disclaimer: Where copyrighted material appears in episodes of The Apple and Biscuit Show, it is used under the ‘fair use’ guidelines of the Copyright Act: i.e. “Use of these clips follows Fair Use laws regarding commenting and criticizing”, where Fair Use allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for purposes such as Commentary, Criticism, Parody, News reporting, Teaching, Scholarship, and Research. In instances where copyright or credit is questioned, please contact us directly to discuss receiving credit, or removing the featured content.

Dr Mark Deeks is someone who likes to challenge our assumptions about music, and in particular Heavy Metal, which he suggests has more than a passing resemblance to folk music (as someone with a Ph.D. from researching Heavy Metal music, he’s able to say). But not only is he a Heavy Metal performer with his band Winterfylleth and as a solo artist, he’s also a piano teacher, a musical director for various professional artists, as well as a conductor for ensembles as diverse as workplace choirs and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Mark’s passion is helping people to understand the important role that music can play in mental wellbeing; and his workshops and seminars on subjects surrounding the use of music to improve mental health and reduce stress are hugely popular. In this interview, Marks speaks candidly about his own experience of trauma; coming to terms with the loss of a child, and the role that music played in his recovery. This is an unusual and remarkable interview that may very well change your life. About the presenters: Mark’s website is here (https://markdeeksmusic.com/) Details about Neil and Jason’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here (https://www.theaudiosuite.com) Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at: https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system Programme edited and mixed by Jason Nicholas

British Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designer Stephen Griffiths is responsible for some of the most intelligent and entertaining soundtracks of the last two decades or more, seamlessly moving between multi-million-dollar movies and high-end television dramas. In this episode Neil and Jason are in conversation with Stephen about his role in helping to create one of the most complex yet subtle soundtracks of the recent era, the 2022 movie, TÁR.  In this thorough exploration of the film’s precise sound, Stephen describes the meticulous attention to detail demanded by Writer and Director Todd Field and details how bringing together live orchestral recordings alongside dialogue was achieved, why dialogue perspective was so important, and the benefit of fully loading temp mixes. About the presenters: Stephen’s IMDb page is here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0341756/ Books mentioned in the podcast: The Routledge Handbook of Sound Design (with a Chapter on Tár by Neil Hillman) and Sound for Moving Pictures by Neil Hillman Details about Neil and Jason’s work as dialogue editors and mixers and how to contact them is here: https://www.theaudiosuite.com Details of our 1-to-1, training and coaching programmes for ambitious media professionals are available at:  https://www.drneilhillman.com and https://soundproducer.com.au/coaching and www.soundformovingpictures.com Technical notes: Written, produced and presented by Jason Nicholas and Dr Neil Hillman – IMDb Recorded using the CleanFeed remote recording system  Programme edited and mixed by Jason Nicholas