Jacque Tati's brilliant film PLAYTIME screened at the Egyptian Theater tonight. This is a 70mm print of a film shot in 65mm and mixed in 6 channel sound. It's a restored print including a few new minutes of material not seen in almost 30 years. It's a film that is hard to write about because it is so unique. Tati's films have virtually no dialogue, and no plot. They are extremely visual, with a very creative eye. They are comedies, but they are so subtle that if you are not very carefully paying attention, you'll have no idea something funny is happening. Unfortunately, contemporary audiences do not have the patience for this type of movie.
The film is so good that after seeing it you want to watch it again immediately, and when you leave the theater, you will look at the world differently. If I had to pick a favorite film, this would be it.
The film is playing again on May 25th, at the Aero theater in Santa Monica. I
very highly recommend the film. It rarely screens, this may be your only chance to see it where it was intended, on the big screen.
Showing posts with label 310. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 310. Show all posts
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Film Music Article
I'm quoted several times in this Arizona Republic article about film music. It's pretty introductory for anyone who knows anything about film music.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Congratulations to ME!
At 7:22 PM last night, an American Idol fan from Wichita, Kansas became the 10,000th visitor to my blog. His visit may have lasted less than a second, but it still counts!
I started this blog a year and a half ago as a way to communicate with students. It didn't work; instead I get baseball fans. Oh, well, it still works out to about 20 visits a day, and even excluding immediate family, that means I'm popular. Not enough to sell ads, but popular enough that I continue to write baseball updates.
I started this blog a year and a half ago as a way to communicate with students. It didn't work; instead I get baseball fans. Oh, well, it still works out to about 20 visits a day, and even excluding immediate family, that means I'm popular. Not enough to sell ads, but popular enough that I continue to write baseball updates.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Mixer Training
I will be hosting 310/508 mixer training sessions for the next two Friday afternoons. USC students in any sound classes are welcome to sit in on them. These are particularly useful for people who hope to be employed in the department as a mixer on 310/508 projects.
The material is as follows:
Friday 2/29 2-5 PM Dub A Euphonix Training
Friday 3/ 2-5 PM Dub B Icon Training
Please contact me if you are interested in attending.
The material is as follows:
Friday 2/29 2-5 PM Dub A Euphonix Training
Friday 3/ 2-5 PM Dub B Icon Training
Please contact me if you are interested in attending.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!
A year ago, I wrote one of my most popular postings about all the things I have to be thankful for.
This year I have all the same things to appreciate, and one thing more... our dog Riley. My wife Rachel found Riley for us last January, and he has been a hugely positive influence in our lives. Dogs are wonderful. He is a pisher at times, but more often than not, he is a bundle of undying love. I always feel better when I get home and see him jumping for joy (literally). I think everyone should have a dog.
This year we celebrated with a fantastic dinner, and then watching USC beat Arizona State, which brings USC one step closer to the Rose Bowl. They still have to beat UCLA next week as their final regular game of the season.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Hearing Loss Update
The correct numbers for what I quoted off my head in class:
Noise Exposure
Level - Time
90 dB - 8 hours
95 dB - 4 hours
100 dB - 2 hour
105 dB - 1 hour
110 dB - 30 min
120 dB- 7.5 min
130 dB - potentially instantaneous
Hearnet.com
HEI.org
Thursday, October 25, 2007
MPSE Sound Show!
I highly recommend the MPSE Sound Show for people interesting in learning more about the sound editing process. Click on the image below for more info:
Monday, October 01, 2007
Office Hours
In addition to my normal Thursday office hours (3:30 PM - 4:30 PM) I will be adding office hours on Friday afternoons as well. For at least the next three weeks these hours will be 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM. (After 10/19 they may change.)
In addition, I will also be around briefly tomorrow (Tuesday). Please be sure to contact me for an appointment if you need to see me.
