Fall05final by The Creative Bar

Fall Issue 2005

Fall 2005

Dedicated to the Advancement of Sound

Third Generation Mixer Michael Minkler is the CAS Career Achievement Recipient The Cinema Audio Society will honor Michael Minkler, C.A.S. Re-recording mixer with the Career Achievement Award at the 42nd Annual C.A.S. Banquet on February 25, 2006.

inkler began his career 30 years ago by following in his grandfather and father’s footsteps. Minkler says, “I was born into the business. My father had his own studio and I would hang out as a teenager during the summer. I fell in love with audio and started working full time when I was 17.” Learning the ropes as a recordist at the age of 22 Minkler said, “You learn by working with whatever you can get your hands on—commercials, TV shows, industrial films.” At the age of 24 he got his big break as a temp mixer at Warner-Bros., and was asked to come onboard fulltime; a stint that lasted four years. In 1980 Minkler accepted a post as chief mixer and managing director of new facilities at Robert photo courtesy Ascent Media Altman’s Lion’s Gate Films, a position that called Michael Minkler, C.A.S. on his exceptional organizational abilities. In 1984 he became an independent mixer at various facilities and sound editors, and the mixers.” and in 1990 began working in Santa Monica at Minkler received an Oscar for Chicago, Black Hawk Skywalker Sound’s Lantana facility (which he Down, a BAFTA Film Award for JFK, Chicago, Star Wars, helped to design and staff). This work continued and a Golden Satellite Award for Collateral. during the acquisition by Todd-AO and continues The Career Achievement Award will today with his position at Ascent Media. When asked about his motivation as a mixer, be presented to Minkler, a past C.A.S. Minkler replied, “You have to be a very fine-tuned President, at the 42nd Annual C.A.S. weaver of sound. The goal is to make the sound fit the film in an emotional way, a dramatic way, and Banquet at the Biltmore Hotel’s Crystal in a storytelling way. To accomplish that, all the Ballroom in Downtown Los Angeles on pieces have to fit together. It’s really a collaborative effort among the director, the composer, the film February 25, 2006.

Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Cinema Audio Society Mission Statement

New Members

o educate and inform the general public and the motion picture & television industry that effective sound is achieved by a creative, artistic and technical blending of diverse sound elements.To provide the motion picture & television industry with a progressive society of master craftsmen specialized in the art of creative cinematic sound recording. To advance the specialized field of cinematic sound recording by exchange of ideas, methods, and information. To advance the art of auditory appreciation, and to philanthropically support those causes dedicated to the sense of hearing. To institute and maintain high standards of conduct and craftsmanship among our members. To aid the motion picture & television industry in the selection and training of qualified personnel in the unique field of cinematic sound recording. To achieve for our members deserved recognition as major contributors to the field of motion picture & television entertainment.

Tom Johnson Todd M. Grace Steven M. Morantz Craig L. Woods Eric J. Thompson Keith A. Garcia Mark D. Burton Eric Benton Cabell Smith

Are you or someone you know interested in becoming a C.A.S. Member? Go to the website at www.CinemaAudio Society.org. Download an application form, fill it out and mail it to: Cinema Audio Society, 859 Hollywood Way #632, Burbank CA 91505 Do we have your correct E-mail, phone, and street address? Notify our office of any changes by sending an email to: CasOffice@CinemaAudioSociety.org. Cinema Audio Society Officers Richard Lightstone, President Melissa S. Hofmann,Vice-President Marti D. Humphrey, Secretary Christopher Haire, Treasurer

Edward L. Moskowitz Michael G. Olman Aletha Rodgers Fred Tator Greg Watkins

Board of Directors Richard Branca James Coburn IV John Coffey James A. Corbett Ed Greene Sherry Klein

Alternates Tim Cooney Peter Damski Ken Kobett Jon Taylor

Table of Contents

Active

…. 1

Associate Nicholas R. Allen Aaron J Diecker HOW TO REACH US Cinema Audio Society 859 Hollywood Way #632 Burbank, CA 91505 Our ofﬁce phone number is 818-752-8624 Our Fax number is 818-979-9000 Our Email address is CasJournal@CinemaAudioSociety.org Our Website is www.cinemaaudiosociety.org FOR BANQUET TICKETS OR ADVERTISING contact the ofﬁce at:

©Copyright 2005 by the Cinema Audio Society. All rights reserved.. CAS®, C.A.S.®, Cinema Audio Society®, and Dedicated to the Advancement of Sound® are all trademarks of the Cinema Audio Society and may not be used without permission.

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The C.A.S. Journal is Printed by MGF Graphics The C.A.S. Journal is Edited by Aletha Rodgers, C.A.S. Peter Damski, C.A.S.

Career Acheivement Recipient……. Cover Michael Minkler, C.A.S. will be the recipient of the Cinema Audio Society Career Acheivement Award All's Well At Swelltone....... 4 Larry Blake talks about his New Orleans studio post Hurricane Katrina.

…. 6

Live from L.A.- It's "Will and Grace"....... 6 Peter Damski, C.A.S. and Ed Greene, C.A.S. join together for the live premiere. Danger on the edge of reality TV.....8 Sound mixers Darrell Mitchell and Pete Rodriguez discuss working on location in Iraq.

…. 8 New C.A.S. Award Category Added....... 11 DVD Original programming News from the Forum ....... 14 Synths and Samplers

.... 11 The lighter Side ....... 22 C.A.S. members having fun

Phone: 818-752-8624 or Fax: 818-979-9000

Ofﬁce Manager Robin Damski

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

Letters ....... 19 Letters sent in by the members

…. 22

Been There, Done That ....... 27 The members are working on what?

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Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

All’s Well At Swelltone

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

by: Aletha Rodgers, C.A.S.

With much of southern Louisiana damaged or destroyed, Swelltone Labs post-production facility in New Orleans is in good shape, with plans to re-open by mid October.

ewOrleans-basedsupervising sound editor and re-recording mixer Larry Blake says his facility, Swelltone Labs, is just fine. “We had no problems whatsoever. No looting, no water. We have power back on and everything is fine. Commercial stores had a lot of looting, but we were safe. I’m also happy to report that my home in the Mid City area is also fine, although the electricity is not on yet.”

“I’d say 95 per cent

know more in one month and much more in two, and in six months we should have a really clear idea of where the levee reconstruction is headed.” Blake expects to be back mixing at Swelltone Labs sometime in October. “I’d say 95 per cent of the films we work on at Swelltone come from outside of New Orleans.” Blake said that Swelltone has hosted the mixes for such films as Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, Before Sunset and Traffic, and has done full post-production sound for about 15

features and documentaries. Blake added, “We mix entirely within ProTools, with two Digidesign DCommand control surfaces. Mixing ‘in the box’ is old hat for us, as we’ve done it since summer 1999.” He coowns Swelltone with Jay Gallagher and they have two other employees. None of them are back in New Orleans as of late September, though. A recent Los Angeles Times article reported 300,000 people are out of work in Louisiana because of the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. continued on page 20

of the films we work on at Swelltone come from outside of New Orleans.” Larry Blake Blake said he evacuated New Orleans the day after the hurricane hit, spending the night in Baton Rouge at the house of his longtime colleague, Paul Ledford, CAS. “Paul’s electricity was out for about a day, but other than that his home was fine.” Blake said that he hasn’t heard any news about any of the other Louisiana film sound colleagues. With no one back in New Orleans yet, Blake says it is hard to guess what will happen to the film community that was doing quite well before Hurricane Katrina hit. “It all depends upon how fast the city gets back, and how fast we re-build the levees. We’ll Page 4

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Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Live from L.A.- It's "Will And Grace"

by: Peter Damski, C.A.S.

