For August I decided to make an special of Dane A. Davis, an awesome Sound Designer, the maker of that Matrix sound, certainly a man with with a hudge of talent and creativity.
Biography: (vía MPSE)
Dane was born quietly in La Mesa, California, in the late fifties. From then on he was always noisy. In early adolescence Dane borrowed reel-to-reel tape recorders and experimented with ways to use them improperly. Other than his grandfather’s clarinet, his access to legitimate musical instruments was very limited so he built and converted various illegitimate mostly unplayable instruments to use in conjunction with partially disassembled tape decks. His mother moved him into the garage where he lived noisily for more than a decade. In high school he began making Super 8 movies, which became a good excuse to keep making seemingly purposeless audio assemblages that now had a purpose as movie soundtracks.
This took him to the California Institute of the Arts School of Film/Video, where he confronted modular synthesizers and many new noise-producing tools. While making his own films there he continued to create soundtracks for student films and eventually mixed most of the movies being made at the school. After matriculation into the real world Dane continued making mostly non-musical soundtracks for experimental short films and started working as a sound editor on various longer film projects.
In 1986 he founded Danetracks in Hollywood in a closet of the company he worked for during the day as a sound transfer operator. As more sound design and editing work for low-budget independent movies passed through his closet, he quit his day job, and continues today working primarily as a Sound Designer & Supervising Sound Editor on a variety of feature films.
Dane has received much recognition for his sound work, including an Oscar, a British Academy Award and several MPSE Golden Reels. With his company, he also creates sound design for commercials, movie trailers, games and public installation art projects. In addition to all that noise he has a family, plays several actual musical instruments and continues serious work as a photographic artist. (You can view his work at www.danedavis.com)
Awards & Nominations
- Academy Award for Best Sound, Sound Effects Editing – The Matrix
- BAFTA Award for Best Sound – The Matrix
- Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Direct to Video – Return to House on Haunted Hill
- Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing in Animated Features – Treasure Planet
- Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Effects & Foley – The Matrix
- Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Television Movies of the Week – Sound Effects & Foley – Gotti
Featured Work:
- Outrage (2009) – Sound designer
- Speed Racer (2008) – Sound designer and Supervising sound editor
- Ghost Rider (2007) – Sound designer and Supervising sound editor
- Lord of War (2005) – Supervising sound editor
- The Matrix Revolutions (2003) – Sound designer and Supervising sound editor
- Enter The Matrix Videogame (2003) – Sound Designer
- The Matrix Reloaded (2003) – Sound designer and Supervising sound editor)
- Treasure Planet (2002) – Sound designer and Supervising sound editor
- 8 Mile (2002) – Supervising sound editor
- Sand (2000) – Sound designer, Sound re-recording mixer and Supervising sound editor
- Red Planet (2000) – Sound designer and Supervising sound editor
- The Crossing (2000) – Supervising sound editor
- House on Haunted Hill (1999) – Sound designer and Supervising sound editor)
- The Matrix (1999) – Sound designer and Supervising sound editor
- Gotti (1996) – Supervising sound editor
- The Abyss (1989) – Sound effects recordist
- Alien from L.A. (1988) – Sound designer
- The Tomb (1986) – Supervising sound editor
- The Golden Sher (1981) – Sound re-recording mixer