This season, television was pushed to its limits and into spaces that teetered genres and kept audiences guessing. From an improv show about a fake court trial to mockumentaries about public schools and vampires, a sci-fi drama about nuns, the 2023 Emmy nominations were a grab bag full of interesting television, and artisans helped take them even further.
For Morgen, creating the spacey David Bowie tribute “Moonage Daydream,” forced him think outside of the norm, fusing a documentary with a musical drama, the only way to properly pay homage to the musician. As a producer and music editor on the film, he used sound to push the envelope in documentaries.
“I was using the musical standards as a narrative device, a storytelling device,” he added. “It was a really incredible sort of immersive exploration into David’s archives, into his thought process, along with being able to collaborate with this incredible sound team after sort of being in isolation for five and a half years.”
“Mrs. Davis” sound editor had a similar approach to genre tropes in sound. In scenes scripted to be funny, the sound team opted for more serious and sinister tones, rather than classic “humor sounds.”