Having worked on many Star Wars projects, David W. Collins’ lifelong passion for Lucasfilm found a new outlet in the company’s latest Disney+ series, Willow, a sequel to the classic theatrical movie.
David W. Collins has worn many hats at Lucasfilm over the years, from voice artist to sound artist for video games to stage host at Star Wars Celebration and his current role at Skywalker Sound.
Collins remembers the day in May of 1988 when Willow opened to a packed local theater in Fairfield, California. “It was so packed that I didn’t get a great seat,” he says. “I was in the front and off to the side. But what was great was that I could see the audience and watch everybody laugh and enjoy it.”
Willow was Collins’ major introduction to fantasy filmmaking. “It wasn’t that big of a genre in the ‘80s,” he says, “except for movies like Dragonslayer and Excalibur (by the way, Thraxus Boorman is named for John Boorman who directed Excalibur). My gateway to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Harry Potter was Willow.”
Now a member of Skywalker Sound, when Collins heard rumblings that a Willow series was in development, he asked director of production Jon Null if he might be involved. “Jon was actually a Brownie in the original movie, which I didn’t know,” Collins says. “It turned out that [sound designer] David Farmer had also asked about the series.” Many fantasy fans today know Farmer’s celebrated work as sound designer for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. It turned out that Willow had been an early inspiration for the artist who would contribute so much to the genre.
With Farmer as sound designer, Collins joined as supervising sound editor, and because of his experience with voice acting, he would be ADR (automated dialogue replacement) supervisor as well. This meant that Collins would get to work closely with the cast and showrunners of the series in addition to the sound team at Skywalker Ranch (which included sound editor Teresa Eckton, who worked on the original movie).
“It was really special to see [showrunner] Jon Kasdan at work,” Collins explains. “The night before a recording session with one of the actors, he’d send me a page of script alternates. Like in Star Wars, the sets of Willow are very noisy with wind machines and horses and armor and things crashing. You have to replace a lot of the dialogue in post-production, and that gives the writers an opportunity to create even more story beats with moments of humor and drama.”
Scenes that required extensive re-recording included Jade and Boorman’s conversation atop the battlements at Nockmaar castle and the climactic battle of the Slaughtered Lamb, which included two death scenes in the midst of a torrential downpour. Collins takes heart in the small but important technical accomplishments, like in a scene with two actors having a discussion as they walk alongside their horses. Filled with the noises of footsteps, breathing animals, equipment, and the natural elements, all of the final sound must be recreated. This not only includes the dialogue itself, but the horses and the surrounding ambience. “To recreate that in a natural way and have it come together with the musical score is really satisfying,” he notes. “You see the illusion pulled off.”
Collins admires Kasdan’s use of names and references to events which add layers of detail and authenticity to the story. “In the first episode, there’s a reference to the ‘Shining Legion,’” Collins points out, “and Ballantine is described as the commanding knight of the ‘Pacalcade.’ What is the Pacalcade? It’s the coolest word. Jon is constantly throwing out all of this lore, and he likes us to do the same thing with sound, to fill this world and capture the imagination.”
Instances of expanded or revised dialogue included Boorman’s heroic moment in the finale when he elects to hold off the Gales alone. “He has a line where he goes back in ‘buck naked and kicking ass’ — that’s how he wants to leave the world,” Collins explains. “He’s walking out of frame at the end, so we added the line, ‘All right boys, who brought butter!’ We had about 15 different alternates. It’s been said that there’s the script you write, the script you shoot, and the script you end up with in post. Jon Kasdan was constantly adding to it.”
By “telling stories with sound,” as Collins puts it, the Skywalker Sound crew added layers of context to the series. “When Kit approaches the tapestry at Nockmaar, you can hear all of these acolytes, like they’re in a Greek amphitheater or the huge crowd in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. There are unseen thousands of dark disciples watching this anointing of Queen Bavmorda.” Actor Ruby Cruz would perform the voice of Bavmorda, speaking for her character’s young grandmother, and adopting an English accent.
Collins made good use of Skywalker Sound’s “loop group,” an assortment of voice actors who provide background chatter and dialogue to fill scenes like the banquet at Tir Asleen or screams and yells during a battle. “During the Nelwyn sequence, they’re all shouting ‘Finger test! Finger test!’” Collins adds, “and one of them yells ‘DO IT!’ It just makes me laugh every time. That wasn’t in the script. That comes up when we’re in the recording studio. Poor Willow, he’s just not able to keep up with everyone.” (Collins himself would provide the voice of both the Lich and Kenneth the Mudmander.)
Read more of the interview at Lucasfilm.com.
