Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1490686
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S I 31 Let's face it, most don't know what we do. BY CHRIS ASSELLS MPSE RET. We patiently try to explain it to family and friends, they nod and say, "Oh, I see" but they don't really get it. They have perhaps seen one of those short films on Foley that sometimes play before the feature at a movie theater. Remember that L.A. Times one that played forever? Our family and friends' sound knowledge seems to begin with that Foley stuff and end with Ben Burtt banging on a metal cable. Daddy 's Day Out They'll ask, "Do you do that thing where you snap celery stalks for breaking bones?" You'll answer with a sigh, "Well, that's part of what is done, but I..." and halfway through your explanation you realize both you and they have lost interest. You could finish with "...that's when the ball gag comes out" and they would politely nod and respond, "That's interesting." The following is from a nine- or ten-year old memory of me showing my dad what we do in the dark. This is not one of those "I worked with Walter Murch on Apocalypse Now changing sound as we knew it" accounts or an "I walked Foley for Sergio Leone" story, it's much smaller in scale. I apologize in advance for explaining things obvious to most and take full responsibility for any mistakes, technical misinformation, and manufactured dialogue. For a good part of my career, I not only cut sound, I was also a stage editor. I set up on the dub stage during the mix ready to put out fires, cut sweeteners, cut pull- ups (remember those?), go where pointed and in later years, discreetly L-R: Per Hallberg, Brad Sherman, director Steven Quale, and Steve Pederson. Chris Assells and actor Derrel Maury in the background. Photo by Daniel Saxlid.