In addition, I will also be around briefly tomorrow (Tuesday). Please be sure to contact me for an appointment if you need to see me.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Cinema Audio Society Quarterly
The new issue of the Cinema Audio Society Quarterly Magazine (with four articles by yours truly) is now available for download here.
Headphones
A student asks:
I'm off to buy a new set of headphones. Any suggestions on make or model?
Sony MDR-V600 (better and cheaper) or Sony MDR-7506. They are so much the industry standard that people using other headphones are sometimes looked at as unprofessional (although there are a few other models that are pretty good too). They can be used for any purpose from production mixing through dialogue editing and provide excellent insulation from exerior noise.
PLEASE do not use ear buds or other cheap headphones designed for use with MP3 players. They are deliberately cheap and do not insulate well.
I'm off to buy a new set of headphones. Any suggestions on make or model?
Sony MDR-V600 (better and cheaper) or Sony MDR-7506. They are so much the industry standard that people using other headphones are sometimes looked at as unprofessional (although there are a few other models that are pretty good too). They can be used for any purpose from production mixing through dialogue editing and provide excellent insulation from exerior noise.
PLEASE do not use ear buds or other cheap headphones designed for use with MP3 players. They are deliberately cheap and do not insulate well.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Why We're Better than NYU
Well, Nobody's Perfect
Teacher: Who remembers Some Like It Hot?
Student: Isn't that the one where in the end they're all on a boat and it blows up?
--Cinema Studies class, NYU
Friday, January 26, 2007
SOUND NOMINATIONS
The Motion Picture Sound Editors have posted nominations in their many sound categories. As Past President and Lifetime Board Member of the organization, I know a lot about how they do their nominations. They have the most thorough and inclusive nominations of any group can think of, including the Oscars.
In feature films, there are two ways to be nominated. First there is a ballot sent to all active members of the organization who can write in any film they like that qualifies. The top vote-getters in each category are automatically nominated. However, this purely democratic process means that films that get a big release are much more likely to get more votes, since smaller films will be seen by less people. To make up for this, there is also Blue Ribbon Panel which screens every film that is submitted. The panel then recommends additional nominations to the board.
Several of the categories will end up with as many as 8 nominees. This is because we try to be as inclusive as possible. There are definitely more than 5 films a year that deserve recognition. We also have many categories. The Oscars only present the award to the Supervising Sound Editors. If you look at the credits to a film, you'll see literally dozens of sound editors on any movie. We also recognize Dialogue/ADR editors and Music Editors. We recognize all media, including television, video, and computer entertainment.
I'm extremely excited that this year in the student category, one of my 310 students from last semester, Kevin Klauber, has been nominated for his excellent film BIO-RHYTHMS. (No, I'm not on that Blue Ribbon Panel, and I don't even know who is.) I've been involved with the MPSE for 20 years and I've never seen a 310-level film get nominated before. Advanced and thesis level films, yes, although frankly USC has not had a great track record with the awards. I think the main reason is that so many films at USC films are "talkies," i.e., everyone sitting around talking in close-ups, that the lack of creativity visually means that there's very little opportunity for inventive sound design. Kevin's film is not a traditional narrative, it's an experimental film with no dialogue at all, and therefore encourages creative use of sound. Even the title of the film was made with sound in mind; it's about the natural rhythms all around us. Credit also his partner Freddie Wong, his Foley Artists Victor Lacour and James Owsley, and his mixer, another former student of mine, Jan Pfenninger, who is an Animation major.
I myself was also nominated in one of the television categories for my work on the ABC miniseries THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, starring Dougray Scott, Omar Shariff, and Claire Bloom. The film won't (and shouldn't) win, but I'm very proud of the work I did on it, as it was a tremendous challenge.
In Domestic Feature Sound Effects/Foley Editing, BLOOD DIAMOND*, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS*, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA*, M:I 3, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN*, THE PRESTIGE, SUPERMAN RETURNS, and WORLD TRADE CENTER were nominated.
