Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/610602
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y F A L L 2 0 1 5 27 Mangini used a popular metaphor to explain this theory. If you go on a date, you see the reality of the moment, but as you become interested in your potential partner, reality slowly disappears and "you are immersed; emotion takes over. We invest in a film because of the emotional content of the story." Echoing sentiments stated by Randy Thom CAS in his 2014 keynote address, Mangini says that sound can work on an emo- tional platform if you know where to place it. GROUNDHOG DAY Throughout the lecture, Mangini used simple slides with short phrases on them. "GROUNDHOG DAY" is the title given to his repeated and frustrating experiences with test screenings and his inability to give story and narrative-driven feedback to directors. He did not feel he was making valuable contributions to the film when his comments were reduced to the technical aspects of sound, such as "we need to ADR the beach scene." BE IN THE CONVERSATION Instead, he recommends learning how to emotionally analyze a film's strengths and weaknesses. "Understand the language of film. Sound design is storytelling," he said, as BE IN THE CONVERSATION filled the screen. HOW VS. WHY You cannot do the "how" if you do not know the "why." Stories need to be broken down into dramatic arcs. A slide showed a slightly modified favorite Far Side cartoon, with a man speak- ing to his dog. "What we Say to Dogs Directors: Sample rates, kilohertz, divergence, polar patterns," versus "What they Hear: I make your story scary … blah blah blah blah blah …" Mangini further recounted his frustration at the lack of respect and appreciation filmmakers have for sound, noting by way of example, his distaste for being known as "The Sound Guy," yet the director of photography is not "The Image Guy." Mangini related a story from his experience on the 2009 film Star Trek, directed by J.J. Abrams. Mangini was challenged to create a new sound design for a sequence in which Spock engages in a mind meld with Kirk to explain how he came into the alternate timeline. Abrams was not happy with the existing sound, and to Mangini, it was clear that the sounds were not the problem, the design of the sequence was. "It played like a trailer in the middle of the movie. "Let the narrative guide the sound choices." Mangini sug- gested, among other things, dropping the musical score, along with dropping about half of the voice-over, which was very expository. This left room for narrative aspects of the sound design to make a statement. The director was so happy with the result that Mangini and his collaborator, Mark Binder, were given a special credit: "Mind Meld Soundscapes By." RISK TAKING and MITIGATED SPEECH These are the next two slides, and they are clearly related. Citing author Malcolm Gladwell's work in Outliers, Mangini talked of the dangers of mitigated speech. In order for an art- ist to create, he or she must be free to experiment without fear of failure. Yet many artists are not comfortable speaking freely and candidly with their filmmakers. Mangini referred to this as "the Hollywood pandemic: fear of saying what you really think." Two slides with quotes emphasize this paradox; Pauline Kael's quote, "Hollywood is the only place where you can die of encouragement," followed by a quote from Francis Ford Coppola, "Cinema without risk is like having no sex and expecting a baby."