| Bryan Konietzko | Hey, everyone. This is Bryan Konietzko. |
|---|---|
| Michael Dante DiMartino | And this is Mike DiMartino. |
| Benjamin Wynn | Benjamin Wynn, sound designer. |
| Jeremy Zuckerman | This is Jeremy Zuckerman, composer. |
| Mike | And uh, welcome to "Part 2" of the Avatar Wan saga. |
| Ben | Did you-d'you miss us? [Bryan and Jeremy chuckle.] |
| Mike | Uh, so this one, this is probably one of my top episodes of Avatar, ever! |
| Ben | It's a good one. |
| Mike | Hoo! It's a-this is a great one. [Ben affirms.] |
| Bryan | I mean, "Part 1" is awesome; I love it. But it's just, "Part 2" is just... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] It's just Pa-it's just "Part 1", so... |
| Jeremy | [In the background.] Well... |
| Mike | ... you gotta get to "Part 2". |
| Jeremy | Exactly. |
| Mike | Get the-get the... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] Gotta earn it. [Mike affirms.] |
| Ben | [Refers to Korra being suspended on a net while being partially submerged in a subterranean pool of water by the Bhanti, the sound of water rippling as the shot pans away from her.] I also love doing those um, sorta, like those water baths are fun to do, [Refers to the lingering "whoosh" sound when the shot pans back from Korra opening her eyes, beholding her inner world manifested as the colorful, underwater depths of a boundless sea.] and also the kinda s-weird, spacey uh, like, "where is she?". [Bryan affirms.] Metaph-metaphysical... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Yeah, we call that the... |
| Ben | ... vibes. |
| Bryan | ... the uh... |
| Ben | [Interjects; refers to Korra opening her eyes in her inner world.] This-this stuff. [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur.] |
| Bryan | What do we call this, Mike? The like "headspace"? |
| Mike | Yeah. Yeah, the idea for the-like that thing that Korra's floating in was these-I've never done it but it sounds interesting, these like sensory deprivation tanks [Ben and Jeremy affirm.] where you basically just float in the water, and you're like [Ben affirming murmurs intermittently.] totally in the darkness, and it's supposed to give you like, I don't know, clarity, or something. [Laughs.] |
| Jeremy | Let's go do that after-after this one. |
| Bryan | Yeah. There's-there's one right-there's one right by here, we should totally do it. |
| Jeremy | Oh? |
| Bryan | Yeah. |
| Ben | Maybe we become precogs. |
| Bryan | Yeah. [Jeremy chuckles.] |
| Mike | Yeah. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the cavern Korra is suspended in.] So, yeah, and we designed that cavern to be like a basalt, which is a crazy rock formation that I th-I believe, I've seen a lot of it in Iceland uh, when I was there, and believe it forms when lav-you know, molten lava runs into water and cools off really quickly, and it's a certain, when it-I think when it's a certain kind of mineral or, you know, certain kind of rock that's been melted, it forms these like hexagonal, um, pillars. They're really amazing. |
| Ben | See, I wanna go-I wanna go there. I've often thought to myself, "wouldn't it be fun to visit these places that you guys draw." |
| Bryan | [Laughs.] You want to float and pluck some [Ben laughs.] peachy... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] Just hang out for a while. |
| Bryan | ... apple? [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur.] It would be nice. |
| Ben | Go to the basalt [Bryan affirms.] deprivation tank. |
| Bryan | Well, when they're painted, you know, really well, and uh, the-the lighting's good, like they become real to me, you know? |
| Ben | Do they? Yeah, so... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] I mean, [Ben affirms.] I really feel like it's like a place; [Jeremy and Ben affirm.] maybe I haven't visited, but I'm looking at a-a picture of a real place. |
| Ben | Does that ever um, trip you out [Bryan laughs.] in real life, like you get caught up not knowing? |
| Bryan | No, I never took it that far. [Ben and Mike chuckle.] But uh, [Refers to when Wan comes across a group of tattooed monks using the power of wind.] so, this was fun showing the proto-Air Nomads, and uh... [Refers to the monks flying through the air on clouds.] how they move, [Refers to the monks' tattoos ending on their foreheads, hands and feet with an upside-down "T".] and their old-their early tattoos. Um, this designer, uh, Il Kwang did um, did this-that, we were trying to figure out what their old tattoos would look like kinda pre-bison influence, and uh, he came up with that design, I was like, "oh, I like it, it's cool." |
| Jeremy | Pretty cool. |
