Crinoid
09-05-2003, 10:49 PM
What does the Sound Editor Do?
By Raymond Bomba, 20th Century Fox Sound Editor (first printed in Cinemeditor summer 1971)
The making of a motion picture involves the concerned and dedicated effort, the imagination and talent of many, many people. From its conception as a vehicle to communicate, educate, and entertain, it brings forth an extraordinary variety of energies, expressions, and skills in every worker from a president to an apprentice,
The tangible results of this effort are brought to central focus in the hands of the picture film editor who integrates them into cohesive and dramatic form.
The sound film editor, a specialist in his own field, adds to the work of those preceding him in a continued effort to turn out an imaginative interpretation of the film story. The recording of sound itself is primarily the concern of the sound technician. The application of this sound to the picture is largely the task of the sound editor. This work includes the intense and massive reconditioning of the whole dialogue structure, and the addition and editing of effects and sounds that supersede the original production tracks.
The picture that comes down to the sound editor, while complete as to picture continuity, is still an unfinished product. 11 lacks the background of descriptive or illustrative sound, which will give it depth, color, reality. This may be demonstrated simply; by turning on a television show filled with action, such as a baseball or football game, and then turning off the sound. After a brief pause, the viewer may frantically switch back to regain the accompanying sound. In this case it would be this that gives voice to the pulse of the attending sports crowds; the shrieks, murmur, laughter, yells, cheers, boos, whistles, the running commentary and the action of the performers - sounds that give life to the action of the picture.
Action is identified by sound almost as much as by sight. One of the distinguishing characteristics of sound is that it places emphasis and force upon action. We have, for example, the buzz of a bee, the drone of a plane, the discharge of a revolver, or the simple caress of a kiss.
Sound also identifies many conditions, as for example a turbulent surf, a shrill wind, the melancholy sounds of night, the bleating cry of a lost lamb, or a dripping faucet. It is the keynote of all elemental things, such as thunder, lightning, and rain.
All communication is related in some manner to sound, whether it be of animate or inanimate things. Mechanical devices such as telephones, telegraph, and radios have their special characteristics besides the sound they transmit. Every living thing has its own language of communications, and it is one of the wonders of Nature that there is little or no duplication, Just as literally, no two persons speak alike nor ever exactly repeat themselves, so is there constant variation in the sounds of other things. For instance, a train whistle will sound different from time to time because of changes in atmospheric conditions the speed of the train and its distance from the listener. Rarely will two objects of like nature sound exactly the same when they fall, unless the conditions surrounding them are precisely the same. A single object, such as a coin or marble, may vary considerably as to sound character, even though dropped repeatedly on the same surface from the same height.
It is obvious that the types, shades, and variations of sound are unlimited. It is in this field that the sound editor operates. Just as sounds are momentary or fleeting and are
continually undergoing a creative process in nature, so the work of the sound editor becomes necessarily creative in varying degrees. He must seek to impart to each scene in the motion picture the same natural background that is found in real life.
These scenes may be. in either an interior or exterior location. Almost ail exterior scenes, soundwise, need to be reconstructed from a neutral, rough, or unfinished state. They fall into two divisions: those that are shot on the inside of production stages, and those photographed on natural locations. With the former the picture director may employ huge stage backgrounds, as of city buildings, forests, meadows, mountains, or farms. He may also utilize process screens for moving backgrounds, such as shipyards, street traffic, playgrounds, open sea and so on, as well as various panoramic backgrounds as seen from cars, trains, or on foot.
These scenes may contain many different types of sound. For example, in a shipbuilding scene we have the noise of moving cranes, riveting hammers and reaming machines, acetylene torches, steam, donkey engines, the voices of the workmen, and so forth, An average dock scene will involve many harbor sounds, which identify objects not seen in the picture but which indicate the geography of the area and even the weather conditions surrounding it. There will be assorted harbor whistles, the water lapping against pilings, the creaking of anchored boats, seagulls' cries, distant traffic noises, and perhaps the sound of breaking surf and fog horns.
