Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541592
64 M PS E . O R G The assumption of what is normal for a human being takes on a different meaning when you realise we are all out here basically hallucinating our perceptual existences. I believe having a strong sense of memory for what 'feels' normal is an invaluable asset—whether it's a natural ambience or situation, or a raw human emotion being expressed. Having a strong sense of how reality can be portrayed sonically as 'normal' means I also have strong ideas about how it can be subverted or gently altered. And that has always been rich territory to explore in films. There is a great quote by George Kneller that I fully subscribe to: "To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted." In hindsight, at first I learned how to emulate and recreate reality, but what appealed to my psyche was how to alter reality. Of course, it's never weird for its own sake, it must serve the story. But it's like subtext for an actor—the 'why' more than 'how.' The motivation and meaning, rather than the practical technique, that's what has always interested me most. Once I had worked on a few films as a sound effects editor, I felt very strongly that my aim was to become a sound designer and/or supervising sound editor. I wanted to collaborate directly with directors, picture editors, and composers, and learn how they think. When I first started working in the industry, it was common for the sound post team not to be engaged until the film was in post-production. This was one of those traditions I instinctively felt was fundamentally wrong, so I started devising ways to change it. No one really told me or taught me to do these things; it just felt like a normal part of being proactive and finding interesting work. This was all long before the internet, when access to information was scarce. But I have always been an active user of libraries and would inter-loan books on film sound. One example that impacted me deeply was an article that appeared in the American Cinematographer magazine in December 1984, which explained in depth the work of Alan Splet and Ann Kroeber on David Lynch's film Dune (1984). I still refer back to the ideas and tactics they used, and that was my first exposure to recording using contact mics. In a way, they became my role models. So, once I had progressed enough to be sound designer on a film, the approach I pursued had been forming through all the years of previous work. Another example: I'm not an extrovert. I have never networked in my life. When I was first asked to pitch for a film, it made me very nervous, especially when I knew I needed to be confident. I came to realise the only thing that helped my nerves was to be Capturing impulse responses at Echo Point, Takaka, NZ.