Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1490686
54 I M PS E . O R G I've always thought sound recording is a lot like what Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters (1984) do in that we're capturing the seemingly intangible, the mere vibration of objects which leaves behind a spectral signature, their 'ghost.' Raymond Murray Schafer would probably say that what we're doing is "Schizophonia," which means "the splitting of sounds from their original contexts" (Schafer, 1993) which is exactly what we do at large, we capture with microphones vibrations from various sources and embed them into the film where they become dissociated forever from their original sources and forever associated with their new accompanying imagery through synchresis. In addition, sound influences visual perception, sound can for instance, make an object be sensed as heavier or lighter than it is. This is because when there is synchresis, the image adopts the characteristics of the sound. Alan Spet once said in an interview "You have to feel a sound for it to be effective." (Donaldson, LF 2017). In Fight Club, there is a scene at [00:34:36] where Jack hits Tyler Durden in the ear. Tyler recoils in pain and says: "Mother… fucker…You hit me in the ear!" Edward Norton recently confessed in an interview (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 2019) that the punch that is in the cut was the first punch take in the shooting and that he hit Brad Pitt in the ear by accident. That happy accident made Pitt's reaction more authentic and as a result, the scene and ultimately the whole movie better. Actors had set for themselves, willingly or unwillingly, a higher bar as far as reacting to pain and violence goes. In post-production, it was Ren Klyce and company who had to respond to the call. And responded they did as the film was nominated for an Oscar for best sound editing. Mack Hagood points out in his 2014 article "Unpacking a Punch: Transduction and the Sound of Combat Foley in Fight Club"; "while the on-screen punch 'hits' the retina, the skull is penetrated by its sound, which vibrates the drum and bones of the middle ear, activating the cilia of the inner ear and stirring the auditory neurons. In effect, we have been hit in the ear by the sound of the punch, and thus the screen punch resonates with us doubly. To test the assertion that this punch is most powerfully an auditory experience, we need only mute the sound. Watching the silent punch, it becomes clear that we haven't seen a punch at all." (Hagood, 2014). Sound produces a physical experience in the listener. This is why home and car subwoofers, as well as bass-heavy headphones sell so well. As listeners, we like the sensation of sound and like Tyler Durden, we are constantly looking for that sonic punch. "Sound unscrolls itself, manifests itself within time, and is a living process, energy in action." (Michel Chion, quoted in Dyson, F. 2009). In film post-production, Foley artists, Foley editors and sound effects editors work in conjunction to give the sonic punch its desired timbre, size and weight. Foley is key in registering the texture of surfaces, the quality of the objects in the film and their interaction with the characters. Potentially any object that is not in a resting position can be making a sound. Foley recording has the potential to emulate natural hearing or give the audience a superhero hearing sense. This is also the reason why when acting and recording Foley sounds, we're not just concerned with matching visual action, but as Fife correctly points, we're also concerned with thickening the aural texture of a film. Dialogue editors and mixers likewise are able to match the reverberation and acoustic characteristics of the scene or have the character sound as if speaking in a vacuum or in his head. I would add that sound artists in film post-production are highly aware of the physical characteristics of sounds and the coherence between them. When working with sound design, we deal with questions regarding mass, size, position and weight on a daily basis. Although I cannot prove it at the time of writing, I would suggest most people that work in sound would score high in spatial tests. In sound post-production we use the term translate as in; "The mix translated well in this theater." When we are listening to our mixes in a new theater for the first time. I think this choice of words signals the importance we place in not losing any traits of the sonic part of the audiovisual message during playback. Whether we want to deliver a punch or a caress, size, weight and loudness must be translated to the audience. Sensorial cues in film music. "I hear with my whole body." Vivian Sobhack (2005: 10) There are many good examples of directors that have used the physicality evoked by music. In the famous murder scene in Psycho (1968) at [00:47:46], Hitchcock and Hermann used piercing sharp violin strings to evoke piercing sharp physical violence upon Marion Crane (Janet Leigh). "Psycho demonstrates the power of music to enhance the physical nature of violence." Fife points out. (Fife 2014) In Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971), there is a scene at [1:40.58] where Alex is being beaten with a baton by his former 'droogies.' Each hit is punctuated by Wendy Carlos' dissonant, harsh, reverberant synth sounds. The music track used in the scene is "Title music from A Clockwork Orange." It is also recorded entirely using synthesizers and is edited loosely against the picture in that none of its downbeats synchronize with Georgie's hits. It's as if music here is anempathetic to Alex to use Chion's term, as opposed to empathetic. Music here is an additional spectator. Alex is