| Mike | And uh... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects; refers to the theme that plays as Wan catapults himself toward the lion turtle floating in the air.] So, here, Avatar moment. That's from Avatar, that melody. |
| Bryan | I love it. |
| Ben | Always good. |
| Jeremy | And it became a big-yeah, like I was saying, so there's the example. I don't think I used it in the first half, actually, I think that's the first time. |
| Bryan | [Brief pause; refers to the monk's huts, made of woven, grassy material, on the lion turtle.] So, these-these huts, the idea um... is that, you know, the Air Nomads didn't wanna like... make a bunch of like permanent architecture, you know? Just didn't really fit in with their philosophy. I mean, now we see they have these big stone temples, and stuff, but I always liked this idea that they were much-they were nomadic and they were much more about not leaving a footprint on the Earth, and uh, [Refers to the tilled soil decorated with large rocks behind the monks, the indented pattern coiling into a swirling circle.] so they have, you know, you can see they have these little, um, kinda zen gardens behind them, there. [Refers to the woven hut one of the dark spirits breaks into.] And then um, this is based on real architecture that these amazing artists make, where they just twist and weave uh, reeds and sticks, and make these incredible buildings and-and huts. So, Mike uh, I think had a... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] Not like Andy Goldsworthy. |
| Bryan | ... book. |
| Mike | Yeah, yeah, it was a cool book I had of like natural architecture. It was... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Yeah, not Andy Goldsworthy, but that-I-you know, that kind of work and I love his stuff, too. So, um, you know, Mike had this cool book of-think it was just ca-Natural, was it Natural Architecture, or something? |
| Mike | Yeah. |
| Bryan | And so, uh... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] And you guys have cool reference libraries, don't you? |
| Bryan | Man, [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur.] I've too many [Laughs.] books. |
| Mike | [Laughs.] Bryan's got a lotta books. |
| Bryan | And we've-I've moved offices on Korra like four or five times, and I am so sick of moving [Mike chuckles.] books around. |
| Ben | Don't like records. [Jeremy snickers.] |
| Bryan | Yeah, heavy, [Laughs.] very heavy. |
| Ben | Vinyl. |
| Bryan | I've moved-Ben has a giant record collection and I've helped move his records [Bryan and Jeremy laugh.] many times over the past... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] It's the worst kinda weight. [Mike chuckles.] |
| Bryan | I mean, we've been friends for a long time, I've moved those records [Laughs.] a lotta times. [Ben chuckles intermittently.] 'Cause we were roommates for many years, and I remember moving them up in uh, Santa Clarita and it was a hundred and like five [Laughs.] degrees. [Refers to Raava being smaller compared to when she left Wan, and Vaatu being even larger, with the former losing some of the discernable shapes that made up her patterns, while the latter's become more defined.] So, now we see that Raava is getting smaller and Vaatu's getting larger, and, you know, we actually-I changed their designs, I didn't just scale up or down the, you know, Vaatu gets more intricate, his pattern gets more, uh, embellishments in it, and um, [Ben gives an affirming murmur; refers to Raava's tassels being shorter.] and all the-their little, dangly tassels and things, hers are vanishing and her s-pattern's simplifying. |
| Ben | It's a cool idea. |
| Bryan | It was crazy to keep track of all that stuff. |
| Mike | Yeah, I mean, that was crazy about these two episodes, it really was like doing a new-like a pilot for a new series in the middle of [Jeremy chuckles intermittently.] doing a regular series. |
| Bryan | And then not getting to use any of that stuff. [Mike laughs.] |
| Jeremy | [Laughs.] Right. |
| Mike | Yeah. |
| Bryan | Yeah. So, well, I... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] You guys are always taking the easy routes. |
| Bryan | [Laughs.] Yeah. [Jeremy chuckles.] |
| Mike | That's us. |
| Bryan | [Refers to when the monks were peacefully interacting with spirits in their daily lives on the lion turtle.] So, I remember the id-we-you-this was something we kinda changed late in the game, which we don't usually do big writing changes, but um, I wanted the Air N-Nomads to not be like the-the other human civilization we had seen in this time, where they were actually more in tune with uh, the spirits, you know? They-it just seemed to make sense that the Air Nomads, if anyone in the human world, you know, they wouldn't be so separate from the wilds, and stuff. But, you know, they still-they still lived safely on the-the lion turtle, but they were, you know, definitely had more contact, peaceful contact. |
