Walter Murch, Academy Award winning sound designer who worked on several Coppola epics including Apocalypse Now and The Conversation, talks about the role of reverb in this video. He also discusses some recording techniques that might seem to be old fashioned but are actually still used today, i.e. that of re-recording sounds in a physical environment to capture the real feel of a space. That same technique was used quite a bit in an animated feature I recently enjoyed c/o Ricky Grove, Monster House (very highly recommended if you've not seen it).
He also discusses a speed change technique related to reverb that is positively brilliant.
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Hey, thanks a lot for that. I'm an Audio Engineer myself so I'm quite interested. I'll keep a note of those tips.
Great video! His book on film editing is also one of my favorites - 'In the Blink of and Eye'.
I love this guy. Imagine recording your original dialog or effects in the actual space to get the right amount of reverb. Amazing. I think too many machinima films lack this simple extra touch to add depth and realism to their voices/effect. I added just a hint of reverb to the main voice narration in The Snow Witch and it settled the voice right into the beautiful environment that Michelle created for the film. Otherwise, the voice was dry and stayed out in front and separate from the rest of the film.
There's lots of info/articles on Murch on the net. His "Stretching Sound to Help the Mind See" is here:
http://filmsound.org/murch/stretching.htm
He's such a brilliant artist and thinker. Just about anything he works on turns to gold.
Thanks for this clip, Phil.
Matt's Mantra: repeat after me: "Film is an AUDIO-visual medium!" Excellent stuff.