Designing Sound » quotes

Silence

Miguel Isaza — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:55:10 +0000

“The ultimate metaphoric sound is silence. If you can get the film to a place with no sound where there should be sound, the audience will crowd that silence with sounds and feelings of their own making, and they will, individually, answer the question of, “Why is it quiet?” If the slope to silence is at the right angle, you will get the audience to a strange and wonderful place where the film becomes their own creation in a way that is deeper than any other.”

- Walter Murch

Qualities

Miguel Isaza — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:57:03 +0000

“The emotional, physical and aesthetic value of a sound is linked not only to the causal explanation we attribute to it but also to its own qualities of timbre and texture, to its own personal vibration. So just as directors and cinematographers (even those who will never make abstract films) have everything to gain by refining their knowledge of visual materials and textures, we can similarly benefit from disciplined attention to the inherent qualities of sounds.”

-Michel Chion

Surprises

Miguel Isaza — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:38:24 +0000

“There’s no excuse for having a mental or creative block in sound. You can just go out and collect things in the real world – they make the sound, not you. It’s very restricting to always use a library for sound effects. It’s much more interesting and freeing to go out and record new sounds because you never know what you’re going to get.”

- Gary Rydstrom

Opposite

Miguel Isaza — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 21:02:42 +0000

“Sometimes in the creativity area like sound, my instincts tell me to do one thing, but I do exactly the opposite and see what happens. For example, if you’re designing a scary weird creature, try putting in a high-pitched, low-level sound. Who knows, maybe that will be scarier.”

- Gary Rydstrom

Performance

Miguel Isaza — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:35:59 +0000

“Mixing is a performance. You sit down at the console. You’re alert, and you’re playing parts in the picture: You’re a robot, you’re a door, you’re a laser gun. And you get into it. You should be breathing hard and sweating when it’s over with.”

-Ben Burtt

Passion and Joy

Miguel Isaza — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:37:33 +0000

“The most important advice I can give is to do this because you love it, and it brings you joy. If it’s part of you and you can never get enough, you are on the right track.”

-Frank Bry

Emotion

Miguel Isaza — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:31:02 +0000

“The lesson is, don’t play the visual, play the emotion.”

- Al Nelson

Logic

Miguel Isaza — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:09:12 +0000

“There’s a point where you can talk about things logically and then, after that, you have to leave the word of logic. I don’t know where a lot of these ideas come from. They just do”.

- Alan Splet

Chaos

Miguel Isaza — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:53:06 +0000

“The thing you learn in film sound over the years is that if you have it being loud and chaotic over a long period of time it starts to lose impact, no matter what you do.”

-Gary Rydstrom

Associations

Miguel Isaza — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:50:09 +0000

“It’s all about the emotional associations of sounds. It’s not about whether they’re really technically correct or not. It’s about whether they’re scary or relaxing or threatening or whatever helps tell the story.”

- Dane A. Davis