I recently completed the sound mixing and editing for a proof of concept called “A Love Supreme” written and directed by my dear friend, the late Juan Caceres Carreño.
Juan had received funding from HBO Pa’Lante and 150 Studios in early 2022 and was expected to deliver the proof by the fall. Shooting the episode in the span of 2 days, he captured the nuances of relationships in New York City. In his words:
“A Love Supreme is a dramedy about the Relationships, Friendships, Breakups and Makeups of Latinx childhood friends from Uptown, Nueva York City. A ‘Mixtape’ for your heart.”
Although the project was time constrained, the actors he chose brought his characters to life with humor, depth and complexity. Casting young and largely unknown talent, there is a familiarity to their stories and friendships.
Shot entirely in the streets of New York City, Juan was able to highlight the energy, the pulse and the sounds of the city. The 10-minute episode whets the appetite for a full 10 episodic television program, which I’d be honored to work on.
The proof concept is made up of four vignettes — two inside shots, two outside shots. The outside scenes were difficult to clean up with the mics picking up EVERYTHING under the sun. There’s a motorcycle that sounded like it was just out of the shot, numerous cars, and tons of crosstalk.
Despite the complications, I was able to render out most of the unwanted sound using Izotope RX Denoise and a 3-band Waves EQ in Pro Tools Studio. After I cleaned the audio, it sounded thinner, but I re-laid the RX tracks on top of the original dialogue and lowered each track about 10db, depending where it needed to sound fuller.
Juan, being a true New Yorker as he was, wrote in his notes he wanted to incorporate old school hip-hop classics. We used Camp Lo’s “Luchini”, A Tribe Called Quest’s “Excursions” and “Bonita Applebum” into certain scenes. We captured his vision.
I am so saddened that Juan will not be able to see his project finished, but those of us involved made sure we stayed true to his vision and concept. Whatever happens from here is in God’s hands.. love is supreme.