NBC's "Will And Grace" aired their premiere episode of season eight live on September 29, 2005. Production Mixers Ed Greene, C.A.S. and Peter Damski, C.A.S. collaberated on this project which was shot on stage 17 at CBS Studio Center

t was mid-August when I placed a call to Bruce Alden. Alden is one of the producers on “Will & Grace” and is the post-production supervisor. I was confirming the delivery of my Emmy entry and Alden asked if I had heard that the premiere episode of season 8 was going to be done live. I confessed my ignorance and Alden shared that we would be doing a live show on September 29, 2005. There is nothing like little bits of information to get my mind cranking away. Who? What? Where? and especially HOW? “Will and Grace” is shot before a live audience so the idea of shooting the show live to air was not a huge stretch. As the date approached, new producers were hired to handle the “Live” aspect of the show. Tom Park, who’s credits include The Academy Awards, The Grammy Awards and many other live to air shows was given the responsibility of hiring the crew. I was informed that the regular camera crew was going to be replaced. “Will and Grace” is normally shot on film but the live show was going to be shot with HiDef 1080i video cameras on pedestals. In addition, we usually shoot with 4 cameras but the live show called for a total of 8 cameras including a jib camera and a steady-cam. The sound aspect of the show would be the usual with one exception. We would need someone with a strong background in “live” telecasts to mix the live feed from the truck. The first

courtesy NBC.com

From left to right: Megan Mullally, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, and Sean Hayes.

name that came to my mind was Ed Greene, C.A.S. Greene has a credit list a mile long of live productions that include music, drama, awards…you name it. I had mentioned Greene’s name to line producer Tim Kaiser and Kaiser thought he had heard Greene mentioned in conversations with live producer Park. Greene is a busy man and was unavailable for these dates but as luck would have it, the other show pushed. I just want to say that Greene is a pleasure to work with. We met after a C.A.S. Board meeting to discuss our approach to this event. We were both on the same page from the very start. What impressed me the most was Greene’s gracious attitude that he was “just a guest in my house.” I would mix the show as usual and send the “stems” to Greene in the truck. The stems I provide include a dialogue mix, a mono effects channel and a stereo audience pair. In addition, I always run an 8 track that also includes 4 channels of prefader iso’s. Greene would take these stems and work his magic to create a Page 6

5.1 mix, LT-RT mix and Stereo mix for distribution on-air. The live show was actually the fifth episode shot this season and this afforded Greene the opportunity to hear the show, both in the booth while being shot and off-air from a repeat of last year’s finale. He knew what to expect and how to prepare for it. The next step was putting the plan into action. Three days prior to the live episode I attended a run-through of the show, followed by the tech set-up that afternoon. Watching the runthrough gave me a head start on boom microphone and plant microphone requirements. When Greene arrived, he provided me with a patch list from my booth on stage to the remote truck. The “Denali-Silver” remote truck was located outside stage 17. This is a state of the art high definition video/audio production facility on wheels. The audio portion of the truck contains a 60 channel Calrec Q2 analog mixing console, Meyer near-field monitors, outboard gear and digital multi-track recorders up the yin-yang. Greene also rented a six pack of Shure UA wireless systems with LM-210 lavalier mics. Two of our utility sound technicians, Dean Plotnick and Adam Weber ran a 27 pair and a 15 pair cable from the truck to my booth on stage 17. The sound booth on stage has a 48 input Yamaha PM 4000 mixing board, Genelec monitors, and Tascam DA-98, DA-88, Fostex DV824 recorders. I use Sennheiser

a Symphony of Sound Services Performing a Full Repertoire of Sound Services in Perfect Harmony with Your Requirements…

Sound Transfers Optical Soundtrack Negatives Quad Soundtrack QC Showprint Check / Screenings Sound Transfer for Contract Deliverables Audio Evaluation Audio Conform Color Reversal Dupes

continued on page 10

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Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

Danger On The Edge of Reality TV

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Y O U R

C O N S I D E R A T I O N

by: Aletha Rodgers, C.A.S.

Straight from Iraq comes a new Reality TV production scheduled to air sometime after Thanksgiving as a 6 part series called, An American Soldier.

wo production sound mixers: could be anywhere from in the wire to Versa Flex harness to carry the sound Darrell Mitchell from Los outside the wire, and anything outside gear. The XL-2 Cannon camera was Angeles and Pete Rodriguez the wire could be very hostile. They’d using the ME 66 self powered mic as from Miami Beach followed a group be picking up vehicles that had been the camera mic. Rodriguez said he of National Guard mechanic/soldiers blown up and left on the side of the used the 210’s as camera hops and as they traveled from the state of road. They had to recover them and the vdb boom pole, and they used Georgia to Iraq. “We were in Kuwait, keep the road open.” a combination between the Tram Dhow, Kuwait City and, Camp Striker Even though the sound 50s and Lectrosonics M-150’s. He in Baghdad.” Rodriguez said. equipment used was not their call, it added, “Darrell and I brought the Mitchell said, same equipment there “It all started in early and we had different May 2005, in Georgia issues. The PSC Alpha where for 2 weeks mixer was no good. we covered all of the Producer using wireless families together before IFB for confidence the National Guard was a little bit of an Units were shipped issue as well with that off.” Rodriguez added, mixer. Internal hum, “Another crew followed internal grounding the wives. We gave the issues, whereas another soldiers a Mini DV mixer would have been camera and they sent a perfect. We trashed 2 message to their wives cameras because of the and the wives did the sand and dust. I went same and we video through a second PSC photo courtesy Darrell Mitchell taped them viewing Alpha mixer before the tapes, plus calling Cast and crew in chair at Al Faw Palace, Saddam Hussein’s chair. Starting I even went to Iraq top left to right: Pete Rodriguez (sound mixer), Doug Stanley (cameramen), back home over the Zac McFarlane (cameramen), Darrell Mitchell (sound mixer), Ethan Prochnik because it broke down phone.” Mitchell said, (field producer). Bottom left to right: Private Graham, Matt Clements, Steve in Georgia.” “We were in Kuwait Willis, Jeramie Chalker, Larry O’Neal; bottom center: Nemier Trying to mic someone for 2 weeks then we convoyed to was pretty much the same for both in full combat gear became a challenge mixers. Mitchell and Rodriguez said and Rodriguez said to do this he made Baghdad.” they would rather have used the use of the Army’s First Aid pouches. The mechanic/soldiers were called the Forward Recovery Unit Sound Devices 442 or 302 mixer on “The ones we were using were desert and Mitchell said, “The unit would this job. What they used was: A 4- fatigue camouflage and a transmitter go along in convoys with a huge Channel PSC Alpha Mixer, three 411 will fit perfectly inside. It could be tow truck or a flatbed so that if a Lectrosonics, two 201’s as camera hooked anywhere on them. If they vehicle breaks down they could hops, a K-Tec 9 foot pole, a 416 are wearing their combat fatigues hook it up quickly and keep moving.” mic with Rycote, an NP-1 Battery to (BTU’s), it simply blends in, and the Rodriguez added, “Their job was to power the wireless receivers and the microphone can be anywhere tucked recover broken down vehicles. It 2 transmitters to the camera, and a away without a problem.”