The four films with asterisks above were also nominated for the Oscar for Sound Editing. The fifth Oscar nominee, APOCALYPTO, was not nominated for the Effects MPSE, but was nominated for both Dialogue Editing and Music Editing, so we're in good agreement on the Oscars.
The MPSE is different from the Academy in the way that they determine "Foreign" films. In the Academy, it's Foreign LANGUAGE film (although their rules are a little screwy; IWO JIMA was not eligible in Foreign because it was a US production, even though it's in Japanese.) In the MPSE, we determine if a film is Foreign based on where the sound editing is done. This category has changed significantly in recent years with the huge amount of work going overseas. You'll see that many otherwise American, English-language films end up in our Foreign category.
In Foreign Sound Editing, BABEL, BLACK DAHLIA, CASINO ROYALE, CHILDREN OF MEN, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN, PAN'S LABYRINTH and UNITED 93 were nominated.
I'm also on the Board of Directors of the Cinema Audio Society who have their own awards for Sound Mixing. Sound Editing and Sound Mixing are entirely different crafts. Most people do not do both. Sound Editors find the right sounds, either by recording them or finding them in a library, and edit them into synch with the picture. Re-recording mixers take all of the elements delivered by the many sound editors and blend into the proper perspective with each other.
The CAS nominees for Feature Sound Mixing are: BABEL, BLOOD DIAMOND, DREAMGIRLS, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST. You'll notice a lot of crossover from the editing awards. (DREAMGIRLS was nominated in the MPSE Musicals category.) A mixer can't do a great job without great tracks delivered, and an editor's brilliant work needs an mixer's touch to make it all work. The Oscars nominated APOCALYPTO instead of BABEL for mixing.
Since I'm personally involved with both of these organizations, I'm not going to make predictions on their outcome, only say that there were a lot of great, great sounding films this year, and every nominee is worthy in their own way.
In feature films, there are two ways to be nominated. First there is a ballot sent to all active members of the organization who can write in any film they like that qualifies. The top vote-getters in each category are automatically nominated. However, this purely democratic process means that films that get a big release are much more likely to get more votes, since smaller films will be seen by less people. To make up for this, there is also Blue Ribbon Panel which screens every film that is submitted. The panel then recommends additional nominations to the board.
Several of the categories will end up with as many as 8 nominees. This is because we try to be as inclusive as possible. There are definitely more than 5 films a year that deserve recognition. We also have many categories. The Oscars only present the award to the Supervising Sound Editors. If you look at the credits to a film, you'll see literally dozens of sound editors on any movie. We also recognize Dialogue/ADR editors and Music Editors. We recognize all media, including television, video, and computer entertainment.
I'm extremely excited that this year in the student category, one of my 310 students from last semester, Kevin Klauber, has been nominated for his excellent film BIO-RHYTHMS. (No, I'm not on that Blue Ribbon Panel, and I don't even know who is.) I've been involved with the MPSE for 20 years and I've never seen a 310-level film get nominated before. Advanced and thesis level films, yes, although frankly USC has not had a great track record with the awards. I think the main reason is that so many films at USC films are "talkies," i.e., everyone sitting around talking in close-ups, that the lack of creativity visually means that there's very little opportunity for inventive sound design. Kevin's film is not a traditional narrative, it's an experimental film with no dialogue at all, and therefore encourages creative use of sound. Even the title of the film was made with sound in mind; it's about the natural rhythms all around us. Credit also his partner Freddie Wong, his Foley Artists Victor Lacour and James Owsley, and his mixer, another former student of mine, Jan Pfenninger, who is an Animation major.
I myself was also nominated in one of the television categories for my work on the ABC miniseries THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, starring Dougray Scott, Omar Shariff, and Claire Bloom. The film won't (and shouldn't) win, but I'm very proud of the work I did on it, as it was a tremendous challenge.