| A brief pause in commentary until the lion turtle, listening to Wan's request to receive the power of air and his justification that he isn't like other humans, equivocates by saying "perhaps" in a drowsy tone. | |
| Bryan | [Imitates the lion turtle's tone.] "Perhaps". I always like that line. |
| Ben | [Laughs.] He's so chill. [Bryan laughs.] |
| Jeremy | I know. |
| Bryan imitates the lion turtle's ponderous murmur. | |
| Ben | I wanna be as chill as him. |
| Jeremy | So good. [Bryan laughs.] |
| Ben | [Laughs.] Could you imagine if I talked like that right now? [Jeremy chuckles.] |
| Bryan | He's-he's much nicer than the... |
| Jeremy | [In the background; gives a ponderous murmur.] Try. |
| Bryan | ... the fire lion turtle. I always feel like that final-fire lion turtle's a little... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] He's a little surly. |
| Mike | Well, 'cause he's an air-air one, he's laidback. You know, he's... [Ben chuckles.] |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Yeah, he's like, "alright. oh, I could float there with robes." |
| Ben also imitates the lion turtle's ponderous murmur. | |
| Jeremy | [Refers to the lion turtles Wan meets throughout his journey.] Are they all related? |
| Bryan | Uh... [Mike laughs.] |
| Jeremy | Sorry. |
| Bryan | Guess they have... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] I don't think so... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] Scratch that question. |
| Mike | ... but... [Bryan and Jeremy laugh.] I mean, genetically? I don't know. |
| Jeremy | Yeah. |
| Mike | Well, I guess. |
| Ben | Aren't we all. |
| Bryan | Who know... [Jeremy laughs.] |
| Mike | [Interjects.] The way that all humans are genetically from... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] Right, if you go back. |
| Bryan | Who knows what happens. |
| Jeremy | Different stars. |
| Mike | We'll do that in the next origin story, [Jeremy affirms intermittently.] the origin of the lion turtles. [Ben chuckles.] |
| Bryan | [Refers to the rounded, tall mountains behind Wan, Mula and Raava.] So, this-just as an art director, this was just so fun. Um, Josh Middleton uh, who'd worked on the show for a bit, and he helped out with some concepts of what these backgrounds would look like, [Refers to the long shot panning from Wan and Raava standing at the edge of a cliff to the dark misty mountains, their bases covered in rolling white clouds.] and I really love this-this pan, [Refers to the lava streaming down the volcano and through the landscape where Wan and Raava train.] and these uh, these lava locations. It um, it just afforded us opportunities of like color combinations that we don't normally get at, and-and a-a richness in color. [Refers to the purple color palette for the sky and crags.] Um, eh, also with these re-kinda faded, you know, more-more faded palettes, too; it was just really fun. This, Book Two in-on the whole, is the most colorful thing I've ever had anything to do with. [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur; laughs.] Like, my paintings in college were [Ben chuckles.] so desaturated. |
| Jeremy | I remember they were all, [Ben gives an affirming murmur.] they were great. They're all... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] My... |
| Jeremy | ... super dark. |
| Bryan | Yeah, my photos that I do... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] Like cities at night, I remember. |
| Bryan | ... I usually desaturate them a lot, and uh, or I used to. And so, this-this was me coming outta my shell, and uh... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] Just something really... |
| Bryan | ... encouraging the painters... |
| Jeremy | [In the background.] Yeah, it's great. |
| Bryan | ... to-to get colorful. Sorry, what were you gonna say? |
| Jeremy | [Refers to Wan and Raava's relationship growing from reluctant partners to trusted confidants.] Just-I was just gonna say there's something that really gets me about their relationship, you know? It's like this beautiful relationship; it's not a typical-it's not like a-a romantic love... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] Yeah, it's-it's... |
| Jeremy | ... it's so much more, it's really a complex relationship. I love it. |
