As the Academy Awards approach, Skip Lievsay expalins at  Slate V what goes into great sound editing.

Via: FilmSound Daily

SoundWorks Collection has published more than 15 videos featuring backstage interviews and recipient videos with the winners of the MPSE Golden Reel Awards 2010. Check some of them:

More on SoundWorks Collection…

Thanks to Michael Coleman for his great work!

The first one is from MPEG, with comments of some of the sound editors with best sound nomination:

Though the movies they worked on were all unconventional, the 2009 Academy Award nominees for Best Sound Editing are all veteran names with long lists of impressive credits. Only two––Star Trek’s Alan Rankin, MPSE and Avatar’s Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, MPSE––are first-time nominees. However, in a far more unique situation, a pair of Guild members are up for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing Oscars—Paul J. Ottosson, MPSE, for The Hurt Locker, and Christopher Boyes for Avatar—two films at opposite ends of the budget spectrum. We talked to a group of nominees to get their takes on what made their projects special, how their teams worked and, well, how it feels to be invited to the party.

Read it on MPEG Site

The second one is a nice article at The New York Times:

“The Hurt Locker” is a bomb movie that mutes its booms. It derives suspense by withholding the expected “boomala, boomala,” as an Iraqi kid puts it in the film while taunting an American bomb-squad soldier about the “cool” soundtrack of Hollywood war

“The Hurt Locker” is not cool. It’s hot and dry, a heaving desert parable with a mounting sandstorm howl at the center. The internal explosions matter more than the fireworks. Explaining the dynamics of roadside bombs in Iraq, Paul N. J. Ottosson, the film’s supervising sound editor, told Variety, “You die not from shrapnel but the expanding air that blows up your lungs.” The top notes in the soundtrack are arid metallic clicks, snips, squeaks and creaks, the chatter of wrenches and wire clippers, as bombs are defused in air so parched as to seem combustible itself. Men can hardly summon the spit or breath to speak. Much of the dialogue — which was almost all recorded on location in Jordan (and not looped in a studio) — is delivered in headsets, as soldiers hiss into one another’s helmets across desert expanses. To listen is to enter machinery, rib cages, ear canals and troubled lungs.

Continue reading…

Via: lydrummet | Yahoo Sound Design Group

With a $68.2 million opening weekend and a beautiful story, UP has become one of the most representative Pixar’s movies. Here we have grouped some information about the music and sound of the film.

Staff

• Directors. Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
• Music Mixing – Michael Semanick
• Effects Mixing & Sound Design – Tom Myers
• Sound Supervising – Michael Silvers
• Sound Mix: SDDS | Dolby Digital EX | DTS
• Studios - Skywalker Sound
• Soundtrack – Michael Giacchino
  

“UP” Sound for Film Profile from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

Contra Costa Times take a look at the Police Dogs that makes the “voices” of the dogs that could be hear in UP. You can read the full article here. And you can find at The Washington Post, a fantastic interview with UP animator Bob Peterson of Pixar.

The soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records featuring Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille, Star Trek 2009, The Incredibles, etc). The album can be purchased as Digital Download only.

UP (Official Site)

UPDATE: A local Bay Area newspaper reports on the use of police dogs for the sound in “Up”

I wanted to thank foley artists Jana Vance and Dennie Thorpe for the following Q and A.

DS: In terms of cues that the Foley supervisor delivers to the stage, what info is important and helpful for you guys, and what can be left out?

DT: We appreciate all the descriptions we can get. For instance:

• “We’d really like this character’s shoe to have a squeak.”
• “We’re going after a very hyper real feeling in this particular shot so please make sure every creak, squeak, texture and nuance is covered.”
• “Please don’t make the footsteps sound too tappy.”
• “Production sound was great here so we don’t need you to do these particular sounds.”
• “The director really wants this surface to have a deep, heavy sound as well as to play up the texture that is visible.”
• “This creature weighs about 400 pounds–make it heavy, but please also make sure we hear the grit and we want it to sound SCARY.”

Those are just a few examples but that’s the kind of information that help us create a character’s personality and help us to establish the mood of each scene, what elements to play up in the environment, and what elements to play down.

DS: Do you ever have to present “proofs” to sound supervisors for specific sounds?

DT: We definitely present specific sounds or “proofs” for the supervisors and designers to listen to. We generally give them a choice of about four to six different versions. They will NOT know what we used to create the sound or which artist performed it to make sure it’s completely objective and they can concentrate only on the sound. It’s uncanny how often they pick our favorites!

