THE SOUNDMAN

[Music] can I sort me about that woman anymore you mind you gee I'm sure glad you believe me the police caught sound and motion pictures has made better entertainment for millions of people not so long ago we had this in took 100 years and thousands of dreams to bring present-day sound to the screen Thomas a Edison first reproduction of a voice revolutionized the theory of town from its crude beginning the story of sound and motion pictures is one of continual research and improvement the recording of sound and motion pictures require as many technicians especially trained in the science of acoustics what I did kill her in my sleep I did it you couldn't have you couldn't hurt anyone while they're making this scene let's see what happens to the actors voices from the time they speak their dialogue on the set until you hear them in the theatre sound waves are picked up by the microphone and converted into electrical impulses and sent through these cables to a mixing console where the recording engineer controls the volume output in much the same manner as you control the volume on your radio this now man's job is to judge the quality of sound coming from the various microphones and to maintain the proper level between sound and picture at all times from hear the voices travels to relays in every manner of amplifying equipment to the recording room where they are photographed on a separate piece of film the sound film negative is developed in the film laboratory in exactly the same manner in which the picture negative is developed and becomes a separate soundtrack practically everyone knows how a voice now but do you know how a voice look projected on a screen a voice looks and sounds like this I must have the house was locked nobody else could get in eventually the picture is synchronized with a soundtrack and both are threaded photographically on one piece of positive film I don't know who took her away I don't know why she's gone there's no trace her nightgown the one I had on simple isn't it well I guess anything is simple once you take a lifetime to learn it the first full length all talking motion pictures imperfect by present standards created an unparalleled sensation at the time but it presented almost insurmountable obstacles to the actors who had to play to a fixed microphone possibly located in this telephone I planted the stuff in any shop yeah and the dicks will be there at channel o'clock but they must not find Eddie [Music] the sound men had to develop their medium to meet all conditions both indoors and outdoors the first full-length talking picture to be photographed out of doors was titled in old Arizona but again hidden microphones had to be placed in fixed positions to record the sound today with improved portable equipment allowing greater freedom of action we can do things like this in our film libraries there are thousands of sound little sounds and big sound brought the sound and pleasant sound [Music] here they are all files cross filed and begging to be heard [Music] but wait a moment wait a moment these sounds need to be synchronized with pictures and artistically blended by the sound men before they have much meaning here's how it's done we'll take the various bits and pieces of a racetrack scene from the picture return of October as our example in this film can are the sounds of crowd cheers this one contains the sounds of horses running on a racetrack and here we have a racetrack narrator there they go it's sunset getting away in front bandstand is running second Nevada all these sounds are synchronized with the picture by the sound effects color after cutting the individual sound tracks must be blended into one fact in the recording room here this crew of highly trained sound specialists actually blends the different sounds into the completed product you will hear in your theater these dials control the volume of each individual sound track like this this man controls the horses hoofs and crowd cheers [Music] this one handles the narration and the dialogue and Stan the second fire lane and here comes charm boy on the rail tomboy is making his move on and this man continually modifies the quality of all the sounds to ensure uniform blending the individual sound tracks are ready to be blended into a single soundtrack the film is sliced on the screen now watch closely and you will see an example of the artistry and teamwork that are part of all good motion picture making second by a head the batter's running third by orders of Elena short-notice fourth by a neck lady in your theater the scene will look and sound like this Pam Stan the second fire lane and here comes Tom boy off the rail car boy is making his move on the inside there goes tomboy it sunsets do leading by three lights and here comes Tom boy running over horses cowboy swinging on the rail what you have seen is a small part of the story of sound in motion pictures if sound had not been developed our schools would not have their present audio visual aid we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal we would not be able to see and hear the great artists of the past do you recognize these voices [Music] [Music] [Applause] the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has an award for the best achievement in sound recording each year here are a few of them [Music] beautiful skater thank you beautiful go - hello I just phoned at my turn hey Paul get read in a car just like Humpty Dumpty I'm gonna bawl and I said sittin on top top of the world rolling along [Applause] the topping motion picture of today has brought to the screen new hided expressions and we the sound man will continue to perfect our medium in an effort to bring better entertainment to you [Music]