Tim Gray Senior Vice President“Sound of Metal” director Darius Marder says he and his Oscar-nominated sound team — Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortes Navarrete — wanted heightened naturalism to depict varying stages of hearing and deafness of lead character Ruben (Riz Ahmed).“This sound mix is as complicated as in an action film,” Marder says. “This has just as many tracks, but it’s not looking to wow you, like explosions.