DS: There are a lot of dogs in “Up”; How did you create their footsteps? Did you shoot feet for the dog stampede?

DT: I did Dug, Rotty and the bulldog. The information was that Dug should have NO nails and be friendly and have a soft, padded sound. Rotty and the bulldog could have nails. They weren’t supposed to be as friendly–they were supposed to be more menacing. Their body language also creates their emotional qualities and we support that sonically. We did shoot feet for the dog stampede. We shoot those kinds of scenes working together in a format where we concentrate on the left side of the screen, then the center and then the right. Depending on the shot, we will definitely also concentrate on close, medium and far.

DS: What type of movement or prop usage is the most challenging to shoot? What is the most fun?

DT: Quiet sounds can be challenging. You really want to make sure all the details are distinguishable and correct. They’re often scenes where maybe nothing else is going on and it might be Foley that’s carrying most of it. I like doing hi-tech scenes where someone might be taking something apart very carefully or assembling an intricate mechanism and there are little teeny creaks and slides of components, parts turning, odd scrapes and nervous, twitchy sounds.

Two of the fun things for me, mostly after they’re completed, are gooey, squishy, slimy sounds–they just sound fun even though they make a big mess–and big crashes. The crashes can be very exhilarating.

JV: I think body falls are the hardest. Trying to cheat the weight and boniness of a human body takes a few tries and is physically straining; particularly if there are many to do!

DS: An important trait Foley artist is one who knows how to use his or her instruments of sound creatively. In “Up”, what are a few examples of creative prop usage? (Where the audience would never guess what made the sounds…)

DT: One thing that comes to mind [in terms of creative prop usuage] is Carl’s cane. Sometimes you have to break down a sound since you don’t have the actual prop, particularly if it’s an animation! I held three tennis balls in one hand and a device for a car roof rack in the other. The tennis balls would hit the surface Carl placed the cane on and the roof rack device was the “movement”. Then I used an aluminum walking stick to add to the impact sound on another track; Then a third track for handling. This is very helpful to the mixer because then they’re allowed the freedom to emphasize or de-emphasize the different components a particular sound–in this case the cane. I was very happy to hear the cane almost everywhere Carl used it!

Another example was a toy lawnmower I used as part of the leaf blowing machine Carl used at the beginning of the movie by his mail box.

JV: The effects crew had procured an actual weather balloon somewhere and had passed it on to Foley thinking we might use it for the footsteps and body movements on the Zeppelin. Instead, the giant balloon became a great prop! It became one of the sound components, for the multiple, balloon-string vibrations in the fireplace. It also helped “launch” the tent over the canyon when Russell is trying too hard to put it together. One of the Zeppelin surfaces is a painter’s canvas.

DS: Though Pixar films have had different directors and sound supervisors over the years, their Foley artist has remained the same. With that long of a relationship under your belt, what are some sounds you know Pixar likes to hear in their mixes and what are the sounds you know to avoid?

DT: I’ve been fortunate to work on every Pixar feature. The quality of their work is inspirational because they devote attention and care to every aspect of every single project they get involved with. They want you to dig deep and create a texturally sonic world for their characters to live in. They allow for R&D to make sure everyone involved in the film, i.e., the director, producer, supervisors and designers love the sounds being created. That kind of creative environment only brings out the best in people. There really aren’t any particular sounds to avoid–it’s a matter of making sure all the sounds are appropriate to the entire feel of the project.

DS: What is one of your favorite props? How often have you used it in your films?

DT: Some just get used more than others depending on the need. I’ve found that props are everything in creating good sound effects. I have a collection I’ve been adding to over the years. There are some I won’t loan out or let anyone else use when I’m not there because if they get damaged in any way they’re irreplaceable. All Foley artists have their treasures and they don’t always have a name or a clear use and they almost never look pretty, but they always make good sounds whenever you need them to.

JV: It only becomes a favorite prop if it works! I try to vary my props as much as I can for each movie. I think my favorite prop is my couch which holds me up every night after a day on the stage!

DT: I did Dug, Rotty and the bulldog. The information was that Dug should have NO nails and be friendly and have a soft, padded sound. Rotty and the bulldog could have nails. They weren’t supposed to be as friendly–they were supposed to be more menacing. Their body language also creates their emotional qualities and we support that sonically. We did shoot feet for the dog stampede. We shoot those kinds of scenes working together in a format where we concentrate on the left side of the screen, then the center and then the right. Depending on the shot, we will definitely also concentrate on close, medium and far.