| Bryan | Yeah, and I, you know, I-I have friends that I've been friends with for many years, decades now, but when we first met, we didn't get along, you know? [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur.] And I like that about [Jeremy affirms intermittently.] their relationship, [Refers to when Wan initially asked Raava to let him help her stop Vaatu, with Raava telling him not to interfere in the business of spirits again.] they did-they did not see eye to eye in the beginning, or at least Raava especially had a problem with him. Um, well, I guess Wan shot fire at her in the last episode. |
| Jeremy | And the whole thing how like, you-you know, they just... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] Just didn't know what he was doing. |
| Jeremy | ... [Refers to when Wan and Raava become bonded forever.] you know, she's with him his whole life, you know. |
| Bryan | Yeah. Yeah, I-I... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] Af-after a certain point, 'til... |
| Bryan | [Refers to when Raava tells Wan, dying on a battlefield and lamenting that there wasn't enough time to bring peace to the world, that she will be with him throughout all of his lives in the future.] I-I've seen a few posts from-from fans where they-that, just that line, "I'll be with you for all your lifetimes," [Jeremy affirms intermittently.] like apparently just really gets to people. |
| Mike | I-I get-I get choked up at the end, [Jeremy affirms.] it's very emotional. |
| Bryan | Yeah, I-I-I-I do, too. [Jeremy affirms.] That scene. |
| Jeremy | I might cry today. [Jeremy, Ben and Mike laugh.] |
| Bryan | It's great. I mean, this is about forty-four minutes, and, you know, with the tags with Korra, I mean, there's really only about forty minutes of Wan's story, [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur.] and we take him through this cra-I mean, there's just so much. [Jeremy affirms; refers to Raava telling Wan during their training about the eternal battle she wages with Vaatu every ten-thousand years during Harmonic Convergence.] There's a lot of exposition which is tough to deal with narratively, but um, yeah, I mean, I was v-I gotta say, I was very worried about these episodes, [Ben gives an affirming murmur.] I-I-I never knew if they were gonna work until they were done. [Laughs.] |
| Jeremy | They're a risk, you know? But... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] Yeah. |
| Jeremy | ... that's why they're so great. |
| Mike | [Refers to Raava passing through Wan's body, exchanging his power of fire for the power of air.] Yeah, we had to, we definitely went through many, trying to figure out the rules of like this transferring the power, and when he had it, and how many at a ti-like, there was a point where it was like, "okay, then he learns to do like two at a time," [Bryan and Jeremy chuckle.] and then it just got like way too complicated, [Jeremy affirms.] so, we uh, you know, the rule is basically she-she passes off, you know, she can fly through him and he gets a new element, or, [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur; refers to when Raava enters and merges with Wan's body, allowing him to control the elements of fire, air, water, and earth in order to stop his human and spirit friends from destroying each other.] and then when, in this upcoming scene, when she flies into him, then he's got all four. [Refers to when Wan loses consciousness after a few seconds.] Um, but he can't do that for very long. |
| Bryan | Yeah, he hasn't evolved to the point where he can handle it yet. [Refers to when Jaya justifies the settler's conflict with the spirits to Wan by saying they're following his philosophy of not backing down in the face of those with power.] So, I, philosophically, I l-I like, not that I think that it's like, "yay, I like when things go bad," but I think this is a very poignant thing where any idea or ideology, no matter how positive it is, can be used in a very negative way; [Jeremy affirmingly murmurs intermittently.] it can be used to destroy, to oppress. Um, and in this case, Wan's ideas of independence and um, you know, freedom and-and getting away from oppression has unfortunately been twisted into this sort of "no regard for nature" [Laughs.] and kinda "taking what you want", and-and it get-it gets outta balance, and that's what we talk about a lot with Korra and Avatar is, you know, this idea of balance, and-and, you know, unfortunately, Jaya and his followers have-they're-they're-they're sort of using Wan's ideas at-as their core... |
| Jeremy | [In the background.] To be selfi-yeah, selfish. |
| Bryan | ... motive, but-yeah, but it's-it's-it's gotten outta balance and-and outta wack. |
