Haina Zhou Interview Part II
Haina Zhou is in a sound profession, literally. She’s a sound designer and re-recording mixer. 2023 has been a busy year for this talented artist with projects ranging from films, TV pilots, shorts, and commercials just to name a few. In part II of our series of interviews with Ms. Zhou, we delve into challenges, obstacles and what’s next for her in the industry.
All professions come with challenges. The film industry is known for long grueling hours. “What is hard for me is to have a work-life balance. Since the film industry needs you to dedicate a lot of energy to it, it’s easy to get lost in the stream of work. I do want to enjoy more life. Daily life is where all the story and creativity come from. I believe a good work-life balance can facilitate better projects.”
Things like opportunities and respect have improved for women and people from other countries in all industries. There is still a long way to go. Ms. Zhou shares her experiences. “It is definitely a more male-dominated industry, especially in post-sound production. When I went to the Audio Engineering Society Expo in New York this year, most of the engineer /tech people were male. There is a stereotypical way of profiling people who understand that technology is mostly connected to males, but that’s not true. But I do not consider this an obstacle. It is just a phenomenon, and I proved my value in this industry through my professionalism and expertise.”
Ms. Zhou has a very interesting project that she is currently working on. With her passion, perspective, dedication, expertise and professionalism, Ms. Zhou will be busy for the foreseeable future. “My latest project is a film about embracing female rage and sexuality. Currently, I am trying to explore ways to better externalize human emotionality and intricacies through sound, e.g. how the sound of footsteps reflects a character’s mood/age/body weight/walking pattern. Also, the most interesting part is during the mixing session with the director and when they give relatively abstract emotional feelings about a scene or a character. I tried to make the connection between these descriptions and a tangible technical approach. For example, if we want to make a scene feel more oppressive, we can raise up the voice of the character who operates the opposition.”
Haina Zhou makes noise for a living and she’s very good at it. She puts a lot of thought and effort into her work and considers the impact it will have on audiences. It was a pleasure to chat with her and learn more about a lesser known aspect of filmmaking.
ARTIUM: OMNI 