S O U N D

M I X I N G

Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill Sound Mixers

Eric Batut, C.A.S. Production Sound Mixer

S O U N D

E D I T I N G John A. Larsen

Supervising Sound Editor

continued on page 12

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www.foxscreenings.com

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Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society Will and Grace Live continued from page 6

416 p48’s for the booms and AKG 300 series condensers for my audience. I have also been using a Neumann RSM 190 stereo shotgun mic in my audience for many years. Greene’s experience has taught him to have backups of each audio feed going in both directions and we used up both multipair cables pretty quickly. We replaced the power for all of our gear in the booth on stage from the same generator/land power setup that fed the truck. This not only provided an uninterruptible supply but also placed all of us on the same ground potential. We still had a few hums and buzzes after the hookup but those were quickly eliminated with the help of Chief Engineer Tad Scripter, truck engineer Hugh Healey and a handful of isolation transformers. The setup

went smoothly and quickly and those were to be the watchwords for the rest of the week. On Tuesday we came in and blocked the show quickly and had an audience in the afternoon. This rehearsal gave the writers a good idea of timing for the script and gave us a good idea of how the show was going to sound. Wednesday brought two more audience dress rehearsals. Greene recorded each run-through and we would make minor adjustments with each new performance. These two shows were also transmitted to New York to conﬁrm the uplink to the integration room at NBC from where the show would be distributed nationally. Sadly, the integration room was not equipped for Dolby 5.1 and the show was aired in LT-RT and stereo. Everything and everyone performed as expected.

New C.A.S. Award Category Added The Cinema Audio Society Awards Committee is proud to announce the addition of a new award category.

T Ed Greene, C.A.S. at his home studio. photo courtesy Peter Damski, C.A.S.

Thursday was the big day. We were going live to the east coast at 5:30 pm PDT and live to the west coast at 8:30 pm PDT. The show was also going to be streamed live on the web. It usually takes 3 to 5 hours to shoot an episode of “Will and Grace.” There is a direct relationship between the number of wardrobe and set changes and the time necessary to shoot an episode. In addition, the writers have an opportunity to “punch up” the script in between takes, which can also add to the length of the shoot. For the live show the producers took the on-air time restriction of twentytwo and a half minutes to heart and limited the script to two adjacent sets and no wardrobe changes. There was still the opportunity to rewrite between the East Coast and West Coast broadcasts and the writers took advantage of it, making some slight adjustments to the script. Both shows went off without a hitch. A few lines of dialogue had to be eliminated from Act Two during a commercial break in each show to make up for time lost in the previous act and it all worked out well. It is amazing how fast a thirty minute show goes by when you’re doing it live. Part of continued on page 14

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Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

he new category is for DVD Original Programming – that is, programs released straight to DVD (or video). This category is in addition to our existing categories for: Motion Pictures, Television Movies and Mini-Series, Television Series, and Television – Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or Specials. Programs in the new category must have been released between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005, direct to video, with no portion having been previously televised, broadcast or publicly exhibited for paid admission in a commercial theater, either domestically or internationally.

Theatrical trailers for the program of less than 10 minutes released in a commercial theater are allowed, and programs in this category must be at least 40 minutes in length. “We are very excited about the addition of this category,” stated C.A.S Awards Chairperson Melissa Hofmann, “there is a lot of good sounding product that we will now have the opportunity to acknowledge.” The C.A.S. Awards will be held on Saturday, February 25, 2006 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Entry Submission Forms will be available through the C.A.S. website (www.CinemaAudioSociety.org) by November 1, 2005.

2005/2006 CAS AWARDS SCHEDULE Entry Submission Form on website Nov. 1, 2005 Entry Submission Form mailed to membership Tues. Nov. 1, 2005 Entry Submissions due by 5 p.m. Fri. Dec. 16, 2005 Nominations Ballot Mailed Tues. Jan. 3, 2006 Nominations Ballot received by 5 pm. Fri. Jan. 20, 2006 Final Five Nominees announced Thurs. Jan. 26, 2006 Final Ballot mailed Mon. Jan. 30, 2006 Final Ballot received by 5 pm Fri. Feb. 17, 2006 Awards Banquet Sat. Feb. 25, 2006 For additional Awards Rules and information please refer to the C.A.S. website at www.CinemaAudioSociety.org. Page 11

Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

Danger

the problems, Block 21, 22 and 23. We’d scan, Rodriguez said every day was and it would be clear, different. “Sometimes we’d be then it would fill up, then micing more than one, or on a 4- periodically something channel mixer we’d cover 8 guys at was going along and one time, trying to mix match links filling up the whole to the camera so one mixer would spectrum. We were right feed both cameras and the other mixer next to the airport, but could feed the other two channels to sometimes it wouldn’t the other 2 cameras.” happen for a week, and Mitchell said, “I had one lav that got sometimes it’d happen photo courtesy Darrell Mitchell pulled out. I had problems because a couple of times a day. At Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Darrell Mitchell, ready to pick the mixer had dirty pots, but they It was random.” up and go at a moment’s notice!! were dirty before I left for Iraq, and There were no typical or then they just got worse. I had some routine days, Mitchell said. “Some Phone calls were recorded and as interference with the RF transmission days we worked a couple of hours, the men watched videos from family that went to the camera. They would and some days it was a full day. If members we’d record them and their only do it when the hops were on, and we were on a convoy we’d get up at reactions.” at times we’d have a whole block of 5 am. And on some days we would On the convoys you are Lectrosonics wiped out – it was the leave at 11 or 12 at night,” Mitchell susceptible to whatever is out there lower frequencies that were having said anytime the crew left camp they and Mitchell said they were always wore helmets on guard. “There are small arms fire, and bullet proof RPG’s (Rocket propelled grenades), v e s t s u s i n g IED’s (Improvised ExplosiveDevices) a n i n t e r n a l -- those are the ones you hear about e a r p i e c e t o most, and they are unpredictable.” monitor the Mitchell said they went on audio. a convoy twice while in Baghdad. Mitchell and “We filmed and recorded some of Rodriguez lived the troops handing out food, soccer in temporary balls, tee shirts and coloring books to shelter with the some Iraqi children. The kids would soldiers they all come running and surround the were following. guys handing out the stuff. They Mitchell said, were very grateful; it made their “We tried to get day. The children definitely liked our subjects the Americans, and were more �� �� �� �� working and trustworthy than the older Iraqis. We �� �� �� �� talking at the would get the interaction between the s a m e t i m e soldiers and kids. There were also and we tried occasions where we had to leave to get their instantly because one of the gunners i n t e r a c t i o n s would spot a guy on a roof with a cell w i t h t h e i r phone, which is a potential mortar � � �� officer at the attack.” continued on page 18 motor pool. continued from page 8

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Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

From The Forum...

