Capturing the lie: Behind the sound of Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar

Netflix’s riveting Apple Cider Vinegar is inspired by the real-life story of Belle Gibson, an alt-health influencer who built one of Australia’s hottest wellness brands around her miraculous recovery from brain cancer via diet alone. There was just one problem: Her entire story was a lie. As episodes begin, characters break the fourth wall to caution that the series is fictionalised, but this does not mitigate the audience’s horror as the depth of her deception is revealed. Sets ranged from tight interiors to the expanse of a tropical healing resort, necessitating that lead sound mixer Nick Godkin shift gears on a dime, as Headliner discovers…

Godkin – whose credits include The Newsreader, Shantaram, and Surviving Summer – recorded the production with Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless. 

The SSM micro-compact transmitter served primary talent, backed up by SMV and SMQV packs as “workhorses.” 

His receiver rack included a Venue2 system as well UCR411a and SR-series units, plus a new all-digital DCR822, all fed by a UCM16B antenna multi-coupler.

“I started in location sound over 25 years ago,” Godkin begins. “I was a second assistant, then a second boom operator, which I think we called a cable wrangler back then. I received placements through VicScreen, which is a development organisation funded by the Australian government that supports the film industry. I worked with a lot of sound mixers, obviously, and saw what they were using. 

"Much of the time, that was Lectrosonics, and they cited its reliability and consistent operation as a reason they used it. So, when I became a sound mixer myself, starting on second units, it was the logical next step. When I was that boom operator, moving around all the time, I did go through a few different brands of equipment, and settled on Lectrosonics.”

Godkin’s own experience confirmed what his senior colleagues had told him. “I want something that’s reliable and works the same way every time,” he says. 

“That’s Lectrosonics. I don’t want to have to think about it too much. I actually do have other things to worry about as a sound mixer beyond just the wireless, so I want that to get out of my way, so to speak. I prefer to work with my tools, not on them.”

On Apple Cider Vinegar, Godkin turned mainly to the compact SSM for use on primary talent. “The SSM is great because we’re hiding transmitters all the time,” he explains, “and it’s just so easy to tuck it away anywhere. 

"The SMV serves as a sort of workhorse transmitter, then I have the dual-battery SMQV as a hop transmitter, or for anything where size isn’t as much of an issue.”

One transmitter even did double-duty as a prop. “There’s a scene towards the end where [lead actor] Kaitlyn Dever is doing a video interview with the journalist for Women’s Daily,” recalls Godkin. 

“As she’s sitting down, you catch a glimpse of her pack, as it’s supposed to be the pack for the interview, but was also actually capturing the dialogue.”

The multiplicity of tight interiors made Lectrosonics’ range and clarity a lifesaver. “The most challenging thing, I think, is that the series was all location,” recalls Godkin. “We were all over Melbourne and the surrounding area. Sometimes we couldn’t even squeeze the sound department into an interior, so we’d set up outside on the street. With Lectrosonics, we’d just put up some simple antennas, and the reception would be great.”

Apple Cider Vinegar also featured frequent party scenes with the camera moving between different groups of characters in conversation and the audio department working, again, at least somewhat remotely. This required high channel counts to accommodate the lav mics on the actors, and capturing them all was a process streamlined by Godkin’s UMC16B multi-coupler.

“The UMC16B is a handy rack device that lets multiple receivers take advantage of a single antenna rig,” he explains. 

“So, it feeds my Venue2 as well as the SRb and SRc receivers. I can then scan through my antennas and see if there are any RF issues in the air that we should be aware of. Then, I get on with setting frequencies on all the receive channels.”

The volatile nature of the main character could mean that actress Dever quickly went from a whisper to a scream, then back again. 

“Much of Kaitlyn’s performance was very quiet,” notes Godkin, “but when it wasn’t, it really wasn’t! As I learned her voice, I found I could set the gain on the SSM ideally so as to capture all the quiet dialogue, but only barely hit the limiter on the louder stuff. 

"That speaks well to the SSM’s dynamic range. Whatever the level, it did not sound companded or unnatural. As an aside, let me say that although Kaitlyn is an American actress, her Australian accent was amazing. She came out on an early location recon, which I’ve never seen an actor do, and I think she was studying us!”

As to Lectrosonics’ durability under harsh conditions, Godkin says, “I’ve done a lot of shows involving beaches. Sand has never proven a problem, and the only thing I’ve had bring down a transmitter is full submersion in water. 

"What does happen more often is things being dropped. For comms, I hand out a lot of the R1a [belt-worn IFB receivers], and I have to say I’ve come to recognise the sound of one hitting the floor without even looking! 

"I’ll look over, and whoever dropped it, an actor or producer, will either own up to it straight away or be looking around nonchalantly like nothing happened. Point being, they don’t die from it. You pick them up and they keep going,” he smiles.

Apple Cider Vinegar Image credits: 

Main image:Netflix / Ben King

Second image: Netflix