Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1259912
34 S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y CAS Award Winner – Documentary MEET THE WINNERS Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound by Matt Foglia CAS At the beginning of Making Waves, Walter Murch walks us through our first exposure to sound—in the womb—as he states that we first make "sense of the world—only using sound." We then travel through a montage of clips demonstrating the influence of sound on stories before hearing (and seeing) an Imperial Star Destroyer firing and flying overhead. Then, silence. Finally, we hear George Lucas speak the sound person battle cry, "Sound is half the experience." This year's Documentary award winner is about sound for film—the history, the major developments, the heavy-hitters, the process. It's about what we do, how it's done, and the impact it makes. The film provides a really enjoyable and informative look at our craft. If your friends and family know what you do but don't really know what you do—have them watch Making Waves and I bet they 'll have a much better understanding. I spent time via Zoom with some of the folks who helped bring the sound to this film about sound: production sound mixer David J. Turner CAS, scoring mixer Dan Blanck CAS, and re-recording mixer Tom Myers CAS. DAVID J. TURNER CAS: Production Sound Mixer Production sound mixer David J. Turner—who also was the project's picture editor and, as a result, was nominated for an Eddie Award—was bitten by the film bug in high school. "We had a unit of video poetry in my senior English class where we took a poem and made a movie of it. It was the first time I had ever used nonlinear editing software. I was able to mix the production sound with the music—which was a process I wasn't really aware of. It totally clicked with me though, and I decided, 'I guess I'll go into film!'" David, also being a musician, went onto study music composition, film, and philosophy in college before moving to Minneapolis to work as a videographer for a nonprofit. Being sent to Southeast Asia to work on a piece about the 2004 tsunami relief work being done there, he would shoot, record sound, and edit the piece—which he later submitted to the Telly Awards. "I wound up receiving their top award for sound design, which I was pretty surprised by at the time. I had been conscious to record the sound well because I knew it would impact the quality, and I was very particular with the mix—but I just thought that was what everyone did." Deciding to pursue his MFA, David studied at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. "I went in wanting to be a director but, within the first year, I was really taken by post-production sound and picture editing. Looking back, that first professional accolade I received in Minneapolis had been for sound, but I hadn't really made the connection to pursue it further until grad school." While at USC, David was the teaching assistant to the director of Making Waves, Midge Costin, who is a professor there. During the end of his studies in the fall of 2011, Midge and producers Bobette Buster and Karen Johnson put together some proof-of-concept trailers for a documentary (L-R) CAS members Dan Blanck, David Turner, and Tom Myers. Photo: ABImages