am a professional editor (Network TV) and occasional rerecording mixer (Indie Film Projects, etc). Lately I’ve been finding my “on the side” work has been getting stale and doing FX editorial from a library is wholly unsatisfying. While I can, obviously, manipulate FX with plugins and the like-- I’m finding myself looking to go to the next level in FX creation and “sound design.” I’ve always longed to be able to apply sonic characteristics of one sound to another -- not so much “combining” them but rather applying a sort of timbre mapping from one sound into a filter on another sound. Lately I’ve been thinking that this is something that could be done with a modern synth/sampler setup. I have seen some of the boys up at Skywalker do some really neat stuff with old Synclavier machines- and with the amazing number of affordable soft synths and samplers available this days, I’m itching to start playing in that world. The problem is, I have no clue what I’m doing. And, to be brutally honest, I’m not sure I have a firm handle on what actually defines a “sampler” from a “synth” and what are the various ways each/either could be used. Unfortunately it seems any printed resource I can find on these tools is very MUSIC centric, and even when they mention film sound design uses, it’s usually in conjunction with film score and composition. So, is anyone here using ANY

Will and Grace Live continued from page 10

on the Fisher booms; Mark and Adam Weber Utility tech’s. I would also like to thank the CBS Studio Center Audio/Video department for their continued support.

the beauty of it is that it’s over when it’s over. There is no going back and ﬁxing it. Greene and I reviewed the show after the fact and we decided that we would add some city walla as a bed if we were to do it again. I need to acknowledge and thank the entire sound crew for their excellent work: Ed Greene, C.A.S., Mixer; Jeff Johnson, Ted Van Klaveren, Ray Peart, photo courtesy Peter Damski, C.A.S. and Dean Plotnick The sound booth on Stage 17 at CBS Studio Center.

continued on page 19

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Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

ally

ic Techn

ing

Speak

Some Current Questions in File-based Recording Workﬂows by: G. John Garrett, C.A.S.

s an early adopter of filebased recorders [I hate using nonlinear where amplifiers are concerned] I had the idea that the evangelists among us field mixers would enlighten the post production folks and at some point the world would be a beautiful place. Boy was I wrong. Not that our evangelism has failed, but the Pandora’s box we’ve opened is more complex and riddled with pitfalls than any of us imagined. It used to be that every post production facility had either a Nagra or studio DAT machine plugged into their workflow and all our tracks passed through one of these transports to dubbers or a VTR or eventually perhaps an Avid. Now it’s not so simple, and like you, probably, I still have more questions than answers. The first time I turned in sound files was probably 1996. I’d recorded some dialogue for a CD-ROM project, loaded it into my workstation, cleaned it up and copied it to a Zip disk. I remember being a little uneasy, not having a reel of tape to deliver. Luckily all I had to know for sure about the post workflow was that they had a Zip drive and could deal with .wav files. Today the complications come from all corners: Picture media, frame rate, editing hardware, editing operating system, time code handling, editing software and release media all influence what hardware and

software we use to make recordings, what media to use and what format we deliver to post. Multiply these factors by software version numbers and emerging products and you can begin to see the opportunities for missed communication and workﬂow failure.

“Not that our evangelism hasfailed,but the Pandora’s box we’ve opened is more complex and riddled with pitfalls than any of us imagined.” GJ Garrett Those of us who started using file-based recorders on episodic TV shows have probably had it the easiest. A couple of meetings, some

Page 15

hardware acquisitions in post, maybe some drivers to make the hardware work, a couple of tests, and once things are in place they don’t change. Bang out the shows. People like myself who do a little of everything; TV shows, motion pictures and the occasional commercial, feel like we’re re-inventing the wheel with every client. Avid and Avid Express run on Mac operating systems. Depending on the version of OS you can give post a DVD RAM disk with .wav ﬁles. Maybe you’ll need drivers to mount an external DVD RAM drive. Some versions of Avid won’t take all the tracks you might be making [picture editors sometimes edit the sound as well]. Some editing software [Avid?] prefers monophonic or polyphonic .wav ﬁles. continued on page 23

Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

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Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Danger

in the military for six years, and has worked many wartime conﬂicts and “There was danger almost all the riots. None of the crew was allowed time,” Mitchell said. “There were to carry a weapon, and Mitchell said, mortars being dropped at the next “We signed papers to that effect.” camp over. Around the airport there With a difference in age both mixers are three different camps essentially know protocol and felt prepared to accept the production sound position in Iraq. Rodriguez said, “The camera crew did not have any training in the military. I have a lot of combat experience covering this kind of stuff. Darrell is military, but the other guys were mostly like the Los Angels Mini DV generation; adventurer photo courtesy Darrell Mitchell

continued from page 12

Brieﬁng of Convoy to Iraq - A typical scene of a brieﬁng before a convoy mission. This was the main convoy to Iraq for the 148th. It is in Kuwait at Camp Buehring.

joined together, but they all had separate gates. Mortars frequently would be dropped at camps next to us.” “I would say this is the most dangerous job I have ever done just because it was my first time being in a full-fledged war zone,” Mitchell said. “Just being in a convoy outside the gate there is a potential for an IED -- you never know. It could be the vehicle in front of you, could be anybody. Humvees are armored with bulletproof glass and they are armored on the top and sides, but not underneath. A lot of times sandbags were placed on the floor to offer more protection, but then you really have no place to sit.” Both Mitchell and Rodriguez said they are familiar with the procedures of war. Mitchell is in the Air Force Reserves and Rodriguez was

shooters doing white water rapids and the barren sea; adventure guys doing reality shows. They did not have any combat experience and many went there for the wrong reasons.” Rodriguez said, “Danger came from being put in the wrong situation by a producer who has never been in this kind of situation before, just for the sake of making a TV Show.” For instance, Rodriguez said, “One of the mechanics became part of the story because he was hit with fragmentation 24 hours before we got there. People died within 24 hours before we got there. A lot of them (soldier/mechanics) were scared. From the time we knew them in Georgia until where they are at right continued on page 21

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

Letters... Hi All: Just a note from beautiful Colorado Springs at the base of Cheyenne Mountain. I do really enjoy the CAS journal. Keeps me up to date on all that’s happening. I do continue to follow and vote on the CAS sound nominees. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners.

Forum

continued from page 14

sampler or synth devices to aid in the processing and creation of hard FX or backgrounds (even if you’re using ancient gear)? Would anyone have any suggestions on which softsynth package might be worth purchasing (Native Instruments seem to be well regarded)? Would anyone have any information or resources that might help me better understand how these tools actually work -- any books or published materials on the use of a sampler and the various parameters that might be included in a generic piece of equipment? Any help would be much appreciated. –Vince

It is especially interesting to read about the application of all the new equipment in this digital and post Nagra age you’re all in. My hats off especially to you production mixers out there trying to keep up with the latest stuff, and just as important, being able to buy it, rent Vince, it, or whatever, and compete in this era Two things, ﬁrst you need to be of budget squeezes and pressures on the exposed to talented sound design sound crew to keep costs down. I don’t people and work with them and envy you. AND you seem to have more then get your own style. Last your duties expected of SOUND. signature states, “I hate Foley.” Obviously you have never heard Hang in there, your battle does not great Foley. I’m lucky enough to go unnoticed, even in Colorado. be located next door to the best in the business “One Step Up.” You Don Matthews, C.A.S........a production would change your mind if you mixer loving being retired. heard their work. Even excellent sound designers use these guys because they know it all can’t be done with a sampler! Marti D. Humphrey, C.A.S., Secretary of the Cinema Audio Society -------------So, is anyone here using ANY sampler or synth devices to aid in the processing and creation of hard FX or backgrounds (even if you’re using ancient gear)? continued on page 23

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Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

SWELLTONE

Continued from page 4

Approximately 200,000 homes have been destroyed, and although the ﬁgures are incomplete, there are more than 500,000 people left homeless. To this Blake said, “Any contribution would help, and it is very moving how supportive the public has been. We really appreciate all of the help that we’ve had.”

