Cory Stillman
Terrance Dwyer has been mixing episodes of Survivor since the series began in Borneo in the year 2000. With credits on over 650 episodes of the long-running CBS series, Dwyer can likely hear the sounds of Survivor in his sleep. There are the gusts of wind he has to filter through in order to clarify all those whispers and lies, as well as the crashing waves coming in from the South Pacific Ocean. He has heard countless sandbags smashing tiles, puzzle pieces slotting into place, or balls swerving through elaborate mazes. He can still recall the birdsong, the rainfall, the crackling of the fire…because in this game, fire represents your life.
“The idea was to make the jungle and the locations just another character,” Dwyer says of his early vision for Survivor and its sonic identity, pulling not only from his background on the earliest reality series like How’d They Do That? and US Customs Classified, but also from his love of cinema.
But to truly bring the world of Survivor to life through sound, Dwyer cannot simply rely on the incredible work of the production sound team in Fiji. Indeed, the industry veteran is consistently in awe of the soundbites he receives from the second unit crew each season, not to mention the gorgeous score from longtime composer David Vanacore. Fusing those elements, however, can sometimes require an embellishment here and there, always in pursuit of authenticity.
“In the world of film, you suspend disbelief, but when you are watching a reality show, I don’t think you do,” says Dwyer. That means when players bonk their heads or rupture their Achilles tendon (like Kyle Fraser did earlier this season on Survivor 50), Dwyer may need to recreate those sounds in post-production. A film may be able to play up the intensity of those moments for violent or comedic effect, but a reality show needs to make it feel simultaneously tactile and real.
“Camera tells the story, but audio tells you how it feels,” says Dwyer.
Survivor 50 provided Dwyer with a unique opportunity to revisit his entire body of work. He has been watching old episodes and reminiscing about the sonic stamp he has put on the iconic series over the years. And when the landmark season culminated in Simmotion as the final immunity challenge, the appropriate result of a fan vote for the aptly titled In the Hands of the Fans, it was a dream come true for an audiophile like Dwyer.
“That’s a loud challenge,” says Dwyer, pointing out that the boom mics can pick up its steady clangs and whirrs more than most other challenges. The sound of Simmotion almost always becomes a character unto itself when the iconic challenge appears in these high-stakes scenarios, and we have Dwyer to thank for its clever intertwining with Vanacore’s dynamic score.
A former music mixer, Dwyer was especially elated to see his work featured in Rolling Stone this season after Grammy-winning country artist Zac Brown made a surprise appearance on the show. But Dwyer credits not only himself and supervising sound editor Lauren Alvarado with the show’s sonic excellence, but also Jeff Probst himself.
“He’s really into this stuff,” says Dwyer. “He’s been one of our greatest supporters, and he and [executive producer] Matt van Wagenen encourage us to do more and more more.”
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