Deep-Dive

I want to thank supervising sound editor Craig Henighan for doing this Q and A. FSD: Material like “Dark is Rising” allows for creation of sounds no one has ever heard before. What are some of your favorite creations in the film? Some of my favorites are the sounds we created for the Rooks (crows), which were a combination of different species of crows, mixed with female screams. We had to create different layers of intensity to give them somewhere to build to, but not be too scary since the movie is PG. There are some pretty intense scenes in this film, and with music and sound in the mix it added another dimension of intensity that we had to be conscience of. A “less is more” approach was taken after we did a first pass. We all agreed that it sounded great but it would be way too intense for a PG rating. Chuck Michael and Ai Ling Leewere also in charge of coming up with great sounds for everything from possessed horses, to houses that turn to ice then melt and get swallowed up by giant flocks of Rooks that turn into a huge tidal wave of what the director called “The Apocalypse”, which is what the title “Dark is Rising” refers to. Fun stuff to create. ...

Introducing the most fun part of sound effects editorial, field recording! Sound supervisors always seek out new sounds, most would add, and if they had it their way, they would record all new effects for every show. While every project might not warrant sessions out in the field, films like “3:10 to Yuma” cry out for them. So, when sound soup Donald Sylvester needed new sounds to blanket the Arizona desert, he sent up smoke signals for sound effect recordist, Rob Nokes. Nokes is among the few sound effects recordists that work as much as these guys do (Mix Magazine covered a few more HERE), and without their heart, adventurous attitude, and health insurance, we as an film audience would never be treated to all of those cool new effects. ...

I wanted to take a second to inform everyone that I originally forgot to include co-sound supervisor Wayne Griffin, in the part one “Eastern Promises” post. I corrected the error and now wanted to thank Michael O’Farrell for doing this Q and A. I saw the film last night and I got to say the bathhouse house scene that Mike teases in his answers is definitely as intense as he claims… ...

September’s issue of Mix Magazine unloaded a bunch film sound articles online today…. “The Invasion’s” Gregg Rudloff, “Captivity’s” Melissa Hofmann, and “Halloween’s” Perry Robertson unleash their tales of horror sound, HERE. Franklin Martin, director of the documentary “Walking on Dead Fish” carries us through post production of his film, HERE. A showcasing of composer Hans Zimmer’s Santa Monica stomping grounds and interview with long-time scoring mixer/colaberator Al Clay, HERE. An article about documentarian Ken Burn’s(whom most of know for THIS) new PBS mini-series called “The War” is available to those who register in the magazine’s “insider network,” ...

I am going to see “Halloween” this weekend. I only was turned on to the 1978 original last year, so I am late to the party. Carpenter’s version is great! Scary, intense, and the score is classic. I am interested to see what Rob Zombie does with the material. Since most of the scuttlebutt has been about the film’s radical new vision, I am going to try and watch it with an open mind. I am always interested to hear about how young-in-the-tooth directors approach sound conceptually. It seems to me they would be a lot more open to exploring what sound can achieve in their films. I want to thank sound soup Perry Robertson for taking time for this Q and A and I can’t wait to hear his crew’s work this weekend! ...

Thanks to Sean Garnhart for taking time to do this Q and A. This is my first New York based interview and I am excited to branch out beyond my Los Angeles confines. The point of this blog is to showcase the talent that we sound editors, mixers, and composers work with and alongside. I again point to awareness and recognition as motivation of why I do this and I hope to continue to include more interviews and info on crews who don’t have The Terminator as governor. ...

I am pretty excited about this Q and A. My first interview with a production mixer, I am happy to finally start to include some of the craftsmen who I, as a part of post-production sound, reap what they sew. Though I only dabble in production sound mixing at an admittedly armature level, I am humbled by the shear amount of obstacles these men and women have to overcome at work. Noise on set is ever increasing and devices like the wind machine in the photo to the right add to the sound dept.’s woes. It takes a very courageous man to stand with his back to his nemesis. Production mixer Jeff Wexler laughs at the challenge as he got his photo taken with not only Jackie Chan but in front of one of his biggest fans! Any who, enough of the corn-ball jokes. Hats off to you production mixers and on to the fun! ...

" The King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters" is a great documentary. It opens limited this weekend and expanses to a few more cities on the 24th. I wish I was going to the premiere tonight because, at the location of the after party while the audience is the theater watching the film Steve Wiebe is going to try to beat the world record for Donkey Kong. So best-case scenario when the after party starts, there will be a “kill screen” on the Steve’s machine and new high score for the record books! Thanks to sound editor/re-recording mixer Nathan Smith for doing this Q and A… ...

I have been getting a lot of comments recently about the inclusion of “sound designers” in my posts. Initially I decided to only include the supervisors, mixers, and composers because it was relatively easy to consistently find info on those craftsmen for every film. As momentum and interest has grown for the blog , I am going to be more mindful about posting about designers, too. Their role is important. Still, I am more then aware there are countless others that I still don’t include who are paramount to a soundtrack’s quality. I will eventually be able to include more info on their specific disciplines and I wanted to thank all of them for the hard work and dedication that has made my day job possible! With that said, on to the fun! I just wanted to thank Sound Designer Andy Kennedy for this brief Q and A! I know he must feel like he’s working in “the stone age” currently, so I appreciate his time. ...

Thanks to Co-Sound Supervisor Elmo Weber for taking time for this Q and A! FSD: With so many physical comedies under your belt, how hard is it to find the perfect sound that complements the wackiness? EW: When working on comedies, no matter what your job is, it’s important to have a good sense of humor. Every project is different. Your success depends on not only understanding the humor of each film, but also knowing your place in the “big picture”. Most of the time I find myself playing the “straight man” when it comes to comedy sound design. Don’t over-do it. The comedy is mostly in the hands of the writers, actors, and directors, so create realistic sounds that support and don’t distract. Then when your sound moment comes, make it count. The most important rule is to never make a moment un-funny. Then it’s back to the old sci-fi action and academy awards for you. ...