Walter Murch In 'Mix' Magazine "The Search for Order in Sound & Picture," Mix magazine, April 1998 There was a major article on Oscar-winning Guild member Walter Murch in the April issue of Mix magazine. He talked about his beginnings with Coppola and George Lucas and his work on The Conversation. One aspect of his approach to film, he said, is the way he turns off the sound when he's creating a first cut. He imagines the final sound instead. On the emotion of sound, Walter said, "I think the image of the eyes facing forward and the ears facing sideways is metaphorically indicative of how we confront visual reality... Sound tends to... sneak in." Walter said he doesn't create a hundred tracks for a mix and "risks being humiliated" for not having something the director suddenly wants. Instead he explains "the Zoetrope dream... of... the sound designer [as] the director of photography for sound. Somebody who took on the responsibility of 'auralizing' the sound for the film and making definitive, creative decisions about it. Someone the director can talk to about the total sound of the film the way he talks to the cameraman about the look of the film." On the relationship between creativity and technology he pointed out "Balzac wrote 80 great novels in 20 years with a quill pen." There were many other interesting thoughts in this long, insightful article.   Thanks to Dave Whittaker for alerting the Newsletter to this article.   Reprinted from The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter Vol. 19, No. 4 - July/August 1998   Guild Home | Newsletter Home | Top of Page   Copyright © 1998, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 776