Of Sound Mind

Spending a lot of time on the N3rd end of things this weekend to revise sound stuff. Tedious, but ultimately, rewarding!

While the computer renders, here are some of my favorite uses of sound design in movies:

Let the Right One In - This Swedish vampire thriller puts a lot of its stock in off-screen terror, keeping many of its set-ups wide and ambiguous, with intricate, well-paced, and terrifying sound.

Star Wars - This is a no-brainer, as the world is introduced to sound maestro Ben Burtt, and we find an all-new universe of sounds no one had ever heard before. Say what you will about this whole series, but the wide array of new and rich sounds living in Lucas' Star Wars universe is mind-blowing.

Raging Bull - Martin Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker are renowned for their unorthodox and dynamic pursuit of matching sound and image. The boxing scenes in Raging Bull are full of hard impact, gut-wrenching noises that are not common to a box ring, but are essential for cinema.

Jurassic Park - Another classic. While they may or not be biologically accurate, the sounds of the dinosaurs in Spielberg's 1993 adventure just feel right, don't they?

Invasion of the Body Snatchers '78 - There is a very specific sounds that the "body snatched" use to single out the unsnatched, and it's really hard to convey without spoiling the joy of experiencing them for the first time.

Into The Future

Oops, I already slipped.

Progress Report: Danielle and Lee (the producers) have an almost-finished copy of the film to review. We're still tweaking score for two scenes, and I'm going to do one more overall sound polish, but it's very close to being an actual movie. I'd even be so bold as to say it IS an actual movie. No celebrating yet, though.

After the premiere, I'm planning on amping up my movie-watching. Here are a few marathons I've been considering, based on categories I've been wanting to explore further for years:

BERGMANIA
Wild Strawberries
Persona
Through A Glass Darkly
Smiles of a Summer Night

CARPOCALYPSE
The Driver
Vanishing Point
Two Lane Blacktop
Thunder Road

SHOESTRING SCI FI
Pi
Scanners
Alphaville
Phase IV

SCREWBALLIN'
My Man Godfrey
Bringing Up Baby
Hail the Conquering Hero
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

-Ben

More Monster

Here's another, of the little guy in full action. One of our main influences was John Carpenter's The Thing. Final animation and overall design was by lead actor Kevin Maggard.

The Monster

So here's a tiny look at a frame of N3rd's dream sequence animation. This has not been comped into its scene.

House of Mirrors

Considering how much has gone into the production of N3rd, there haven't been too many tasks that I might call torturous. Mixing sound has been a very, very hard process, but I can appreciate that fiery trial. I'm now working on editing the "making of" documentary for the DVD extra features, and it is pretty tedious.

Rifling through hours of footage of good folks talking about the film seems like it might be rewarding, but it's not; I feel dirty and vain. I'm trying my hardest to treat it like any paid editing gig, as I didn't write the script- which is a huge advantage.

If I get a free minute, I might post some excerpts of unused interview footage. Despite my guilt, there are some good, constructive, and exciting insights.

-Ben (writer/director)

Animation Domination 2011

Tomorrow, N3rd lead and animator Kevin Maggard will be staying with my wife and I for a few days to wrap up the remainder of the hand-drawn animation needed for the dream sequences in the film.

While the sequence in question is no Rabbit of Seville, it has been quite a bear on the production, as the craft of animation (and directing an animator) is a completely new art form for us. So far, the most fun has been researching (hundreds of hours of watching moving, full-color "druwrings") and the few, fleeting moments of watching compiled frames.

If you want a tiny taste of what the end result will look like, revisit the film's second full trailer, released back in December. Here it is on Vimeo and on Youtube.

I'm trying to resolve to update the blog more often. Stay tuned for more, and feel free to swat me with a buzz saw if I start to slack.

-Ben (writer/director)

Summer Movie Date Nights

Despite N3rd charging towards its finish, its director is making sure he gets some quality time this Summer. Check out the latest Speculatin' a Hypothesis!

http://filmnerds.com/blog/2011/05/05/summer-movie-date-nights-year-two/