Michael Semanick Wiki: Re-Recording Mixer, Net Worth, 'Coco', 'Cars 3' & Facts To Know

Michael Semanick was born in 1963. He is an American sound engineer and a re-recording mixer. Semanick has won two Academy Awards for Best Sound and also has been nominated for eight films in the same category. Semanick has worked on more than 110 films since 1987. Semanick has won two Academy Awards for 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' in 2003 and for 'King Kong' in 2005. Semanick has been nominated for Best Sound at Oscar 2018 for the film 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'. Oscar 2018 will be held on March 4th, 2018. Semanick has been nominated for another eight films as the Oscars including, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' in 2001', 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' in 2002, 'Ratatouille' in 2007, 'WALL-E' in 2008, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' in 2008, 'The Social Network' in 2010, 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' in 2011, 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' in 2013 and 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' in 2017. This is not Semanick's first experience with the Star Wars Franchise as he has also worked as an additional mixer on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. But he was a key figure in The Last Jedi in fine-tuning the film's soundtrack. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. Semanick has gained experience in the field of sound by working alongside re-recording mixers like Ren Klyce and David Parker. He has also worked with director Rian Johnson and together they crafted a soundtrack that was both bold and dynamic. Michael Semanick has rendered fabulous soundtrack to the film, 'The Great Wall'. The Great Wall is a 2016 monster film directed by Zhang Yimou. The story revolves around the European mercenaries who are searching for black powder and they become embroiled in the defense of the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures. Michael Semanick has also worked as a re-recording mixer in the film, 'The LEGO Batman movie'. The LEGO Batman Movie is a 2017 3D computer-animated superhero comedy film, produced by Warner Animation Group.

The net worth of Michael Semanick is $1.4 million.

In a candid interview, Michael Semanick revealed a few secrets on how he got the soundtrack sound so perfect in the film, 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'. The interviewer asked him how did he manage to merge the Skywalker's effects, John Williams' score and the dialogue of the film without making it sound chaotic, to which he replied that a re-recording mixer needs to balance these elements well. Semanick said, "It’s easy on a film like this to get bombastic and assault the audience, but that’s one of the things that Rian didn’t want to do. He wanted to create dynamics in the track and get really quiet so that when it does get loud it’s not overly loud." Semanick explained that while creating the sound effects he looks at all the elements coming in and tries to understand what the scene is all about. He also tries to imagine what music he needs to put in a particular scene and to generate continuity with the next scene. He added, "Essentially, it’s me trying to figure out how many frequencies are available and how much dialogue has to come through so the audience doesn’t lose the thread of the story. It’s about deciding when it’s right to feature the sound effects or take the score down to feature a big explosion and then bring the score back up." Semanick also explained that the key element required is a balance. He is aware that his sound should not distract the audience but it should merge well with the scene. He also explains that as there is so much happening in the movie, one cannot put sound on everything. The interviewer also asked Semanick on his experience with working with the director. Semanick explained, "As we mixed the film with Rian, we found what types of sounds defined the film and what types of moments defined the film in terms of sound. For example, by the time you reach the scene when Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) jumps to hyperspace into the First Order’s fleet, everything goes really quiet. The sound there doesn’t go completely out — it feels like it goes out, but there’s sound. As soon as the music peaks, I bring in a low space tone. Well, if there was a tone in space, I imagine that is what it would sound like. So there is sound constantly through that scene, but the quietness goes on for a long time." A candid interview as this one just explains one thing and that is that Michael Semanick knows sound in and out and he is best at what he does. He has a deep knowledge of his subject and renders absolutely fantastic sound effects to a movie making it thoroughly enjoyable to watch!