The gripping drama Sound of Metal starring Riz Ahmed just won Best Sound at the 93rd Academy Awards, beating out titles such as Greyhound, Mank, News of the World, and Soul. The award was accepted by Nicolas Becker who designed the film's score, and spoke at the ceremony live via Paris as he was presented the award by none other than the film's main man, Riz Ahmed.
"Sound of Metal received from its team so much time, love, and attention. We believe it's one of the reasons the film has been received so beautifully," Becker remarked.
The film dirrcted by Darius Marder follows the life of a heavy metal drummer who loses his hearing abilities. Becker and Marder reportedly did quite a bit of research to understand the sounds a hearing-impaired person experiences on a day-to-day basis and they even spoke to audiologists to understand what kind of sounds one would hear after getting a cochlear implant. Becker even built a small microphone to fit in Ahmed's mouth and capture the sound of his breathing.
"The idea was to make it really, really naturalistic. When the audience is listening and looking at the film, it's not illustrative. It's created a direct connection with their memories, you know?" Becker had said recently in an interview.