1) I was asked by Sylvia Khan and Mark Taylor at Awesome Sauce to help Fiat promote that it has made an Abarth version of it’s new 124 model, as it did with the 500 model. Mark came up with a ’ duel ‘ themed concept in which the cars engage in a frenzy of standoffs and high velocity chases. The challenge was that compared to the throaty 500 exhaust note the 124 has a much lighter engine note and the client specifically requested that it sound potently deeper. With this specific challenge also came one that always comes with high speed automobile visuals, namely finding a way to get around how engine sounds in real life speak vastly slower than the action is depicted in fast moving cuts. All of that and also no faking it by using some other car’s sound, it had to be the actual 124. I am not a fan of electronic processing for this sort of task, I believe in getting an “in mic” performance out of the driver and car. I also set a challenge for myself; to make the cars appear to converse, taunt each other, with a sense of call and response working within a dynamics frame work of quiet and loud. The great recordist Eric Potter captured some great recordings and with hours of alone time finding the best sound for any given shot, I was able to make it all happen to everyone’s satisfaction.
2) I just finished a project which was extremely engrossing and of which I am definitely proud. It is “@asst,” a 22-minute ensemble drama series pilot written and directed by Craig Bobby Young and Richard Keith. I now have a few longer ( than 30 or 60 seconds ) format projects under my belt and I am looking for more. I enjoy the weaving of these longer and more complex storylines, especially when I can perform the mix. A perfect example, ‘@asst ‘ presented a fascinating challenge that required all the fundamental practicals of dialog clean up and edit, ADR record, music edit, foley, sound design, final mix and the creative part of finding ways of alloying these sound components into a bigger sum. This I achieved by selecting elements or juxtapositions that magnified the tone of a scene. For example, moving a word or two a few frames can shift emphasis in meaning dramatically or help make edit flow better. More practical things such as cutting in dialog from multiple takes saved scenes spoiled by unwanted noise on set. Interpretative sound design didn’t feature so much in this dialog driven film but was effective for a sequence featuring inadvertent consumption of medicinal pot candy….I also used practical sounds that didn’t actually occur on set to make illusions out of thin air. This appealed to the inner sound nerd that many years ago would make sound effects for school plays and later work on feature films.
3) It’s been almost 30 years since I innovated sound design as a discrete practice in broadcast advertising and I feel that I and most of my company Machine Head’s peers are at the threshold of a new and exciting era. We all know that recent economic stringencies have changed the hows of the business, but it’s been long enough that we’ve adapted and are still making noise. I do miss the days of an ‘ in the trenches together ‘ community at Machine Head on Abbot Kinney, epicenter of all kinds of sonic antics, when our visiting friends would breakfast at Shutters and then opine on sound and music between lunch to go from Hals and dinner sushi from Wabisabi. As postings have become the modus operandi, the magic spark of in the room face to face interaction has almost been lost. Speaking for myself, in an inversion of those Venice days, I decided to take my show on the road as house calls, whereby an agency or facility conference room becomes a Machine Head salon for a few hours. This brings back the wildfire of on the fly experimentation and with it many priceless ideas that other wise would have gone undiscovered. The new and exciting era is of course the potential suggested by the various emerging strains of AR/VR.
4) In the sound effects and sound design realm, it seems that a lot of work that is practical in nature, i.e. more literal sfx, is being delivered at either editorial or mix. Not that it’s less important, simply that technical process and financial constraints have made it more logical to deal with as an adjunct to the cut or the mix. In an unexpected mirror of this reasoning, we find ourselves delivering elementary final mixes in certain situations. Although I was once a co-founder and partner with the great Robert Feist of a successful mixing company, Ravenswork, mixing as a primary business I have not pursued, however an evolving scenario may result in a suite of services of which mixing would be one. I see that going forward that there will be increasing diffusion of the formerly well defined audio craft lines.
5) Machine Head has had limited engagement with AR/VR projects, but as audio enthusiasts (geeks ) we are up to speed on what is happening creatively and technically. We feel that the success of the audio is as dependent on a great concept as ever, if not more so. When spatialized audio is used in a manner that is authentic to the conceit of the project, it can be incredibly powerful. For example the depiction of a solitary confinement cell in the “6×9’ Guardian work is chillingly visceral as a result of the vivid but plausible spatial sound field. Similarly there is brilliant harnessing of the techniques in Simon McBurney’s “The Encounter,” a theatrical piece. I choose these two examples because in each case the spatialization of the audio is on a short leash to the action and not a distracting display of random sounds whizzing about. So, I believe that if one has story enhancing chops already developed in linear sound and can demonstrate competence with the new technology, the challenges will be more or less the same as for linear, i.e. does this sound advance the story ?