There are many reputable hurricane relief organizations accepting donations and public support for our Gulf State neighbors. With losses in the billions of dollars, much assistance is still needed.

C.A.S. 42nd Annual Banquet: A Night of Awards Members of the sound community, friends and family will gather for the 42nd Annual Cinema Audio Society Awards Banquet Saturday February 25, 2006 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom. Awards for outstanding mixing will be presented in five categories. The new category, DVD Original Programming is for programs released straight to DVD. Winners will also be announced in the categories for Motion Pictures, Television Movies and Mini-Series, Television Series, and Television NonFiction, Variety or Music Series or Specials. For the second year in a row, C.A.S. will present the Technical Achievement Award honoring technical innovation in the area of sound recording. C.A.S. past president and re-recording mixer, Michael Minkler, as this year’s achievement recipient will be one of the highlights of the evening. The festivities will get under way during a cocktail reception in the Tiffany Room at 5:30 p.m., with dinner slated for 6:45 p.m., followed by the Awards presentation at 8:00 p.m. To order tickets contact Office Manager Robin Damski at 818-752-8624 or email CasOffice@CinemaAudioSociety.org The Biltmore Hotel 506 South Grand Street Los Angeles, CA 90071

The Sound of Success The Microphone for Film and Broadcast Professionals CS-1 Lower Cost Short Shotgun Mic Smallest Shotgun in the Sanken Line Only 7 inches long, the new CS-1 is the latest breakthrough from the world’s most original microphone company. A true shotgun in an ultra-compact housing, the CS-1 provides sharp directivity and off-axis rejection. Can be boom or camera-mounted and even handheld.

COS-22 The World’s First Two-Channel Lavalier Microphone “Completely redundant and extremely versatile” The Sanken COS-22 is the world’s first dual capsule lavalier microphone. The ultra miniature two-channel, dual-omnidirectional COS-22 is designed for high quality unobtrusive area miking, stereo miking, stereo recording of music and environmental ambience, redundant capsule live broadcast and boundarystyle miking for film and television. In addition, the COS-22 can be used as a noise cancellation directional microphone pair by reversing the phase of one channel before summing the two outputs.

COS-11s Superb Sound in an Ultra-miniature Lavalier Used in show after show, the COS-11s is “the new standard in lavaliers” The COS-11s is suitable for a wide range of applications and interfaces with the connectors for any wireless transmitter. The COS-11s comes in three versions: 48 v phantom, battery powered (11sBP) which will also accept 12V to 52 V phantom, and pigtail (11sPT) for wireless applications.

For more information on Sanken microphones visit us on the web at www.plus24.net Page 20

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

Danger

continued from page 18

now, you can tell. They lock up.” Mitchell said he would go back to Iraq for another project if asked. Rodriguez said he would go back, but with a different producer. While in Iraq, Rodriguez said, “Darrell and I talked a lot. What makes a good technician is working with what you’ve got: Pre thinking, pre planning, and having everything ready. I always keep a spare cable on the side of the mixer. Especially out in the desert in a combat situation.” “My saying to Darrell out there half the time was, ‘Get ‘er done!’ Whatever we had to do we got it done. It was not our call on a lot of things. When you get out there and you’re on a foot patrol in the middle of a combat situation, if something happens, you’ve got to run -- and you’re humping all this gear?! That’s not the way it works. Before you send people out you better know what you are doing beforehand because going on a foot patrol wearing an audio package and doing hops to the camera is very dangerous position to be put in. No network ever has done something that silly,” (to his knowledge). “Normally the routine is, use that shotgun mic on the camera, put that off to one channel and the audio guy will grab the wireless boom mic, and will bring a little bag with battery and tapes -- and that’s it, you’re covered every which way. When you are on a foot patrol you just follow the camera guy and watch his back because he’s got one eye and earpiece, and people shooting at him, and he can’t see half the things that are going on.” With a background in news, Rodriguez said, “I’ve done some

crazy stuff. Running around with guerillas. I’ve been up with the rebels of Haiti up in the guerilla area, with Guy Philippe, in El Salvador with the Hibernians, I’ve worked in hot weather, freezing temperatures, very humid rain forests, and have worked on everything from ¾ inch recorders, to DAT’s and then to disk drives. I was happy to be home from this job because I have a 3 year old, and I missed him.” Mitchell said it was great to return home, adding, “The hot spell in Los Angeles was comfortable after that 125 degree heat! After being in Iraq where we were always looking for some suspicious object or person beside the road, when I got back to LA I found myself looking around, still in that habit.”

Page 21

Mitchell was a sound mixer in Boston prior to moving to Los Angeles. About the Reality TV Series, An American Soldier, Mitchell said, “I think it’ll be a good series because it will show the average daily life of how these soldiers in Iraq are living. The soldiers we followed are still there and were to be away for a full year. To have the opportunity to see the family life and the soldier life and the whole realm of emotions back and forth with phone calls and video diaries is something I think audiences will enjoy watching.”

Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

The lighter Side...

Technically Speaking continued from page 15

photo courtesy Rick Cannata

Rick Cannata, C.A.S. has a new arrival in the garage.

photo courtesy Arthur Rochester

Arthur Rochester, C.A.S. has built a new sound cart which he calls "Eleanor Rig-B"

photo courtesy Emmanuel Clemente

Emmanuel H. Clemente, C.A.S. on a much needed break in Australia. David Bondelevitch, C.A.S. is happy to report a near-full recovery from his recent illness, after spending a two-week period over the holidays in a coma and following two major surgeries for a severe lung infection and complications.After taking several months off, he has returned to teaching at USC and is freelancing again as well.

If you have something for The lighter Side, we would love to hear from you. Page 22

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

Even the latest version of Final Cut Pro does not work with .wav files, so you have to use an external utility to convert your .wav files to Quicktime files. Sebsky Tools does not work with 30-frame timecode, though BWF2QT does. I have no idea whether FCP will do an audio pulldown, or whether BWF2QT does, though it appears Cinema Tools for FCP will do pulldown in its “conform” menu.

