The Sound of A Star is Born.

I didn’t like “A Star is Born” as much as my wife and sister (best movie ever!!!!!). I certainly found some parts of the story interesting, but the nerd in me was very curious about the movie’s sound design.

After watching some scenes more carefully I realized that the sound followed the characters and specially the instruments, especially during the live performances scenes.

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My findings where finally confirmed when I came across these two episodes on the Soundworks Collection podcast.

It is a well know fact that sound is a HUGE part of any video project. But the more projects I shoot and produce, the more I realize that sound design might be THE key element in making a video project successful or not.

Of course, if there’s no story, or the story sucks, sound might not be able to save the day. But an ok story with ok images and ok editing with engaging sound might be enough to grab the viewers attention.

Here’s the complete interview. Enjoy!

The Sound of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The Sound of The Hunger Games.

The Sound of Prometheus.

The Sound of Argo.

The Sound of Skyfall.

The Sound of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

The Sound of Transcendence.

The Sound of Tomorrowland.

The Sound of Oblivion.

The Sound of The Revenant.

The Sound of Gravity.

The Sound of The Dark Knight Rises.

The Sound of Inception.

The Sound of Interstellar.

Upgrading PluralEyes 2 to version 3. Worth it?

 

When shooting with a DSLR camera, and recording dual-system sound, Red Giant’s PluralEyes has been a godsend. Period. We couldn’t even consider working without this awesome plugin. Version 3 has been out for a while. Will upgrading to PluralEyes 3 make us more efficient? Or should we just stick with our trusted friend a bit longer? (more…)

Academy Awards for Sound.

 
After attending the talk “Sound: the Other Half of Your Video” last week at the Vimeo Fest in New York City, I have been thinking a lot about sound. And more specifically about how important is music, in movies and our lives. It is shocking how little we know about the processes, people and effort to create the sounds that drive our emotions. The guy who created the music for Inception’s trailer was there, and he confirmed that our ignorance regarding sound design is pretty much the same as with directors of photography, the people who actually make the movies look they way they do.

The Academy Award of Merit for Best Sound Editing is granted yearly to a film exhibiting the finest or most aesthetic sound editing or sound design. The award is usually received by the Supervising Sound Editors of the film, perhaps accompanied by the Sound Designers.

This is the list of films that have won or been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects (1963–1967, 1975), Sound Effects Editing (1977, 1981–1999), or Sound Editing (1979, 2000–present). Happy Friday.

• 2000: U-571 – Jon Johnson
  • Space Cowboys – Bub Asman and Alan Robert Murray

• 2001: Pearl Harbor – George Watters, Christopher Boyes
  • Monsters, Inc. – Gary Rydstrom, Michael Silvers

• 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Michael Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
  • Minority Report – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
  • Road to Perdition – Scott Hecker

• 2003: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Richard King
  • Finding Nemo – Gary Rydstrom and Michael Silvers
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Christopher Boyes and George Watters

• 2004: The Incredibles – Michael Silvers and Randy Thom
  • The Polar Express – Dennis Leonard and Randy Thom
  • Spider-Man 2 – Paul Ottosson

• 2005: King Kong – Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn
  • War of the Worlds – Richard King
  • Memoirs of a Geisha – Wylie Stateman

• 2006:^[1] Letters from Iwo Jima – Bub Asman and Alan Robert Murray
  • Apocalypto – Kami Asgar and Sean Mccormack
  • Blood Diamond – Lon Bender
  • Flags of Our Fathers – Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Christopher Boyes and George Watters

• 2007: The Bourne Ultimatum – Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
  • No Country for Old Men – Skip Lievsay
  • Ratatouille – Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
  • There Will Be Blood – Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood
  • Transformers – Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn

• 2008: The Dark Knight – Richard King
  • Iron Man – Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
  • Slumdog Millionaire – Tom Sayers
  • WALL-E – Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
  • Wanted – Wylie Stateman

• 2009: The Hurt Locker – Paul N.J. Ottosson
  • Avatar – Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
  • Inglourious Basterds – Wylie Stateman
  • Star Trek – Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
  • Up – Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

• 2010: Inception – Richard King
  • Toy Story 3 – Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
  • Tron: Legacy – Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
  • True Grit – Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
  • Unstoppable – Mark P. Stoeckinger

• 2011: Hugo – Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
  • Drive – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Ren Klyce
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
  • War Horse – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Rode delivers a customer service lesson.

 
About 30 seconds ago, DHL delivered my new Rode Lavalier Microphones. I have not opened the box, and I already know I will LOVE them. Do you want to know why? Simply because after I ordered them last week, I got an email saying that they were backordered for 2-3 weeks (they must be selling like hotcakes!).  I replied explaining that I needed them for a shoot next week. So what did Rode do? They simply shipped them, second day air, from AUSTRALIA, at no extra charge, so I could have them on time. Unbelievable.

I could spend the rest of the day naming the companies that could use my experience as an outstanding customer service lesson, but I won’t. I’ll go ahead, open the box, and play with my brand new toys. Price is not everything, quality and support is. Keep that in mind.