EDITOR'S NOTE
All Sound Considered
by Tomm Carroll
 Tomm Carroll |
Sound is 50 percent of the moviegoing experience,” no less a filmmaker as George Lucas has said. Arguably, it represents even a larger percentage of post-production work. Indeed, those technicians who toil in the sonic realm constitute a formidable portion–over one-third–of the Editors Guild membership.
And just consider the vast number of awards handed out annually by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE), which, not so coincidentally, this year awarded Lucas with its inaugural Filmmaker’s Award for his outstanding contributions to the art of sound. The Cinema Audio Society likewise honors the best of the industry’s sound mixers, and even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestows upon two categories–sound editing and sound mixing–its prestigious Oscar. (Those honors and more are detailed in our awards wrap-up in this issue).
Sound teams on a feature or television series are often comprised of individuals who have worked together so often over an extended period of time that they constitute a family. Take director Ron Howard’s longtime crew, headed by the redoubtable Chic Ciccolini, his supervising sound editor and a 20-year-plus member of Team Howard. Writer Kevin Lewis paid a visit to this group at Soundtrack studios in New York this past winter, and sat in on a mixing session for Cinderella Man, Howard’s Depression-era boxing film that opens in June. Aside from talking to the crewmembers about their work–and their working relationship–he also learns why the director treats everyone on his team so well and considers each of them collaborators.
By nature of their work, sound editors and mixers are all ears. But they still must rely on the tools of their trade, and one of them is a great–and comfortable–set of headphones. With that in mind, sound editor Guild member Michael Hertlein lent an ear–or two–to a comparison of “cans” in search of the top ‘phones. In the first of two articles, he auditions five over-the-ear models.
Sound files are the subject of our lead Tech Tips article as Editors Guild Magazine’s own art director Bill Stetz (who’s also an instructor of motion graphics) discusses the incorporation of sound into After Effects projects and how to maintain the best quality of audio output.
But lest you think that every article in this publication has a sound connection, read writer Robin Rowe’s report on the first salvo fired in the 4:4:4 HD filmmaking revolution–the post-produced, effects-driven Sin City. The recently released independent feature is a visually stunning, high-definition digital noir based on a series of comic books. Interestingly, a similar digital workflow is employed in the impending Star Wars Episode III, speaking of Lucas…
Until next time, when we’ll recap the goings-on at the just-concluded National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas and the Digital Hollywood conference (a little closer to home), and check in on a Digital Intermediate (DI) training seminar in the New York office. Thanks for reading.