Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

That all-enveloping sound 437 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,400 and especially coming from the audiences, 438 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:33,880 to involve you as an audience member into the concert. 439 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:40,200 ♪ Leave a troubled past and I might start anew 440 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:45,040 On "A Star Is Born" Barbra Streisand insisted on, 441 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,080 and in fact got an extraordinary amount of time 442 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,200 to do the sound edit and sound mix. 443 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:56,880 In fact it was something on the order of magnitude of four months, 444 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:01,200 at a time when it was more traditional to have seven weeks. 445 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:11,440 The deal with First Artist was that 446 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:16,320 the artist was responsible for anything over 6 million dollars. 447 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,560 I spent the 6 million dollars on the movie. 448 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:26,640 But then when I got into sound, I spent another million dollars. 449 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:32,760 ♪ Are you a figment of my imagination? Or I'm one of yours 450 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:37,560 When Warner Bros. saw the film, they liked it so much 451 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:39,680 that they didn't make me pay the million dollars. 452 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,320 I thought it was wonderful. I was willing to spend it. 453 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,840 There is a degree of reality that you can get from stereo 454 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,320 that's never possible with a mono soundtrack. 455 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:54,320 And bless Barbra Streisand for recognising the value. 456 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,120 It wasn't just the way films were played in theatres 457 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:07,480 that was changing. It was the way they were recorded, too. 458 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,920 I was a teenager in the '70s, and I saw the film "Nashville". 459 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,760 And I think that was probably the film that turned my ears on 460 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:23,440 to what was possible in a movie with sound. 461 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:26,320 When they come into the airport, 462 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,440 that's an incredibly beautiful piece of sound. 463 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,320 Barbara Jean, ladies and gentlemen. 464 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,440 There's airplanes that come in and out and obliterate what people are saying. 465 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:40,200 There's a reporter on a microphone. There's a marching band. 466 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,640 And thank you, Franklin High School band. 467 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,440 I think you kids get better every year. 468 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,120 All right twirlers, let's twirl. 469 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,120 You're woven through that entire tapestry 470 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:55,800 and the sound is what's pulling you 471 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,200 and telling you where you're gonna go next. 472 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:04,120 Jim Webb obviously had worked with Robert Altman on many of his films. 473 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:06,080 He was the master of multi-track, 474 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,440 just ahead of their time and pushing the limits. 475 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,360 Before that, they recorded one track, 476 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,240 but now we don't shoot two tracks or three tracks. 477 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:17,080 We have about eight, ten, sixteen tracks. 478 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:19,240 Other members of Chamber of Commerce 479 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:20,520 understand reportedly earlier on... 480 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:22,080 You know, everybody had a mic. 481 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:24,160 No matter how many people were in the scene, 482 00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:26,320 they all had microphones and were on mic all the time. 483 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,160 All the other friends, members and... 484 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:33,000 She's fallen somewhere down... 485 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,280 It was amazing, how the story was driven by the sound 486 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:41,080 in a way that I don't think had happened before then in American films. 487 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,280 My generation, you know, Francis and George 488 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,600 and Marty and Brian and my whole group that I sort of grew up with - 489 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:50,880 very sound-conscious generation. 490 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,400 So between the technological and creative advances 491 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,280 of the early 1970s sound was taking route 492 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:00,840 in a new American Renaissance of movies, 493 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,600 in a way that had never been heard before. 494 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:06,520 Oh, I underst