| Ben | I th-I mean, that's one of the main things I love about this show and Avatar, and I think that's why it resonates with so many people is that it's-fundamentally, it's about these very core ideas about just human nature, which I love. |
| Bryan | Thanks, Ben. [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur; Ben chuckles.] |
| Mike | Well said. [Brief pause; refers to the medium closeup shot of Jaya as he threatens the spirits, saying they're the ones who are going to be cleared from the forest.] Yeah, I like how buff go-Jaya got... |
| Bryan | [Interjects; laughs.] Yeah, Jaya... |
| Mike | ... in the last couple years, he was really uh... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Late bloomer. |
| Mike | ... he really-yeah. |
| Bryan | Yeah. [Ben chuckles; laughs.] Wan's like, "yo, I'm still skinny, what ha-what're [Mike and Jeremy chuckle.] you doing, man?". He just like lifts these logs [Mike affirms.] that he burns down. |
| Jeremy | With supplement... |
| Bryan | [Interjects; refers to the thunderclouds above the group of humans and spirits, a distorted image of Vaatu appearing in the clouds as lightning strikes.] So, you can see, I don't know if you notice, but you can see... |
| Mike | [In the background.] Vaatu. |
| Bryan | ... Vaatu in the-in those storm clouds. |
| Ben | Oh really? |
| Bryan | Yeah. He's-he flashes in the... |
| Mike | [Interjects; refers to the gathered spirits, including the aye-aye spirit, turning dark after Vaatu appears.] It's like his influence... |
| Ben | [In the background.] Oh. |
| Mike | ... turns everyone dark. [Ben gives an affirming murmur.] |
| Jeremy | [Refers to the theme that plays when the storm clouds move in.] There's like a little Vaatu's... |
| Ben | [In the background.] Missed that. |
| Jeremy | ... a musical little gesture that-attached to Vaatu. [Mike gives an affirming murmur.] It's this little like... it's a string thing, and so I, like, tease it like that, like when you saw him in the clouds, you hear it. |
| Bryan | Cool. |
| Jeremy | I don't know how many people noticed it, but it was-it was fun for me. [Jeremy and Bryan laugh; refers to the theme that plays as Wan and Raava try to stop the battling humans and dark spirits.] So, that theme there, that line, that repeating line [Bryan affirmingly murmurs intermittently.] is based on a g-a gamelan line that's introduced in the beginning of 207, like the first-I think the first cue. And that also became used throughout-throughout Book Two. I... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] I really liked that theme, yeah. |
| Jeremy | Yeah, it's-it's so simple, and it-it's sorta these overlapping-when the strings play, they-they have a different amount of-their line is a different number of pitches. It's the same line but a different number of pitches, so they overlap in different ways; it's actually a really simple idea. |
| Bryan | So, the uh, the gamelan is-is an Indonesian um, like pitched percussion, right? |
| Jeremy | Right, that's right. |
| Bryan | And they make like a whole kind of an orchestra out of these different, uh, shapes and sizes and different instruments, right? |
| Jeremy | Right, "gamelan" actually means "orchestra". Um, yeah, they have a whole orchestra of these different pitched percussion instruments, um, at all different pitch ranges, and they pair off together, and they're detuned slightly, the pairs are detuned slightly. Um, and the tuning's a little di-it's actually a bit challenging 'cause the tuning is not tuned to the Western tuning, [Bryan gives an affirming murmur.] so the-sometimes you hear it's a little interesting [Laughs.] sounding, but I actually kinda like that, like against the strings. |
| Bryan | Yeah, I had, you know, I had-was not familiar with gamelan at all until um, you know, I don't know if the audience knows, but Ben and Jeremy both went to CalArts; uh, Jeremy was getting his master's degree, and Ben was doing his undergraduate there, uh, when he-when Ben and I were roommates. So, CalArts just gets these incredible world musicians uh, to perform for the students, and Ben would often invite me up to go to these performances, and uh... Ben, I think, had a class, a gamelan class, right? |
| Ben | Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I was in the gamelan orchestra for a while. |
| Bryan | And they put on a concert, and I've never heard anything like it, and to this day, now that I've listened to much more gamelan, now that I've been introduced to it, I bought some field recordings and all sorts of stuff. Um, to this day, I've never heard a recording that can come close [Ben affirms.] to capturing what it sounds like in person. |
| Jeremy | Oh man. |
| Ben | Also, for some reason, a lotta the recordings aren't very good. |
