Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500189
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S 63 effects where I would help the jaw movement, etc. Also in that film, there's a little character called Frenzy. I'm pretty sure Alyson Moore did that character for Frenzy. If you've seen the wine bottle openers that have the double arms and that you screw in the top, then you just pull the arms on the other side and out pops a cork? That was part of Frenzy. But really, as I say the mother of necessity there again, for that film was the footlocker, which really became a standard in my repertoire after that. The supervising Foley editor is Luke Dunn Gielmuda. SSS: Now where was that done? Were you at Warner Bros. or were you up at Skywalker already? JR: No, I definitely wasn't at Skywalker. I guess the question is, was that at Warner Hollywood or was it done at Warner Bros. proper? I'm going to say Warner Bros. proper. I'd have to check that but I'm pretty sure that'd be correct. SSS: Okay, the 10th film, and last but [definitely] not least, Interstellar, 2014. JR: Yes, Interstellar. Richard King is another fabulous supervising sound editor and sound designer. This is a film which has a lot of unusual aspects to it. There are robots that walk, but not the kind of robot you and I might think like "Robbie the robot" or our Transformers. These things look like angle irons walking around. The director, Christopher Nolan, from what I know, I really didn't ever talk to him except when I met him once, but he was very into having what he wants—like every director would want, but he would pay potentially more attention than other ones. It came about like, let's figure out how we can make the sound of the robot walking, but it really wasn't happening on the Foley stage. Richard King said he had a way to do this. We were going to go to an airplane boneyard in California, and we were going to shoot inside a plane fuselage. Now, when I say plane fuselage, it's not like there were seats inside it or anything else, no, there was nothing inside it, strictly just the fuselage. There was a deck, that is something you can walk on, but it's just there's nothing there. In fact, you could see the actual paint, it's green. So Chris Flick, myself, and some other people went there. I had these shoes that were made up that I attached to my feet. There was a monitoring system, etc., and we recorded me walking up and down this fuselage for the sound of the robot feet. How is this unusual? We were not actually on the Foley stage, number one, and we were dealing with somewhat sometimes termed 'guerrilla Foley.' But, I thought it really worked well, because it just gave us this incredible sound where you felt like this thing is really moving, really walking. I actually have a video of this somewhere. SSS: Did you record this Foley, these footsteps, and then have the editor cut them in like sound effects? Did you record a library of robot footsteps? JR: I recorded to picture. SSS: Does the term 'guerrilla Foley' mean that you did not shoot it on the Foley stage, or recorded it on set? JR: Well, I'd say yes, but in a sense, sometimes 'guerrilla Foley' can be you're going somewhere else and kind of stealing it, so to speak. I've done that other times in my career, but this was set up really well. I mean, we all drove up there, and we had the time to do it. There's another section of the film where we are walking on an ice planet. There's something called 'crampons,' which are devices which attach to hiking boots that give you a grip on an icy surface. I had to get large blocks of ice brought to the Foley stage and walked on top of those to get the correct Foley for it. SSS: Do you still have them? JR: I do. They're actually at the archive Foley stage now. So, I guess the wrap up on Interstellar is, as each film that we've mentioned before, each have a unique challenge that collectively, we all came up with something which I think worked and was a little outside of the norm. I hope people reading this article have enjoyed that. SSS: It is a privilege and an honor to have you share with us the experiences of these unique and unusual Foley cues that you created and you experienced and has never been done before. As long as I've been doing Foley, I know how custom Foley is, and how unusual it is, but to do these specific types of cues is outside the box and a whole new way of looking at worldizing on set and creating elements for The Rocketeer which is sound design. If I may say, the rockets you created for The Rocketeer is sound design. It defines sound design. It's an honor, John, to be in your life and to be a part of your career. It's an honor. I'm your biggest fan and I love you to pieces. JR: I feel the same way, so there you go. It's been fun chatting with you. I've learned that in 69 years of life, be happy. Be happy. SSS: So what's next, John? I'm retired now. I have a company, Audible Bandwidth Productions, where we offer services to retrofit Foley stages, build a new one, or even give classes to the artists who are in residence. I also do public speaking through the Mollie Plotkin Group. I'm still around is what I'm trying to say. SSS: Oh, we worship your presence, we will always need you, John. We will always look for you. Thank you so much, John. You're incredible.