As the year continues, many of these posts will be philosophical in nature. Some will be in contradiction to previous postings. These are not intended as truths or assertions, they’re merely thoughts…ideas. Think of this as stream of consciousness over a wide span… I like to regularly spend some time thinking about how I describe sound to people who aren't so focused on … [Read more...]
DSDG: Scouts Honor – Documentary Sound
We're discussing sound for the documentary "Scouts Honor: Inside a Marching Brotherhood" with Director Mac Smith and Co-producer John "JT" Torrijos. The live stream will begin at 8PM (U.S. Eastern). If the stream is not available immediately on the hour, it's simply because we're waiting for someone to log in to the hangout. You can watch in the embedded video above, … [Read more...]
Real Spaces
When we say “space”, people generally think of two things: outer space, or a bounded area that something fits into. It's a safe bet that most people in the sound community immediately think of the latter. So often we focus on the characteristics of a space...how far a sound carries, reflections and reverberation time, etc. Certainly that helps us define a space, but...for the … [Read more...]
The Sound of Looper – Interview with Jeremy Peirson
I contacted Jeremy Peirson, the sound designer for Looper (2012), to talk about his role in the best received time travel movie in a very long time. What follows is a transcription of our phone conversation. Enjoy! DS: For our theme on the site this month we're talking about "time," and I though it would be interesting to talk about Looper (2012) as a time travel movie and … [Read more...]
Design’s Future Potential Engaging Audio
Michael Theiler has posted a new article on Gamasutra in response to Rob Bridgett's "After Sound Design" I have been buoyed recently due to some excellent writings by Ariel Gross and Rob Bridgett talking about game development, and also by my own sense of belonging in the world of games. We are at such an exciting and interesting point in history as it relates to games, and … [Read more...]
One Day Workshop at London Film School
The London Film School is offering another one day workshop focusing on the role of sound in story-telling. The workshop will take place on Saturday, November 24th. They're also offering a 20% discount to Designing Sound readers. What is it that makes the dream sequences in Hitchcock’s SPELLBOUND, Bergman’s WILD STRAWBERRIES and Coppola’s THE CONVERSATION so disturbing? What … [Read more...]
Ideas in Sound Design: Semiotics and Language – Part 2
Cross-posting from my personal blog. In my last article, I talked about Semiotics and encouraged sound designers and editors to think of sound for picture as a language; or, at least, as a component of the language used by any given film. I'd rather not rehash the specific elements of Semiotics that were discussed. There are several ideas that I'm going to assume you've read … [Read more...]