| Bryan | It's tough, yeah. |
| Ben | I know, it sucks, it sucks. |
| Bryan | Uh, the... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] But the-yeah, the-the instrument itself, the frequencies are just so, [Ben affirms.] same with the gongs, you know, the big gongs are-you [Bryan affirms.] just can't capture that, you gotta be there. |
| Bryan | So, it really ha-made a strong impression on me, so once we got to doing Avatar, I was like, [Laughs.] "we've gotta use gamelan! It's so cool," so I love every time we get to use it, and it's kinda-it's just kinda neat, just ties into our-kinda our friend history. I just remember Ben [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur.] wearing the [Ben chuckles.] Indonesian [Jeremy affirms.] outfit. |
| Jeremy | It's the origin story. |
| Bryan | Really-yeah. [Jeremy chuckles.] |
| Ben | I remember doing the-I was in a... was it the same class? No, I took a kecak class. |
| Bryan | Yeah, the-the... [Imitates the beat of a kecak performance while chanting "chak" repeatedly for a few seconds.] |
| Ben | And at the end, we had to wear, you know, the outfits, which basically amounts to an adult diaper, [Bryan and Mike laugh.] we have to [Laughs.] run through... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] I saw you running around... |
| Ben | [In the background.] Yeah. [Jeremy laughs.] |
| Bryan | ... yeah, running around campus at CalArts. [Ben and Jeremy affirm; refers to Wan sending multiple fire blasts at a flying aerial Vaatu, both of them in the Spirit World where the portals between realms intersect.] So, this is amazing; Joaquim Dos Santos uh, went over all these boards, kinda reboarded this insane action sequence where a giant kite fights a uh, young man. |
| Ben | [Laughs.] "Giant kite". |
| Bryan | And um... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] Oh, we're-we're gonna get to this... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Yeah, it's one of the-yeah, it's one of the more unique action scenes we've had, and like yeah, all the music you did, Jeremy, it's like-it's just like, I guess I love it 'cause it's, like, it's such an emotional f-battle. [Jeremy affirms.] Like, sometimes we have like, "ooh, that was a cool fight," or whatever, but... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] It was... |
| Mike | ... this one just like has so much emotion to it. I don't... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] This was hard, too, be-this was hard because uh, it just kept getting bigger, [Mike affirms.] more intense emotionally, you know. |
| Mike | Yeah, it's-it's a long one. [Laughs.] |
| Bryan | [Refers to the reverberating and dominating sound effect for Vaatu's energy beam.] So, I wanna talk about this sound, right here. |
| Mike | Oh yeah, and then... [Imitates the "bwaa" sound of the laser.] |
| Bryan | Ben's wall of sound, [Ben affirmingly murmurs intermittently.] I just love that. That's something that it's almost a little sci-fi, but it-it works. Like, it's just like we-we just wanted the beam to be, I think we talked about that thing from uh... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] War of the Worlds. |
| Bryan | ... War of the Worlds, the Steven Spielberg version, where there's-it's just this thick, thick, multiple frequency, you know, wide-frequency band sound. |
| Ben | Just sounds very powerful. [Bryan affirms.] That-I think it's definitely my famous sound from [Mike, Bryan and Ben laugh.] any of these series. |
| Jeremy | It's your greatest hit. |
| Ben | Yeah, [Laughs.] that's goin' on, [Jeremy laughs intermittently.] that's goin' on the compilation. |
| Bryan | Nice. |
| Ben | Yeah, no, I-I love it, that came out really well. |
| Bryan | I think I want that to be my ringtone, and [Jeremy chuckles; Ben affirms.] I'll just keep my phone-my phone... |
| Mike | [In the background.] That's a good idea. [Ben makes a "phwoo" sound.] |
| Bryan | ... turned up all the way. |
| Ben | Yeah. It-it's based on-so, it's a lotta layers, um, but there are a bunch of different like large ship horns, like uh, [Bryan gives an affirming murmur.] you know, boat horns, um, but then mixed in, and there are some synthesis elements, which I think probably gives it that slight sci-fi kinda thing, [Bryan affirms.] but it also gives it the attack and the sort of otherworld-ness. But I also-the-the other thing that's cool about that is how it, like, it's just like an on/off, [Laughs.] it's just like a steady beam. |
