Subject: Sound Design in the Fellowship of the Rings
From: IanGoldsmith (i_goldsmith@paradise.net.nz)
Date: Tue Jan 01 2002 - 03:14:19 EST
I composed the following letter upon seeing Kevin's letter but thought I'd
wait for the morning before sending it. I see now that The Lord of the Rings
is a bit of a hot topic and I hesitate before adding fuel to the flames.
Nevertheless, I suppose I should send it since I may be closer to things in
some
respects.
Kevin Wrote:
>Not sure if this might be of interest here, but it seems that it might
be
>an interesting place to have a quick 'holiday chat'.
>
>
>Having seen "The Fellowship ..." (Part I of TLOTR) once, on an IMAX size
>screen, Dolby digital etc ... and having sat through the 4 - 5 minutes
of
>credits, as I recall (!?) there were only a few more than half a dozen
> names
>associated with sound / music, compared to the several hundred who worked
>on the visuals.
>
>Sadly, IMV, this shows throughout the film. The "music" portion(s) I
> found
>patchy and slightly gratuitous -- I felt no over-riding 'vision' for the
>sound. A fair number of interesting 'effects' (and cute 'sonic
>perspective' shifts), but (IMV) this is second year electroacoustic
>student stuff (so-called PhotoShopMusic) -- a lack of a fundamental,
>comprehensive and clearly integrated 'sound design' for the film. Maybe
>they'll get around to fixing this for the 20th anniversary re-release.
>
>What am I missing? Comments?
>
>
>Health and peace in the season of lights.
I live in Wellington, New Zealand where the triology is made and acted in
the films over a 12 month period in various guises. I saw first hand the
kind of atmosphere that was being generated, and as a sound designer I was
interested in what the sound department was going to come up with.
I approached the key people in the department with a portfolio
of very interesting sounds from 13 electroacoustic musicians. I knew that
any 'music' was contracted out ( ie had already been sorted
contractually),and that because the only other area available was 'special
effects', that I would need to be careful in how I went about presenting
the ideas.
In other worlds, I knew that they would not be interested in anything that
had a
traditional structure (akin to 'music'), even within an electroacoustic
field and that anything they received needed to be almost 'off the shelf'
and able to be utilised as sound effects. I submitted a good portfolio
within the limitation of the constraints as I saw them. I knew that because
they are very busy, that I needed to condense everything down - a few
seconds from this person, a few seconds from that. I took 19 CDs of music
and condensed it down to just over 16 minutes of sound. I very much wanted
an electroacoustic feel for the films, because I could see that this was a
golden opportunity to expose a good percentage of the world to the
electroacoustic art. I wanted them to employ university trained
electroacoustic musicians (-not that that affects the quality necessarily -
although I guess the training can help.After all, where does true innovation
come from? It comes from where the inspiration lies, and what is inspired
for one person can be tedium for another, or not up to someone else's
'grade' -
the dishing out of points on another person's scale.)
I did my utmost, but was told that 'no one in the world was interested in
that
kind of approach', and that it was 'outdated'. ( Perhaps 'that kind of
approach' refers to the way I presented things rather than electroacoustics
per se, but nevertheless others could not understand why it was so flatly
rejected. I felt it was perhaps a little ahead of its time, in the sense
that the tendency is for traditon to hold sway - at least when there is big
money involved.) I was told that everyone was interested in a 'more
naturalistic approach' - although that wouldn't cut out an electroacoustic
approach of course.I felt, and still feel now, that electroacoustics
potentially can given an incredible elemental feel in ways that really push
boundaries. I still have not seen 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and so cannot
comment on what they have achieved, but I am apprehensive having read
your comments.I would like to see the mainstream movie makers try and
approach music and sound a little differently and I would like the
electroacoustic community to lead the way in this respect. It's obvious that
there is a lot of stuff that is really amazing and yet it's almost as if
cimema
goers are being told that they can't cope with anything that gets past the
constraints of received musical and cinematic culture ( - as in the received
'wisdom' of it all, I mean). I feel that electroacoustics - and preferably
an
entire score, which is what I would like to have seen with the Lord of the
Rings rather than a reliance on a traditional orchestral approach), would
really make things even more overwhelming and exciting than the rushes
I have seen indicate is in store for me when I go and view the film in a few
days time. The ones I spoke to would be horrified to hear that their sound
lacks an over-riding sound 'vision', I guess.
I should explain that I'm not a big fan of total adherence to
received structures and that a lot of music that inspires me is composed by
people who have a sense of what should come next without being told that
they may or may not place this sound beside that, or that note beside
another - but I guess that's another discussion entirely. I suppose I shall
hear
for myself to what extend they hit the mark. I'm told it is a spectacular
film.
Ian
www.MP3.com/hepa
aka The Highly Experimental Projection Agency
Ian Goldsmith
silversnap@altavista.com
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