“Today the complications come from all corners: Picture media, frame rate, editing hardware, editing operating system, time code handling, editing software and release media all inﬂuence what hardware and software we use to make recordings, what media to use and what format we deliver to post.” GJ Garrett

BUENA VISTA POST PRODUCTION SERVICES Stage C Terry O’Bright

Keith Rogers

see acceptance of the basics across the board before more “file wrappers” the next editing software version or other technologies splinter the workflow again. File based recording is an improvement, but sometimes we Obviously communication is have to wade through a lot of stuff very important, and knowing what before we can get back to making kind of system we’re feeding our great recordings. tracks to is a good start to a smooth Do we have your current production, but those little surprises e-mail address, mailing keep creeping up. DVD is not DVD RAM, 24p is not 24fps, OS7 will not address and phone number? mount a DVD RAM drive without To update your information buying some drivers, etc. Going Contact us at: forward I think it’s important for manufacturers to make products that Phone: 818-752-8624 will accommodate industry standards. Fax: 818-979-9000 WAV file integration is basic. iXML or implementation is a good idea. Both casoffice@cinemaaudio poly and mono file handling are society.org essential. It is my hope that we can Page 23

Forum

continued from page 19

I imagine a lot of people are. I’m using an Eventide Ultra-Harmonizer to create backgrounds and manipulate foreground effects, sometimes starting with the Production presets I wrote for them ten years ago, sometimes starting from scratch. I’m also using a Roland JX8P, an analog subtractive synth with digital controls, for some foreground efx. Programming these things seems easy for me because I started with subtractive synths a few decades ago. Ancient analog gear might be the best place for you to start learning. If you can, ﬁnd a used subtractive synth... something that lets you control waveform, envelope, and ﬁlter. There are bunches of them in continued on page 25

Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

Don't Miss the Deadline!!!

he Cinema Audio Society Technical Achievement Award deadline for submission is November 18, 2005. The winner will be announced during a sealed envelope ceremony, and the Technical Achievement Award will be presented at the 42nd Annual C.A.S. Banquet at the Biltmore Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom in Los Angeles Forum on February 25, 2006. continued from page 23 The manufacturer or end user may download an application the used department at chain music at www.cinemaaudiosociety.org ﬁll it out, and mail it to: stores. (There’s an Electrocomp 101 C.A.S. Ofﬁce, 859 Hollywood Way #632, Burbank, CA on eBay right now for $700, which I consider horribly overpriced for an 91505. unstable, obsolete device that cost

sound editing

Per Hallberg, Supervising Sound Editor

sound mixing

Michael Minkler + Myron Nettinga, Sound Mixers

$1400 in 1972...) Then start playing with the controls, and manipulating sounds. The controls on an old-style subtractive synth are very similar to what you’ll find on a modern software sampler. The only difference is the synth used voltage-controlled oscillators or a noise source, and the sampler uses loops of recorded waveforms. Another good way to learn, if you’ve got a computer and audio software that’ll handle Mac Premiere-format plugins, is the Premiere version of SFX Machine ($25). It lets you string together oscillators, filters, and other operators on the screen, having one modify the controls of another - or apply those operations to existing sounds - and hear the results immediately. Take apart some of the existing presets, figure out why they sound like they do, and then make your own. Audio Postie, C.A.S. member, DV columnist

David Stephenson, CAS/AMPS, Production Sound Mixer

You might try the Korg virtual synth.

for your consideration: sound editing + sound mixing Page 24

continued on page 26

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Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Notice To All C.A.S. Members!! The Cinema Audio Society has a new mailing address and FAX number:

859 Hollywood Way # 632 Burbank, CA 91505 Phone: 818-752-8624 Fax: 818-979-9000 cinemaaudiosociety.org Forum

continued from page 25

It’s three classic korg synths in one package, with a physical controller. You can actually physically patch your osc to your vca to your vcf. It’s probably cheaper than trying to buy a “classic” analogue synth. Also, don’t diss the “Foley”. Foley is often integral to good sound design. Not everything can be done in the DAW, and often times the Foley artists provide the raw material for the designer. Its more than just footsteps and cloth passes. Charles Dayton, C.A.S., Twisted Avocado Studio. --------------------

Be sure to visit CinemaAudioSociety.org Page 26

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

BEEN THERE DONE THAT...

elissa Hofmann, C.A.S. and Stanley Johnston, C.A.S. are currently working on the Martha Coolidge ﬁlm Material Girls at Todd-AO’s Radford Stage R. Melissa and Adam Jenkins also recently completed Toronto’s highly contested “Thank You For Smoking.”

John Rodda, C.A.S. writes-I spent the early part of this year working on a TV Pilot Class of ‘76 - A supernatural thriller starring Robert Carlyle. Followed by an 8 week stint on Spooks for BBC TV. From July onwards and probably until the end of January 2006, I’ll be working on Miss Marple for UK and American TV we’re shooting another four episodes of the perennially popular sleuth series. Its nice shooting in English Country Villages (the only drawback are the aeroplanes!) David Barr-Yaffe, C.A.S., after completing last season’s House, MD, is currently mixing the Emmy’s Best Drama Show, Lost with Dennis Fuller on the stix and radios with Michael Gilday playing the part of The Utility Sound Person. Glenn Berkovitz, C.A.S., and his usual boom partner Mark Grech, have been busy in production on the suspenseful Sony feature When A Stranger Calls, following their time on Showtime’s Weeds. Glenn has also ridden the unscripted waves of Oxygen Network’s Campus Ladies, as well as numerous commercial spots. Chris Haire, C.A.S., and Chris Elam, C.A.S., have formed C Squared Sound Services, LLC. and are presently making their home on the "A Stage" at Pacific Soundwaves in Burbank. (Some may remember the building as the former “Enterprise Recording”, as it has a rich history.) This new theatrical mix stage features dual ProTools Icon D-Commands, with multiple ProTools HD systems. “We’re hoping to continue to attract high profile TV series and MOW’s to this new facility.” M. Scott Blynder, C.A.S. has had a busy year working Video Assist on three projects; beginning with the Miami portion of Retirement with sound by Tim Cooney, C.A.S., followed by the Dominica portion of 2nd unit Pirates of the Caribbean II & III with sound by Lee Orloff, C.A.S., then back to Miami for that portion of Miami Vice, sound by David Ronne. Sound mixers rarely get to work closely with each other. I have been fortunate to work with these guys. I look forward to getting back to mixing on my next project Stephen Tibbo C.A.S. has been busy mixing Kitchen Confidential for 20th Century Fox Televison, Ken Strain is swinging boom along with John Fors. Page 27

I’m well into my second season on the series Stargate Atlantis. My boom op is Eliah Matthew and my wiring assistant is Bev Hutter. All the best to you all! Regards, Kevin Sands C.A.S. Ken King,C.A.S.was down in Jacksonville on a Travolta/ Gandolﬁni/ Hayek/ Leto feature titled “Lonely Hearts”. Based on a true story, Travolta plays a cop who was our director/ writer Todd Robinson's grandfather. Philip Perkins C.A.S. wound up the Discovery Channel Diet Doctor series with a 2 hr. special, and has been mixing the doc Smitten for PBS. His new CD, Choral Works and The Apsaras , sound works based on his collection of sounds and music recorded all over the world, has just been released on the Artifact / EMF label. Beau Baker, C.A.S. is mixing The Inside for Fox and Grey's Anatomy for ABC Jon Ailetcher, C.A.S., is still working on season 2 of Unfabulous for Nickelodeon with boom operator Dave Hadder and utility sound Daniel Hastings. Arthur Rochester, C.A.S. is mixing Deja Vu for Director Tony Scott Eric J. Batut, C.A.S. will be mixing Little Man, directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, Boom Operator is Kelly Zombor and sound Assistant Chris Higgins. Starts shooting October 15/05 till March 2006

Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

BEEN THERE DONE THAT...