| Bryan | [Laughs.] Yeah, totally. [Brief pause; refers to the edges of Wan's body becoming jagged as his form goes in and out of focus while he remains fused with Raava.] So, this idea, this like fuzzy line thing is-is uh, that Wan is sorta losing cohesion um, to borrow a Stephen King-ism, he's-is physically, he can't, you know, he can't withstand the energy of Raava, um, combined with him, and-and his-his body's sort of like struggling to stay together, sort of. |
| Ben | [Refers to the faint static sound as Wan's body becomes more unstable.] Now, that-that sound was really fun for me to design... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] Yeah, I love... |
| Ben | ... 'cause it's kinda different... different from something that we normally do on the show. |
| Bryan | [Refers to when Vaatu whips out one of his long tendrils to grab Wan and slam him against the ground.] That's one-that's one of my favorite ones from the episode, the "whippy, crack!" |
| Ben | Oh, no, I'm talking about the de-the-the little... |
| Bryan | [Interjects.] Oh. I thought... |
| Ben | ... static lines. |
| Bryan | ... "whip, crack" when his whippy tail [Ben affirms.] was the part I was excited. [Ben laughs; makes several whip cracking sounds.] |
| Ben | [Refers to the shot of the planets in outer space aligning in a column with the burning sun in the background, the sign that Harmonic Convergence is about to begin.] Dang. |
| Jeremy | Har-Harmonic Convergence. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the sudden percussion that sounds as the planets move into place.] That. That is one of my favorite [Mike chuckles.] sounds. [Ben affirms; laughs.] When that happens, man. |
| Ben | With the cut to that. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the string instruments beginning to sound as the percussion echoes out and the shot cuts back to the Spirit World.] The cut to the-the ce-the celestial shot, and you just hear that kinda chant. |
| Ben | [Gives an affirming murmur.] Yeah, it's a great combo of music and sound, that point. |
| Jeremy | It worked well. And then... it's-oh no. Oh, I'm thinking of the finale, never mind. I was gonna say... |
| Bryan | [In the background.] Ben's sound... |
| Jeremy | ... when I lay out, but no, I don't lay out, ever. |
| Ben | [Laughs.] Naw. |
| Jeremy | Just keeps going. |
| Bryan | [Refers to the crackling, thunderous sounds as the beams of light from the spirit portals bend and join together, and the blaring sound that plays as the light from Wan's body temporarily blots out the world.] When Ben um... yeah, I just felt-I was like every beam of energy, [Mike chuckles.] and energy explosion and wave, and I was just like they all-they all had to sound different. |
| Ben | [Gives an affirming murmur.] This was a challenge. This was a challenge because I-I, you know, as I said with the show, they're-there are definitely-there have been um, abstract elements, but this is an entire [Bryan affirms.] episode like that. And I love doing that stuff, it's really fun, really creative, but, you know, it's just like developing a whole new toolset within a very short amount o' is always challenging, but it's fun, too. |
| Bryan | Yeah. [Refers to Wan, having permanently merged his spirit with Raava's with the energy from the linked spirit portals, overwhelming Vaatu with his control over the four elements.] Again, just wanna stress the incredible work that all the artists at Studio Mir did animating this; I mean, [Mike affirms.] this could've fallen very flat [Mike and Bryan laugh.] if it was not animated beautifully, and they just-they blew us away. |
| Mike | Yeah, I remember when we all, like we all sit and watch like the-the footage when it comes in, and, you know, depending on how it-how it goes, sometimes it's not [Laughs.] the most re-rewarding moment of the process, but, uh, when we saw this, it was just like, we were all just amaze, 'cause it was so good from the start when they turned it in. |
| Bryan | And we-we-when it's a really good episode, and luckily, we've been getting a lotta those lately, we clap a lot. [Laughs.] Like, there's just like six of us in a little, [Ben affirms.] tiny edit bay, but we're like hootin' and hollering, and clapping and laughing. |
| Ben | Do you-I have this exp-sort of an aside, so I don't know if we have enough time, but I have this experience sometimes with music when I'll go back to it, and have no memory of how I did it [Bryan affirms.] but be really happy. |
| Mike | Oh. |
| Ben | Does-does that happen to you guys when you watch old episodes and stuff like that? |
| Bryan | For sure. |
| Mike | Oh totally, yeah. |
| Bryan | With the writing especially. I-I often-it's just there's so much back and forth, and it h-it happens over such a long period of time that I kinda just like... |