With scenes shot on natural locations, some may be photographed partly or wholly without sound. Here again the sound editor may find it necessary to build a sound background from the beginning. Due to handicaps or interruptions on the set, by incidental and uninvited noises, the necessity of adjusting nonselective sound equipment to satisfy dialogue requirements, normal background sounds on the scene become distorted or unbalanced and must be replaced. Under these conditions, the dialogue itself must later be redone and synchronized to the original track by the sound editor. A good example of this would be scenes in which there are waterfalls. The heavy sounds of the falls would all but wash out original dialogue intelligibility.
The creation of backgrounds is but one phase of sound editing. The sounds relative to the direction action of the story hold even more important consideration. We may have, for example, a roughandtumble fist fight, as in a Western, with its grunts, thuds, socks, scuffles and fails. Here, film action is accentuated and enhanced by the accompanying sounds. Or there may be the ominous and aggressive roar of tanks, as in the recent production, Patton; the terrifying screams of airplanes bombing Pearl Harbor in Tora! Tora! Tora4. the raging storm and lashing waves in Ryan's Daughter; the carefree rasp and drone of motorcycles on their melancholy way in Easy Rider; the carnival camp and zoo sounds in Escape from the Planet of the Apes.
There are examples without end, as in past productions, sounds possibly still alive in the memory of many viewers: the crackling sounds of forest fires, as in Red Skies of Montana; the searing arrow sounds and other noises, as in Robin Hood; the massive volcanic eruptions in Bird of Paradise; the infectious laughter in the Eiffel Tower sequence of The Lavender Hill Mob; and the piercing shouts of ''Ole!'' in the bullfight sequence of The Brave Bulls.
The availability of particular sounds or effects, whether they be common or unique, are either the delight or dilemma of the sound editor. His pursuit of them lends much fascination to his work and becomes to some extent an adventure. He searches and scans the files of sound libraries that have thousands of effects - an accumulation from past productions and recording sessions; or he may resort to a detailed making or re-do of sounds to the action of the projected picture on postproduction sound stages. Here he enlists the services of his coworkers and those of other departments such as projectionists, rerecording technicians and mechanical effects men.
These sounds, made to picture, could be of almost any nature as for instance: of footsteps walking, running, climbing on any typical surface, such as concrete, carpet wood, tile, sand or perhaps watery surfaces. There could be sounds employing, almost any article, gadget, apparel, mechanical effect, or house furnishing. There could be sounds as shuffling through files of paper, riding a bicycle, writing a letter, or getting off a riding saddle. Also sounds like breathing, coughing, sneezing, gulping down a shot of whiskey or breaking a guitar over someone's head.
All of these sounds are carefully synchronised to the picture with various other necessary sounds, then built on sound units (called "tracks") that may average from five to fifteen in number per reel of picture, each track carrying possibly dozens of assorted effects. The sounds are listed, identified or described with notes and instructions when necessary on numbered cue sheets indicating footages and picture cues; the whole web of sound work carefully thought out and co-ordinated in a manner that expedites their use as to place or purpose in the picture.
This phase of the work calls into account the editor's sense of selectivity, timing, mood, rhythm and dramatic sense, Not the least of his effort, however, is the arduous conditioning of the dialogue structure; the smoothing out of sound cuts - continuations, overlaps, the elimination of extraneous and distractive noises; the remaking of unintelligible or poorly expressed dialogue, its resynchronization, and the additions of wild tracks and production replacements - all work which must be done with good judgment, precision, speed and rugged energy at a pace that conforms to schedules and provides for any corrective procedures.
On the rerecording stage this effort goes into the hands of the rerecording mixers whose judgment, experience and ability acts to give this selective effort its proper rendition, accent and incorporation into the composite entity.
The sound editor stands by to offer his continued interest toward any additions, changes, new interpretations or discoveries that might enhance the whole, He joins in with producer, director, film and music editors, rerecording mixers and technicians in a cooperative effort to create a good product for movie-goers to see and listen to, and hopefully something they might also get excited about, thrill to, and be overcome by.
==
Raymond V. Bomba was the founder, co-organizer and first President of the Motion Picture Sound Editors. Born and educated in Texas, a resident of New York for many years he started his motion picture career at Columbia Studios and has been with 20th CenturyFox for the past twenty years.
