He was a classmate at Escac with J.A.Bayona and has accompanied him since the beginning in every step of his career. Logically, Oriol Tarragó (Reus, Tarragona, 1976) was the sound designer on The Snow Society, and although he did not manage to get what would have been a well-deserved Oscar nomination, last Sunday he won in Los Angeles at the Motion Pictures Sound Awards to the team from The Zone of Interest, considered by many as potential winners of the golden statuette for best sound. Tarragó will accompany Bayona to the Dolby along with other film school classmates who today make up the director’s impressive team.
Although you had already won the Golden Reel with The Orphanage in another category, what did it feel like this time to defeat The Zone of Interest?
Honestly, I didn’t expect it because The Zone of Interest seems to be the favorite since it won the Bafta and also its popular sound attracts a lot of attention because it is well structured from the script. To me it seems like a great film and I think the sound work is very good but I feel that it is quite redundant since it is an idea that is based more on the camera and the actors and that then that sound explains a background. It seems to me that the members of the MPSE (Motion Picture Sound Editors) perhaps saw that there is more complex, varied and technically difficult work in The Snow Society. When I received the award, many people told me that they had loved the film, that the work had been incredible and that it sounded great. I must also admit that it was unexpected so I thanked everyone for having believed and understood the sensitivities of the feature film. We are surprised but very happy.
It is an award given to him by his colleagues, who understand the difference in qualities…
It is important that they have understood the work behind it, which does not come from the script and direction but comes from our union. I feel that they wanted to appreciate that the sound team, with the design and editing, has contributed something to the film that was not structured from the beginning and that perhaps has made The Snow Society grow. Many commented that they found it too strange that we were not nominated in that category for the Oscars and I think that has to do with the times, since the film ended up premiering on Netflix in January, the month in which the vote was taken. If it had been submitted earlier, there would probably have been more candidates, not only in terms of sound but also in other specialties.
How did it impact you on a personal level when you read the list of Oscar nominations and saw that you weren’t in your category?
I have to be honest, that shocked me quite a bit. It was like a splash of cold water because a lot of people, even people from Netflix, were telling me that I was in the race for the Oscar. The truth is that despite everything I feel very honored that a Spanish sound designer has been able to experience what happens in Los Angeles, London and New York, I went everywhere and it seemed like a unique experience, it was like a kind very interesting electoral campaign. It is true that you hear so much of everyone telling you that you are going to be nominated that you end up believing it, but it is not real, it is a projection of illusion. So it ends up being a bit of a hard blow because in addition to all the films I’ve made, The Snow Society is the one that has been praised the most in terms of sound. Even by those who had nothing to do with cinema, friends, family and people who don’t know me. Everyone has highlighted feeling immersed in that experience through sound.
Where are you going to follow the event this Sunday?
I’m going to be at the Oscars for the first time with some team leaders. I don’t know what’s going to happen but I feel like we can win. In any case, getting here, participating in the ceremony and being there to experience it is already a victory and I think we have to live it like this and if we are lucky to receive the award, even better.
Yes, when I went to film school in Barcelona with J.A. Someone would have told Bayona that one day they would be nominated for the Oscars for a film they made together, would you have believed it?
No, although we always thought big, because we wanted to make the type of films that were normally made in Spain and some others that we liked by artists who had influenced us a lot such as Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg and other directors. I would never have imagined that we would get to this place and that feels good, life has taken us here and we have had to live this experience. I think Jota is going to be much more nervous because, whether we win or not, I’m not going to have to speak in public or anything, so I’m just going to enjoy every moment although of course if we don’t win I’ll probably feel great disappointment.
What would have surprised those kids who went to Escac together more, being nominated for an Oscar or that Steven Spielberg called them to do one of Jurassic World?
I don’t know, the truth is that it would have been more strange if back in ’95 they had told us that Spielberg was going to call us to make a movie because someone you admire so much noticed you and gave you a job. Of course, this Oscar thing has also been something very relevant but it happens that over the years, the evolution we have had, the excellent work that Jota has done during his career and the tandem that we have built together, in the end it feels which is something that could happen in some way, although that doesn’t stop us from being surprised and super happy.
Beyond the individual talent of each one, the fact that they have been able to achieve all those achievements that at that time seemed impossible speaks very well about cinematographic education in Barcelona. Do you feel that in part it is because they have been very well trained?
Totally, Escac has revolutionized the industry in Spain. Before we could study cinema there were very few people in my country who made films, Saura, Bigas Luna, Pedro Almodóvar and few others. I believe that Escac has generated a network of film families and friends and they have been forming a structure of professionals who changed cinema. When I started studying in ’95 it was like a rarity and today it is normal, even in high school we study audiovisual language that is currently part of our society, mobile phones have cameras so we can communicate that way. Escac gave us a lot of freedom, we worked a lot and those were the years in which I finally discovered my true vocation. I think it is a school that, due to its dynamics, allows you to explore a lot in different areas and understand well how the world of cinema really works. Escac helped us know how to do everything that we wanted so much because I have always said that first we loved cinema and then we learned to make it.
One of the things that stands out is that there are several classmates from school who make up the team that worked with Bayona in all of his films…
Of course, saving the distance, I think something similar has happened in Hollywood with many directors like Spielberg or Zemeckis and their work teams, that is, their film families have been built at school. It happens that since then we have understood cinema in the same way and we visualize things the same. I always say that when you work with someone, the less need you have to talk to them and carry out things in the best way is a great sign. With Jota and the rest it happens to us that sometimes just by looking at each other we already know what is right and what is wrong because we share and see language in a very similar way and that has simply made us get here.
Do you think that the Oscar ceremony will be, in a way, a Catalan gala since Pablo Berger will also be there with Robot Dreams?
That is something very satisfying since you feel accompanied in a land of strangers. I feel that both productions have it quite difficult, we have to be honest, but I think that for both them and for us, having gotten this far is already a great victory. So yes, it will be a Catalan gala even though The Snow Society is a Netflix movie.
