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Meet Creative Outpost's Senior Sound Designer Alex Wilson-Thame

26/10/2022
Post Production
London, UK
212
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Alex joins from Jungle Studios where he has spent 10+ years working with a diverse variety of advertising agencies as well as episodic/feature film clientele

Creative Outpost is delighted to announce the arrival of senior sound designer, Mr Alex Wilson-Thame.

Alex joins from Jungle Studios where he has spent 10+ years working with a diverse variety of advertising agencies as well as episodic/feature film clientele. Alex brings his skills in Sound Design, ADR and Music Composition and is looking forward to promoting those skills in our Dolby Atmos studios.

MD Danny Etherington comments: “Alex is the perfect blend of human. He is super talented, 100% engaged with clients on any project, both creative and technically minded and musically trained to boot. All this means Alex is adaptable and has a deep musical understanding. He makes us laugh too, so what’s not to love”.

Head of sound Dave Robinson adds: "I'm made up that Alex is joining our audio team. He's an immensely talented sound engineer with a catalogue of excellent projects and I look forward to working with him. He's also a genuinely lovely fella too and will fit right in. Welcome to the gang Alex!"

Alex says: “I am extremely excited to be joining the talented team at Creative Outpost, they have such a strong vision and passion for the craft both in the Audio and Visual realms. The care and attention to detail to this craft is also seen in the beautiful facilities they have created. The audio suites sound and look incredible, the Dolby Atmos suite is particularly special. I can’t wait to make some truly wonderful noises with the team!”


A look at Alex’s catalogue of work to date:



Q> You’ve worked with some pretty big names, Alex, what’s been your favourite project?

Alex> Oh goodness, that is a tough question. Throughout my career thus far I have met and worked with some of the most fantastic and talented people. It’s going to be a cop-out answer, but… all of them? Yes, all of them! I’m a believer that the journey is as important as the final destination regardless of the scale of the project, and for me the opportunity of working with talented people & collaborating in ways to push the sound design is the best part of every project.


Q> Did you study Sound Design? If not, how did you learn?

Alex> I actually didn’t study sound design specifically, I studied Music Production as well as numerous musical instruments, with the aim to be a mix engineer/performer in the music world. I started my sound design journey when I was actually in a post-production bookings role - As soon as I got introduced to the post world, I knew I just wanted to be in the studio! I was lucky enough to be allowed access to use the studios after hours, and I had the mentality ‘I want this job, I want to know everything about it, I want to be great at it’ so stayed after work literally everyday to explore and create sounds,  to try new mixing techniques, ripping videos off the internet and re-sound designing them etc. It allowed me to use my existing musical and technical knowledge in a new way; I was also fortunate to have a fantastic team of talented engineers and sound designers around me at the start of my career, which was a big inspiration and also a great bank of collective shared knowledge. Even though it has been over a decade now, there are always new technologies to learn, and being a giant nerd at heart - I love that there is always something to keep the passion alive.


Q> Was there a film or TV show that inspired your journey into post production?

Josh> Retrospectively, I believe my childhood love of sci-fi and fantasy films played a massive part in my development into sound post-production. Much to my parents anguish I use to continuously make stupid sound effects and noises with my mouth as a kid (The helicopter and the bottle pour are firm fan favourites). I remember watching Star Wars in the cinema with my brother, then after the film acting out the lightsabres and pretending to be the pod-racers. It was only when I started in the industry there was the ‘lightbulb’ moment of ‘Ah, now I get it’ - and look at movies past and present in a whole new perspective - so there was always an intrinsic respect and love for sound, but now with ‘Adult-brain’ I can appreciate and be inspired by the craft of the greats, such as Ben Burtt and Randy Thom etc. Anything with whooshes, ‘Braaams’, ‘Pew-Pews’ and ‘Thwacks’ in, I’m all for it.


Q> What is your favourite kind of brief? 

Alex> There are two briefs I really enjoy, the first is:

“This is your moment you brave, brave sound warrior… you go for it and we will see you in a week to have a listen”

The second is:

“We know exactly what we want with words… turn these words in to noises”

Both briefs excite me! The first is wild with complete free rein and hopefully happy clients upon their return. The second however allows me to bring someone else's vision to life and collaborate - both equally rewarding!


Q> What really drives you creatively and what aspects of your work do you obsess over?

Alex> Creatively, when I read a great script or see beautiful visuals, that really gets me fired up. In terms of obsession, I love the technical side of sound design and audio engineering - and often find myself going down wormholes constantly trying to learn new things, and increasing my knowledge.


Q> Who’s been your biggest inspiration?

Alex> My peers and contemporaries for sure, I love seeing what everyone else is up to in the industry and work that pushes the importance of sound. As well as all the wizards creating/developing new technology that allows us to keep having fun in the studio.


Q> How do you approach a project?

Alex> I love to get involved in a project as early as possible, so I can learn what is creatively strived for, and share potential audio ideas and considerations with the team from the get go, before a single sound is created. Every session is different, so they require different approaches - For a lot of projects, time is of the essence. So being a very methodical person, I have an  internal ‘Priority list’, so projects run efficiently as well as creatively.


Q> If you weren’t in post-production, what career do you think you’d be doing instead?

Alex> Well I think I missed my chance of getting to the Olympics by now, so that’s off the cards. I love making and fixing things, so I could see myself in the trades, as I have a dab hand in electrics/plumbing and carpentry. Although looking at my camera roll on my phone, I think there is a strong potential for Cat Photography.


Q> What are three things you can’t live without?

Alex> •I love being physically active, whether running, cycling, playing tennis or injuring myself at CrossFit everyday at 6am - Let alone the physical benefits, I find it really important for my mental health

•My instruments, I’d find it very hard to part ways with my guitars and keyboards - even though finding time to sit down and play them for hours like I used to is a luxury!

•The third and final life dependent answer, and plausibly the most important, is my cat Hattie.


Q> When you’re not working, what do you like to do to unwind? 

Alex> I love cooking - fresh egg pasta is the flavour of the month right now, I find something cathartic about cooking. Otherwise it is being out on the courts playing tennis, or sitting down and ‘tickling the ivories’  


Q> Re the Creative Outpost Logo colour, are you Teal or Orange?

Alex> Personally…Teal’s the real deal.

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