In early July, the 2010 nominees for Primetime Emmy Awards were announced, an experience Sound Design for Visual Media graduate Melody Drolet, who is among the honourees, can only describe as “a little surreal.”

Melody and her colleagues at the highly-respected Vancouver-based audio post-production facility Sharpe Sound are nominated for Outstanding Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special for their work on the Syfy miniseries Alice, a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland.

For the 2007 VFS graduate who was a sound effects editor on Alice, it’s a big highlight in a young career. Melody will be heading to L.A. in late August to attend the gala, but for now, we managed to get her reaction to the nomination and some background on her professional life.

Hi, Melody, and congratulations on the Emmy nom! Let’s hear your origin story: was there a moment in your life when you realized that sound design was something you wanted to do for a living? How did that come about?

Melody: I actually stumbled on the Sound Design program at VFS by accident… sort of. I was 25, living in chilly Winnipeg, Manitoba, and doing nothing really important with my life – unless you consider waitressing important!

I decided I needed a huge change, so I started shopping for schools in BC. I found VFS and started looking into the various programs offered. That is when my life changed forever. I found the Sound Design program, read about the courses, and was, like, “I can do this for a living?!” Rad. I had no idea that such a program existed!

I called right away and spoke to an advisor. I was so excited. It was all over after that. I started saving every penny I made for school.

I suppose I was always interested in sound, looking back now. My sisters and I would “broadcast” radio shows to our friends and family via pre-recorded cassette tapes. I had no idea at the time, but we were actually incorporating foley into our radio programs – recording all sorts of sound effects from around the house to make the program more interesting. Back then, I thought that clapping your hands sounded like tap dancing!

I knew the program at VFS would be a challenge for me – and it was. But I managed to graduate at the top of my class and I loved every minute of being there.

Like many sound professionals, you wear a lot of hats – sound effects editor, field recordist, sound designer… Do you have a favourite?

Melody: That is a really hard question to answer! Right now, I am doing mainly FX editing, and I love it. It is really challenging. You have to get everything absolutely perfect. There is not really any room for error because you are designing sounds to match what people are physically looking at on the screen. Everybody knows what a door sounds like, for example, so your door better sound like that specific door. If you are doing more special effects design, there is more room for interpretation, so you have more room to play and get really creative.

Field recording is really, really fun! I was actually just in Thailand a few weeks ago and I recorded a bunch of really awesome sound effects! It’s a rush. You get to go out into the world, instead of being cooped up in a windowless room for 12 hours a day, and just listen. There are a lot of really neat sounds you can record if you just take the time to listen and explore! I know that sounds really cheesy, but it’s true!

A favourite… I’d have to say design. That’s what I’m aspiring to become. An amazing, amazing sound designer. I have a long, long way to go, let me tell you! The longer I’m in this industry, the more I realize I have a lot more to learn… which is good. I never get bored!

Our readers might not know what an SFX editor does. Could you explain your responsibilities on Alice, for example?

Melody: An SFX editor creates – either by using his or her own recorded sounds or piecing together an original sound made up of a selection of library sounds – sounds for picture which actually physically exist in real life. For example, doors, vehicles… I find myself editing a lot of fight scenes as well.

Working on Alice, I was responsible for all of the doors, the fight scenes, horses, some specific background effects, and a lot more. In the case of Alice, the vehicles, like the Scarab and the flying flamingo racers, were the job of the designer. You normally do not find flying motorized flamingoes in the real world.

When you started work on Alice, did you have any idea you were working on something special, from a sound point of view?

Melody: I knew Alice was going to be a lot of fun and a lot of work right from the start. I was also totally nervous, because it was my first time working with two of the best designers around, Kris Fenske and James Wallace. There was so much going on in the film, it was great! I even got to do a few “design-y” effects myself! I really enjoyed the opportunity to get creative and work on such a great show.

When and how did you find out about the Emmy nomination? How did it feel to have your name listed there?

Melody: Oh, gosh, my roommate works for Sharpe Sound and actually sent me a goofy text message letting me know I was nominated! I kind of still can’t believe it. It all seems a little surreal to me still! I am very proud to be listed with the others on the ballot. They are amazingly talented people. I almost feel like I don’t deserve to be listed alongside them! But I worked very, very hard on the show.

I’m heading down to the Emmys the weekend of the 21st of August. I think it’s one of those things where it’ll finally hit me walking down the red carpet or something. Hopefully I don’t pee my pants right then and there. That would be embarrassing… although they do say any publicity is good publicity… ha ha!

Thanks, Melody, and good luck at the Emmys! Readers in interested in seeing what Melody’s up to in the sound field can check her IMDB profile and her personal portfolio site.