In Domestic Feature Sound Effects/Foley Editing, BLOOD DIAMOND*, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS*, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA*, M:I 3, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN*, THE PRESTIGE, SUPERMAN RETURNS, and WORLD TRADE CENTER were nominated.
The four films with asterisks above were also nominated for the Oscar for Sound Editing. The fifth Oscar nominee, APOCALYPTO, was not nominated for the Effects MPSE, but was nominated for both Dialogue Editing and Music Editing, so we're in good agreement on the Oscars.
The MPSE is different from the Academy in the way that they determine "Foreign" films. In the Academy, it's Foreign LANGUAGE film (although their rules are a little screwy; IWO JIMA was not eligible in Foreign because it was a US production, even though it's in Japanese.) In the MPSE, we determine if a film is Foreign based on where the sound editing is done. This category has changed significantly in recent years with the huge amount of work going overseas. You'll see that many otherwise American, English-language films end up in our Foreign category.
In Foreign Sound Editing, BABEL, BLACK DAHLIA, CASINO ROYALE, CHILDREN OF MEN, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN, PAN'S LABYRINTH and UNITED 93 were nominated.
I'm also on the Board of Directors of the Cinema Audio Society who have their own awards for Sound Mixing. Sound Editing and Sound Mixing are entirely different crafts. Most people do not do both. Sound Editors find the right sounds, either by recording them or finding them in a library, and edit them into synch with the picture. Re-recording mixers take all of the elements delivered by the many sound editors and blend into the proper perspective with each other.
The CAS nominees for Feature Sound Mixing are: BABEL, BLOOD DIAMOND, DREAMGIRLS, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST. You'll notice a lot of crossover from the editing awards. (DREAMGIRLS was nominated in the MPSE Musicals category.) A mixer can't do a great job without great tracks delivered, and an editor's brilliant work needs an mixer's touch to make it all work. The Oscars nominated APOCALYPTO instead of BABEL for mixing.
Since I'm personally involved with both of these organizations, I'm not going to make predictions on their outcome, only say that there were a lot of great, great sounding films this year, and every nominee is worthy in their own way.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
CAS Quarterly
I am happy to announce the new issue of the Cinema Audio Society's Quarterly magazine is now available for download here
This includes my article on "What's New in Pro Tools 7.2?" (released just in time for the 7.3 upgrade!).
This includes my article on "What's New in Pro Tools 7.2?" (released just in time for the 7.3 upgrade!).
Saturday, December 09, 2006
310 Congratulations!
Congratulations again on the outstanding work! It all looked and sounded great on the big screen.
See you next semester!
See you next semester!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Saturday 310 Screening at 3:00 PM
I have just been informed that my previous e-mails had the wrong time for the screening Saturday. We are at 3:00 PM.
Monday, December 04, 2006
310 Reminder!
Tomorrow afternoon is the last chance for me to see your films before the day of sound lock. If you wish to see me, please book an Avid station and MAKE AN APPOINTMENT VIA E-MAIL.
Please show your film to your mixer if you have not done so already.
Tue 12/05 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM ADDITIONAL OFFICE HOURS
Wed 12/06 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ADDITIONAL OFFICE HOURS
5:00 PM SOUND LOCK
Thurs 12/07 5:00 PM FINAL MIXES
Please show your film to your mixer if you have not done so already.
Tue 12/05 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM ADDITIONAL OFFICE HOURS
Wed 12/06 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ADDITIONAL OFFICE HOURS
5:00 PM SOUND LOCK
Thurs 12/07 5:00 PM FINAL MIXES
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Scenes I Use
Several students have asked for recommendations for movies that use sound and/or music well. Here is the tip of the iceberg.
