Greta Gerwig had a phrase for what she wanted from the “Barbie” sound team: authentically artificial. “Nothing is alive, but Greta wanted it to feel pleasant and inviting,” said re-recording mixer, sound designer and supervising sound editor Ai-Ling Lee. “We used non-literal sounds, like from commercials where the audience hears it and wants to have it.
“For example, Barbie would open the fridge, and we wanted it to feel like a refreshing cold air came out. So we’d add a woman exhaling, like the sound someone would make after they’d drunk a refreshing glass of cola. It’s almost like imagining the sounds a human would make if they were playing with these Barbies and Kens.”
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