Lumiere, January /February, 1972
By Raymond Bomba, 20th Century Fox Sound Editor (first printed in Cinemeditor summer 1971)
The making of a motion picture involves the concerned and dedicated effort, the imagination and talent of many, many people. From its conception as a vehicle to communicate, educate, and entertain, it brings forth an extraordinary variety of energies, expressions, and skills in every worker from a president to an apprentice,
The tangible results of this effort are brought to central focus in the hands of the picture film editor who integrates them into cohesive and dramatic form.
The sound film editor, a specialist in his own field, adds to the work of those preceding him in a continued effort to turn out an imaginative interpretation of the film story. The recording of sound itself is primarily the concern of the sound technician. The application of this sound to the picture is largely the task of the sound editor. This work includes the intense and massive reconditioning of the whole dialogue structure, and the addition and editing of effects and sounds that supersede the original production tracks.
The picture that comes down to the sound editor, while complete as to picture continuity, is still an unfinished product. 11 lacks the background of descriptive or illustrative sound, which will give it depth, color, reality. This may be demonstrated simply; by turning on a television show filled with action, such as a baseball or football game, and then turning off the sound. After a brief pause, the viewer may frantically switch back to regain the accompanying sound. In this case it would be this that gives voice to the pulse of the attending sports crowds; the shrieks, murmur, laughter, yells, cheers, boos, whistles, the running commentary and the action of the performers - sounds that give life to the action of the picture.
Action is identified by sound almost as much as by sight. One of the distinguishing characteristics of sound is that it places emphasis and force upon action. We have, for example, the buzz of a bee, the drone of a plane, the discharge of a revolver, or the simple caress of a kiss.
Sound also identifies many conditions, as for example a turbulent surf, a shrill wind, the melancholy sounds of night, the bleating cry of a lost lamb, or a dripping faucet. It is the keynote of all elemental things, such as thunder, lightning, and rain.
All communication is related in some manner to sound, whether it be of animate or inanimate things. Mechanical devices such as telephones, telegraph, and radios have their special characteristics besides the sound they transmit. Every living thing has its own language of communications, and it is one of the wonders of Nature that there is little or no duplication, Just as literally, no two persons speak alike nor ever exactly repeat themselves, so is there constant variation in the sounds of other things. For instance, a train whistle will sound different from time to time because of changes in atmospheric conditions the speed of the train and its distance from the listener. Rarely will two objects of like nature sound exactly the same when they fall, unless the conditions surrounding them are precisely the same. A single object, such as a coin or marble, may vary considerably as to sound character, even though dropped repeatedly on the same surface from the same height.
It is obvious that the types, shades, and variations of sound are unlimited. It is in this field that the sound editor operates. Just as sounds are momentary or fleeting and are
continually undergoing a creative process in nature, so the work of the sound editor becomes necessarily creative in varying degrees. He must seek to impart to each scene in the motion picture the same natural background that is found in real life.
These scenes may be. in either an interior or exterior location. Almost ail exterior scenes, soundwise, need to be reconstructed from a neutral, rough, or unfinished state. They fall into two divisions: those that are shot on the inside of production stages, and those photographed on natural locations. With the former the picture director may employ huge stage backgrounds, as of city buildings, forests, meadows, mountains, or farms. He may also utilize process screens for moving backgrounds, such as shipyards, street traffic, playgrounds, open sea and so on, as well as various panoramic backgrounds as seen from cars, trains, or on foot.
These scenes may contain many different types of sound. For example, in a shipbuilding scene we have the noise of moving cranes, riveting hammers and reaming machines, acetylene torches, steam, donkey engines, the voices of the workmen, and so forth, An average dock scene will involve many harbor sounds, which identify objects not seen in the picture but which indicate the geography of the area and even the weather conditions surrounding it. There will be assorted harbor whistles, the water lapping against pilings, the creaking of anchored boats, seagulls' cries, distant traffic noises, and perhaps the sound of breaking surf and fog horns.