2001
32 SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD
THE ABYSS
ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1939)
ALIEN
ALIENS
ALTERED STATES
AMELIE
AMERICAN GRAFFITI
AND GOD SPOKE
APOCALYPSE NOW
BACK TO THE FUTURE
THE BEAR
BEAUTY & THE BEAST (animated)
THE BLACK STALLION
BLOW OUT
BROADCAST NEWS
DAS BOOT
DIVA
CAST AWAY
CITIZEN KANE
THE CONVERSATION
DELICATESSEN
THE EXORCIST
FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FEW DOLLARS MORE, and THE GOOD, BAD & UGLY
FRANKENSTEIN (1931) & BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
GODFATHER I & II
THE GRADUATE
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1972)
IRON GIANT
JURASSIC PARK
KING KONG (1933)
LIVING IN OBLIVION
LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY
M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY, MON ONCLE, PLAYTIME et JOUR de FETE (Tati) *** MUST SEES
MALCOLM X
THE MATRIX
MONSTER'S INC.
THE NAKED GUN
NEVER CRY WOLF
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
THE PARTY
POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE
PRIMARY COLORS
PSYCHO
RAGING BULL
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
SEVEN SAMURAI
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
SNEAKERS
STAR TREK II: WRATH OF KHAN & IV: VOYAGE HOME
STAR WARS & EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
TAXI DRIVER
T2
THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE
(original German version, NOT the dubbed version which is edited & remixed)
TOUCH OF EVIL
TOY STORY I & II
TROIS COULEURS: BLEU, ROUGE et BLANC (Kieslowski), THE DEKALOG and DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE
UNFORGIVEN
USUAL SUSPECTS
VERTIGO
VIVRE SA VIE
WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE WRONG TROUSERS
WHAT'S UP TIGER LILY?
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
WIZARD OF OZ
2001
32 SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD
THE ABYSS
ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1939)
ALIEN
ALIENS
ALTERED STATES
AMELIE
AMERICAN GRAFFITI
AND GOD SPOKE
APOCALYPSE NOW
BACK TO THE FUTURE
THE BEAR
BEAUTY & THE BEAST (animated)
THE BLACK STALLION
BLOW OUT
BROADCAST NEWS
DAS BOOT
DIVA
CAST AWAY
CITIZEN KANE
THE CONVERSATION
DELICATESSEN
THE EXORCIST
FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FEW DOLLARS MORE, and THE GOOD, BAD & UGLY
FRANKENSTEIN (1931) & BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
GODFATHER I & II
THE GRADUATE
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1972)
IRON GIANT
JURASSIC PARK
KING KONG (1933)
LIVING IN OBLIVION
LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY
M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY, MON ONCLE, PLAYTIME et JOUR de FETE (Tati) *** MUST SEES
MALCOLM X
THE MATRIX
MONSTER'S INC.
THE NAKED GUN
NEVER CRY WOLF
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
THE PARTY
POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE
PRIMARY COLORS
PSYCHO
RAGING BULL
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
SEVEN SAMURAI
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
SNEAKERS
STAR TREK II: WRATH OF KHAN & IV: VOYAGE HOME
STAR WARS & EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
TAXI DRIVER
T2
THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE
(original German version, NOT the dubbed version which is edited & remixed)
TOUCH OF EVIL
TOY STORY I & II
TROIS COULEURS: BLEU, ROUGE et BLANC (Kieslowski), THE DEKALOG and DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE
UNFORGIVEN
USUAL SUSPECTS
VERTIGO
VIVRE SA VIE
WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE WRONG TROUSERS
WHAT'S UP TIGER LILY?
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
WIZARD OF OZ
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Office Hours
Due to the usual end-of-semester madness, I will not have normal office hours next week.
Here are my office hours for the rest of the semester:
Wed 11/29 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (normal)
Tue 12/05 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (changed)
Wed 12/06 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (changed)
242 Students: Final grades will be posted as soon as I get today's quiz results back, which should be no later than Friday.
Here are my office hours for the rest of the semester:
Wed 11/29 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (normal)
Tue 12/05 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (changed)
Wed 12/06 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (changed)
242 Students: Final grades will be posted as soon as I get today's quiz results back, which should be no later than Friday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