| Ben | [Interjects.] Yeah, completely forget stuff, right. |
| Bryan | And I-I-these characters are so real to me a lot of the times that I just think, "well, that's what Bolin said," I don't think, "oh, that's what Mike wrote," [Jeremy chuckles.] or, you know, [Ben and Jeremy affirm.] that's what I wrote even, you know, [Jeremy affirms.] on Book One. And like I just kinda forget. |
| Ben | Does that stretch back to Avatar and the-now that you're watch... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Now, that's a-like a distant memory. [Ben affirms intermittently.] Sometimes it'll be on the TV in the kitchen, I'm just like, "whoa, I totally forgot about that." [Ben and Mike laugh.] |
| Bryan | Aw man. Yeah, because it's so weird, you live with it so intensely for, you know, uh, with Avatar, about ten months per episode, sometimes a year; Korra, the episodes are well over a year. So, you're living with this episode step by step by step; and then it's done, you never wanna see it again, [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur; laughs.] you're like, "I'm done". So, you-you just wipe the hard drive, and then, like, yeah, years later, you'll s-you'll see it. And so, it definitely is buried in your brain, every li-every frame of it, but you're like, "man, I haven't thought about that a long time." |
| Ben | [Refers to Wan's death many years after his battle with Vaatu.] I love this emotional-I love the way this episode ends. |
| Mike | So, these... |
| Jeremy | [Interjects.] Oh, don't-don't stop talking, guys. [Makes several distraught noises; Mike and Jeremy laugh.] |
| Bryan | [Refers to Wan's final breath manifesting as golden light dissipating in the air.] This might be the fir-the first... |
| Jeremy | [In the background.] Change the subject. [Ben chuckles.] |
| Bryan | ... on-screen, clear death we've ever shown. |
| Mike | [Laughs.] Yeah, maybe. |
| Ben | It's so beautiful, though. |
| Jeremy | Wow. |
| Ben | I love that. [Mike affirms.] |
| Jeremy | Now, I should mention Hong Wang who did all the Chinese instruments. [Ben and Mike affirm.] |
| Bryan | He is amazing. |
| Jeremy | Beautiful performance. |
| Bryan | Such a good musician. [Jeremy affirms.] |
| A brief pause in commentary until the scene fades in from a white screen, where a newborn infant, the first reincarnation of Wan as the avatar of Raava's spirit, was crying, to an extreme closeup shot of Korra, her opened eyes glowing with the white energy of her past lives. | |
| Jeremy | Reincarnation. |
| Mike | Whoo-hoo! |
| Ben | Tight, that's tight, guys. [Mike laughs; Jeremy gives an affirming murmur.] |
| Bryan | [Laughs; refers to when Korra remembering who she is, telling the Bhanti sage that she is the Avatar.] I don't know that we're gonna as uh, amazing of an experience when we go to the sensory deprivation chambers [Mike affirms; Ben and Bryan chuckle.] down the street, [Jeremy chuckles.] but we can only hope. [Imitates his fellow commentators.] "I'm the Avatar," "No, I'm the Avatar!" [Jeremy and Ben laugh.] |
| Mike | [Refers to the elder Bhanti sage showing Korra a herd of grazing flying bison the sages have tended to since the Hundred Year War.] And then we get to see a lotta bison! Yay! |
| Jeremy | Yay. |
| Mike | They're okay. [Jeremy laughs.] |
| Bryan | So, yeah, the-the uh, I had a little girl ask me the other day, "you know, you said that Appa was the last bison. How come there's all these bison now?" and, you know, I-I pointed out that even in 2013 when she asked me, I was like, "they-they are still finding new species in the world," you know, and uh, the idea is there was another species of bison, and uh, they-they found them. She did not like that answer. [Mike, Jeremy and Bryan laugh; refers to the flying bison Korra flies off on missing the point of its right horn.] We broke the horn on that one [Mike affirms.] to give it a little-look different than Oogi; [Jeremy gives an affirming murmur.] we did the same thing on Appa's mother. |
| Mike | Oh, really? [Jeremy gives a curious murmur.] |
| Bryan | Yeah, I was looking through some old designs the other day... |
| Jeremy | [In the background.] Wow. |
| Bryan | ... and I was like, "oh yeah, we've done that little trick before." |
| Mike | Look at that. |
| Ben | There we go. |
| Bryan | It's kinda hard... |
| Mike | [Interjects.] Guess there's o-so many ways you can make a bison look different. |
| Bryan | Yeah, [Jeremy and Bryan chuckle.] it's hard in the animation. Well thanks, Track Team! |
| Mike | Yeah, thanks, guys. |
| Jeremy | Thank you, guys. |
| Ben | And thanks for having us. |
| Jeremy | Pleasure, pleasure. |
| Ben | It's always a pleasure. Thanks, everyone, for watching. |