he Universal Studios Sound Department continues their commitment John Pritchett, C.A.S. finished The of providing premiere mixing talent, technology, and facilities to their Break Up with the always wacky clients. We would like to congratulate two of our television mixers Vince Vaughn and the not nearly as Michael Olman C.A.S. and Ken Kobett C.A.S. on their Emmy Award for controversial as you would believe Outstanding Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series- 24- 6:00am-7:00am. Jennifer Aniston. He is beginning Michael Olman was recently elected by the Academy of Television Arts & Oliver Stone’s new project, a true 9-11 story filmed in New York and Sciences to serve as the incoming Governor for the Sound Peer Group. Academy Award winning supervising re-recording mixer Gregg Landaker LA. David Roberts, as always, did has introduced his new mixing partner, Peter Reale. A 17-year veteran the really hard work, of course at Universal, Peter’s stellar reputation for achieving quality sound and that would be “boom”. with Lisa attention to detail makes him an exceptional choice. This newly created Gillespie on The Break Up and Kelly team continues the tradition of excellence in sound mixing at Universal. Doran on the Stone project. John’s The team will continue mixing in Studio 6, recently upgraded with an all- real passion of course is Bowling, has new digital Harrison MPC4-D console as well as state of the art client and him with a 190 average and climbing. Everybody needs a hobby. creative amenities. The Sound Department has also expanded their services to include a dedicated and newly renovated mixing studio for sitcoms. The new group Ken Novak, C.A.S. has been busy of highly skilled individuals includes the creative mixing team John Cook over at Larson Studios in Hollywood mixing the second seasons of and Peter Nusbaum and nine other talented staff members. Studio A, housed in BluWave, the home of the sitcom mixers, features a Trading Spouses for FOX and Harrison Series 12 digital mixing console with 160 channels and digital fx, Project Runway for Bravo. He 4 Pro-Tools HD workstations controllable from multiple locations, and a also had the pleasure of mixing the special room designed for both ADR and final lay-back of sound masters to feature film Quinceanera which final video including HDCAM SR and D-5 High Definition video as well as will be premiering at Sundance in standard definition formats. Studio A is also connected via router to all other January. existing equipment in BluWave Audio and shares the Sound Department’s Gavin Fernandes,C.A.S. has been high speed server, storage and archival facilities. busy this summer mixing the miniTV Recording Mixers, Roberta Doheny and Robert Edmonson just series Rene Levesque for CBC, completed ABC Family Channel’s pilot The Hunters and will be starting the MOW Miss Meteo and the on Touchstone’s new production for CBS called Ghost Whisperer in Studio feature Six Figures, finishing the Mark Ulano, C.A.S. writes: Hi guys. This has been a busy year for us as mix at Twisted Pair in Calgary and we are on our 3rd show. We finished up Zathura for Sony around Christmas print mastering at Modulations in and then went right onto Happy Madisons Grandma's Boy. From there we Montreal. went to pre Katrina New Orleans for Fox’s Big Momma’s House2 until July. Gary D. Rogers C.A.S. and Dan Home for a few weeks and then we have now traveled to Charlotte, NC Hiland C.A.S., re-recording mixers for Sony’s Untiltled Will Ferrel NASCAR Comedy which will take us to at Warner Bros. Burbank Dub Stage Thanksgiving. My crew is Tom Hartig - Boom Operator and Adam Blantz, 1 have just begun mixing their 7th 2nd Boom Utility Sound Technician. season of The West Wing 5th season Darren Brisker, C.A.S. has had a very enjoyable summer mixing Dr. of Smallville and the new WB series Dolittle 3 and then Wickerman, starring Nicholas Cage. Currently mixing Supernatural on a newly installed 88 Minutes, starring Al Pacino. Neve DFC console. Page 28

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

BEEN THERE DONE THAT...

van Sharrock, C.A.S.is currently working on Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code. Shooting started in June with four weeks in Paris and is continuing in the UK using stages at Shepperton and Pinewood studios and numerous locations in England and Scotland. We are on schedule and should finish around the 1st week in November in Malta. The thespians on this film are wonderful to work with. Tom Hanks (Langdon), Audrey Tautou (Sophie), Sir Ian Mckellan (Teabing), Paul Bettany (Silas), Jean Reno (Inspector Fache) and Alfred Molina (Bishop Aringarosa) to name a few. Most of the plot is explained in moving vehicles - for real! Bouncing around forests in 4 x 4s, armoured cars, aircraft taking off, buses etc. Miss one word and the audience will have definitely “lost the plot”!! I hope you all enjoy it when it’s released next year. Peter Kurland, C.A.S. adds: Rick Bold on the boom, Brad Kita as Utility, and I just completed principal photography of the Robin Williams comedy RV in Vancouver, Kananaskis and Lethbridge. It was my first time shooting in Canada and I love the cable trucks! The genny is as far away as you like. Now I’m back at home and waiting for the November 18th release of Walk The Line which I did last summer with Mark Zimbicki as Boom and Kelly Doran as Utility. Walk The Line has many musical numbers with live vocals and many recorded live with no playback at all. RV gives it a run for its money with seven live musical performances, My next project is cleaning out the basement which will involve practically no live music. I’m Joe Earle, C.A.S. and my partner Elmo Ponsdomenech and I have been quite busy the last few months and luckily we’ll be busy this fall. We just finished up the last three seasons of HBO’s Six Feet Under and we are well into the SHOWTIME new series Sleeper Cell. We will also be continuing with USA’s Monk, and ABC’s Nightstalker and Commander In Chief. Richard Lightstone, C.A.S. is the production mixer on Nightstalker, but you probably already knew that. Brad Harper, C.A.S. is currently working on Living & Dying starring Michael Madsen, Edward Furlong and Bai Ling. Fred Ginsburg C.A.S. Ph.D. has been invited to instruct a workshop on Location Audio Recording at the upcoming international annual training conference of the Law Enforcement Video Association. It will be attended by representatives of law enforcement, public safety, and emergency services from all across the United States and Canada. Fred also teaches the college course in Production Sound at California State University Northridge (CSUN). Page 29

Joe Foglia, C.A.S. is mixing the fifth season of Scrubs With Kevin Santy Booming and ANNA WILBORN, Utility! Frank Stettner, C.A.S. is mixing a new show for the WB produced by Levinson Fontana Productions. With Frank is Peter Fonda, boom operator, and Dan Wesson, Utility. Paul Ledford, C.A.S. is mixing Steven Soderbergh’s The Good German this fall all in Los Angeles with Randy Johnson on boom and Ross Levy in utility. In July Samuel T. Buckner, C.A.S., mixed the animated Proud Family Movie for the Disney Channel at Oasis Digital. This was a “movie of the week” for the channel produced in HD and 5.1 and is slated for DVD release as well. Michael Jordan, C.A.S. writes: It’s been a very productive end of year for the Toronto Film Festival. I mixed Dionysus Zervos’ film The Shore and went right into Joseph Novoa’s film El Don, shot and produced in Venezuela. Mark Weber, C.A.S. wrapping up a Miami summer with Paris Hilton’s Pledge This and the Paramount TVpilot South Beach and still dodging hurricanes trying to complete the Italian holiday special Christmas in Miami.

Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

BEEN THERE DONE THAT...

ver at Sony, Nello Torri, C.A.S. and Gary Alexander, C.A.S. are mixing Season 3 of Arrested Development. On stage 11 Alan Decker, C.A.S. and Larry Benjamin, C.A.S. are mixing E-Ring, Just Legal and the 6th season of Strong Medicine. For HBO Productions Bill Freesh, C.A.S. and Rusty Smith, C.A.S. are mixing Rome and The Simpsons. On stage 7 Deb Adair, C.A.S. and Carlos De Larios, C.A.S. are mixing Season 2 of Paramount’s Medium as well as Jerry Bruckheimer’s Close to Home. In the Kim Novak Theater Tateum Kohut, C.A.S., Jeff Haboush,C. A.S., and Bill Benton, C.A.S. finished The Legend of Zorro and are now working on Yours Mine and Ours. Bob Beemer, C.A.S., Tateum Kohut, C.A.S., and Steve Maslow, C.A.S. are working on Just Friends for Director Roger Kumble. Gary Bourgeois, C.A.S. and Greg Orloff, C.A.S. have finished Glory Road and are pre-dubbing for All the King’s Men. Kevin O’Connell,C.A.S., Greg Russell, C.A.S., and Rick Klein, C.A.S. are currently working on Memoirs of a Geisha in the Cary Grant Douglas Tourtelot, CAS just returned a bit early from his last project...in New Orleans! He and his crew, Misty Conn on boom and Chris Tiffany on utility left town with a week to go on the CBS movie Vampire Bats It was our third project in New Orleans after finishing Locusts for CBS and For One Night for Lifetime earlier in the year. All are safe but if you have any work for the two local utilities that are without, let me know and I’ll pass it along. Misty and I start a Hallmark project in Portland OR at the end of this month and are grateful to be working. New York’s Matt Foglia, C.A.S. just finished mixing the documentary Wings For Wheels: The Making of Born To Run for the 30th anniversary DVD boxed set release of the Bruce Springsteen classic. Foglia and director/ editor Thom Zimny were able to put creativity in the forefront by using iso tracks from the original recording as the soundtrack. Matt and Zimny also had to resync, by eye (no clapboard), the entire 130 minute, multiple camera Hammersmith Odeon concert from 1975 that is included with the set. Also, Matt performed the audio post mixing for Springsteen’s Storytellers DVD that was released this summer. Additionally, Foglia finished the 10th Annivesary of Ozzfest DVD that will be out for the holidays. He also fills in the gaps with work for ESPN, HBO, MTV and VH1. Jay Rose, C.A.S., just finished sound design for Two Weeks, a comedy/ drama starring two-time Academy Award winner Sally Field and Ben Chaplin. Production mixer was Thomas Morrison. Final mix was at The Dub Stage, Burbank, by Marti Humphrey, C.A.S. Page 30

Paul Vik Marshall, C.A.S., has been mixing the TV series, Free Ride, for The Fox Network. Working with him are his three boom operators, Mitch Cohn, Abel Schiro and Vince Schelly. Mark Hopkins McNabb, C.A.S. is working on Related a new series for the WB network. Mark’s boom operators are Raul Bruce and Jeniffer Winslow. Finished Fur directed by Steven Schainberg, with Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey, Jr. Presently shooting The Good Shepherd directed by Robert De Niro, starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie. Tom Nelson, C.A.S., mixer, with Frank Graziadei, boom and Tommy Louie, 2nd Boom, Cable. My best to everyone out West. Dave Schaff, C.A.S. has been mixing an episode of America’s Most Wanted, National Realtor spots with the company Original Film. Shoots with NFL Films, HGTV, DIY Channel, Brighton Entertainment, TeamWorks Media and he did playback for a music video with the group Sugarland. Bob Israel, C.A.S. reports a very busy quarter of commerical and network promo work including Sears, IKEA, Pepperidge Farms, and a number of days on the set of West Wing with boom operator Mat Dennis for More 4/UK

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

Fall 2005

mmanuel Clemente, C.A.S., did a documentary for divers on the site of the sinking of USS COOPER in the BATTLE of ORMOC in Leyte, Phlippines. The main diver was Rob Lalumiere. It was suppose to be a record in diving at 200m deep to put a comemorative plaque in the bow of the sunken ship. I understand the ﬁnished product will be offered to either History Channel, Discovery or National Geographics. It was entirely shot in BETACAM SP. With me are my Boom Operator Ric de Jesus, and Assistant Sound guy Joseph

Dave Humphries, C.A.S. has been recording ADR for Shameless on location in Manchester, England. He has also been shooting Foley for TV Dramas Dr Who and 55 Degrees North for the BBC and Dead Long Enough and Class of '76 for ITV. He's also tracklayed and mixed Rare Books, a short ﬁlm for the opening night at the Edinburgh Festival; and has been Foley Supervisor for Feature Films Mistress of Spices and The Marksman starring Wesley Snipes. From Steven Grothe, C.A.S.- I am currently mixing the Fox TV show “Bones”. My crew includes Eddie Casares (Boom), and Greg Gardner (Utility).

I’m working on the new Christopher Guest film For Your Consideration for Castlerock: Mixer Mark Weingarten, C.A.S., Boom Larry Commans and Cable Mark Fay, then onto The Santa Clause 3 with the same crew. Sad to see our TV series The Comeback will not be renewed, really enjoyed working with everyone involved, both in front of and behind the camera. Danny Michael, C.A.S. Writes: I have just finished Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, shooting in Boston and NY. In mid-October, I’ll be starting an Ivan Reitman movie Super Ex Girlfriend. Thanks go to Gene Cantamessa, C.A.S. for giving me some of his insight & tips regarding working with Ivan. Cheers. Marti D. Humphrey, C.A.S. has been very busy at “The Dub Stage” mixing the #1 box office movie in September, The Exorcism of Emily Rose,with Todd Grace, C.A.S. . Assistant Re-Recording Mixer was Chris Jacobson, C.A.S. . Marti and Chris are also busy mixing the Chris Rock show Everybody Hates Chris for Paramount. They also finished the Independent movies: Two Weeks staring Sally Field, and Taylor with C.A.S. President Richard Lightstone handling the production mixing. Kim Ornitz, C.A.S. has been staying busy doing Medium for NBC’s Monday night 10 PM slot. The show keeps building a bigger and wider audience, and is going quite well. Mychal Smith is booming and still poo pooing radio mics. Devendra Damon Cleary is the sound utility keeping us “Old Guys” happy. Kim and Mychal will leave the show to jump onto School for Scoundrels starring Billy Bob Thornton with Todd Phillips directing. They will be in Kim’s old stomping grounds, New York City, from Halloween until Thanksgiving, and then return to Los Angeles to hook back up with Devendra Damon Cleary, the “Sound Angel”, to finish the film. (Kim plans his usual two weeks in Cabo during the Christmas Hiatus). The film ends at the end of January at which time the whole crew will rejoin the Medium cast and crew until it wraps for the summer. We have gotten this two camera thing whipped. Happy Holidays to all. Steve Weiss, C.A.S. has been sitting behind the board in Miami for Showtime pilot Dexter and mixing indy Nobel Son.

Page 31

Fall 2005

Journal of the Cinema Audio Society

THE CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY 859 Hollywood Way #632 Burbank, CA 91505 Phone: (818) 752-8624 Fax: (818) 979-9000 www.CinemaAudioSociety.org

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“Dedicated to the Advancement of Sound”

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