Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521235
84 M PS E . O R G Jenny Ward MPSE: It is hard for any of us to explain the work performed in sound post- production, but describing your key role is even more difficult. How would you describe what you do? Andrew Bock: Like a lot of jobs in the movie business, the assistant sound editor's work goes unnoticed in the final film. But I feel we still occupy an important role in the process. To borrow a naval analogy, the supervising sound editor is the captain of the ship, and the first assistant sound editor is their lieutenant—helping guide the crew along as the edit progresses. The role functions as the primary liaison between the picture and sound editorial teams; coordinating the flow of materials between departments, tracking the progress of the edit, and shepherding the film through the sound post-production process. I view my main role as relieving the sound supervisor of the mechanics of post-production so that they can concentrate on the artistic design of the soundtrack. Every assistant editor and sound team are different, so I don't know how similar my experiences have been to others. Richard is in charge and the buck certainly stops with him, but over the years, he has allowed me to assume more of the day-to-day responsibilities which I find rewarding. I like being challenged, learning new skills, and helping others, so assisting is a natural fit for me. Let's go back to how you began your journey in sound. What was it that made you think about a career in sound post-production? Many of us who grew up in the 1970s were obsessed with Star Wars when it came out. I was 10 years old and can still remember the experience of going to see it with my brother. We waited in a huge line that wrapped around the theatre and snaked up the block. It was the longest queue I had ever seen! The whole audience sat transfixed as Princess Leia's ship roared across the screen with Darth Vader in hot pursuit, lasers blasting, and John Williams' score thundering. I was pretty young, but I knew there was something special about the movie, and particularly the sound. My brothers are total film nuts and were always taking me to see movies when I was a kid. I was raised on a steady diet of adventure films like E.T., Jaws, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I loved movies but it never even occurred to me that people 'worked' in the film business. It wasn't until I was out of high school and working in a paper factory that I gave it some thought. I was a rather unexceptional student and failed miserably in my first college attempt and quickly dropped out. After a couple of years of sole-crushing factory work, one day I made a fateful decision to take a few film courses at my local junior college and vowed that if I got decent marks, I would pursue it as a career. To my surprise, I got straight A's in my film theory classes and the quest was on! I quit my job, applied to USC Film School, proposed to my girlfriend (now wife), and left for a vacation in Australia with the last of my savings. There was no looking back now. Australia!? What made you spend the last of your hard-earned dollars coming to Australia? (Sorry, I had to ask. I'm Australian.) My brother Roger, who lives in Melbourne, wrote to me that he was getting married and would I attend? I was still very young and had never travelled outside the US, so my other brother John (there are a lot of us—I am the youngest of seven) decided to make a big vacation out of it. We planned a major exploration that included three days of diving the Great Barrier Reef, a four-wheel drive excursion in Far North Queensland (FNQ) from Port Douglas to Cooktown, bush-bashing through the Daintree Rainforest, and a bit of the outback, then on to Melbourne for the wedding. I can still remember eating freshly Andrew Bock at work, The Way Back (2009). Photo by Ron Bartlett.