With scenes shot on natural locations, some may be photographed partly or wholly without sound. Here again the sound editor may find it necessary to build a sound background from the beginning. Due to handicaps or interruptions on the set, by incidental and uninvited noises, the necessity of adjusting nonselective sound equipment to satisfy dialogue requirements, normal background sounds on the scene become distorted or unbalanced and must be replaced. Under these conditions, the dialogue itself must later be redone and synchronized to the original track by the sound editor. A good example of this would be scenes in which there are waterfalls. The heavy sounds of the falls would all but wash out original dialogue intelligibility.
The creation of backgrounds is but one phase of sound editing. The sounds relative to the direction action of the story hold even more important consideration. We may have, for example, a roughandtumble fist fight, as in a Western, with its grunts, thuds, socks, scuffles and fails. Here, film action is accentuated and enhanced by the accompanying sounds. Or there may be the ominous and aggressive roar of tanks, as in the recent production, Patton; the terrifying screams of airplanes bombing Pearl Harbor in Tora! Tora! Tora4. the raging storm and lashing waves in Ryan's Daughter; the carefree rasp and drone of motorcycles on their melancholy way in Easy Rider; the carnival camp and zoo sounds in Escape from the Planet of the Apes.
There are examples without end, as in past productions, sounds possibly still alive in the memory of many viewers: the crackling sounds of forest fires, as in Red Skies of Montana; the searing arrow sounds and other noises, as in Robin Hood; the massive volcanic eruptions in Bird of Paradise; the infectious laughter in the Eiffel Tower sequence of The Lavender Hill Mob; and the piercing shouts of ''Ole!'' in the bullfight sequence of The Brave Bulls.
The availability of particular sounds or effects, whether they be common or unique, are either the delight or dilemma of the sound editor. His pursuit of them lends much fascination to his work and becomes to some extent an adventure. He searches and scans the files of sound libraries that have thousands of effects - an accumulation from past productions and recording sessions; or he may resort to a detailed making or re-do of sounds to the action of the projected picture on postproduction sound stages. Here he enlists the services of his coworkers and those of other departments such as projectionists, rerecording technicians and mechanical effects men.
These sounds, made to picture, could be of almost any nature as for instance: of footsteps walking, running, climbing on any typical surface, such as concrete, carpet wood, tile, sand or perhaps watery surfaces. There could be sounds employing, almost any article, gadget, apparel, mechanical effect, or house furnishing. There could be sounds as shuffling through files of paper, riding a bicycle, writing a letter, or getting off a riding saddle. Also sounds like breathing, coughing, sneezing, gulping down a shot of whiskey or breaking a guitar over someone's head.
All of these sounds are carefully synchronised to the picture with various other necessary sounds, then built on sound units (called "tracks") that may average from five to fifteen in number per reel of picture, each track carrying possibly dozens of assorted effects. The sounds are listed, identified or described with notes and instructions when necessary on numbered cue sheets indicating footages and picture cues; the whole web of sound work carefully thought out and co-ordinated in a manner that expedites their use as to place or purpose in the picture.
This phase of the work calls into account the editor's sense of selectivity, timing, mood, rhythm and dramatic sense, Not the least of his effort, however, is the arduous conditioning of the dialogue structure; the smoothing out of sound cuts - continuations, overlaps, the elimination of extraneous and distractive noises; the remaking of unintelligible or poorly expressed dialogue, its resynchronization, and the additions of wild tracks and production replacements - all work which must be done with good judgment, precision, speed and rugged energy at a pace that conforms to schedules and provides for any corrective procedures.
On the rerecording stage this effort goes into the hands of the rerecording mixers whose judgment, experience and ability acts to give this selective effort its proper rendition, accent and incorporation into the composite entity.
The sound editor stands by to offer his continued interest toward any additions, changes, new interpretations or discoveries that might enhance the whole, He joins in with producer, director, film and music editors, rerecording mixers and technicians in a cooperative effort to create a good product for movie-goers to see and listen to, and hopefully something they might also get excited about, thrill to, and be overcome by.
==
Raymond V. Bomba was the founder, co-organizer and first President of the Motion Picture Sound Editors. Born and educated in Texas, a resident of New York for many years he started his motion picture career at Columbia Studios and has been with 20th CenturyFox for the past twenty years.
Lumiere, January /February, 1972