Ben Burtt is an American sound designer, film editor, director, screenwriter, and voice actor. He has worked as sound designer on various films, including the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), WALL-E (2008) and Star Trek (2009).
He is most notable for popularizing the Wilhelm scream in-joke and creating many of the iconic sound effects heard in the Star Wars film franchise, including the "voice" of R2-D2, the lightsaber hum, the sound of the blaster guns, and the heavy-breathing sound of Darth Vader, made from himself breathing into a scuba regulator. Burtt is also known for "voicing" the title character, Wall-E, in the 2008 Pixar movie WALL-E. He also created the robotic sound of Wall-E's voice, along with all the other characters in WALL-E, and was the sound editor of the movie.
In an interview on the official Star Wars YouTube channel, Burtt explains that the soundtrack is completely fabricated in a studio. Only about 15 to 20% of the dialogue in the Star Wars franchise was recorded on-set; everything else was recorded later, including sound effects from footsteps to cloth rustle to exploding Death Stars.
One of the main techniques used to record the added sound is called foley sound. This is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to a film in post-production to enhance audio quality. The most commonly reproduced sounds are footsteps as they are rarely picked up by microphones when the film is being shot. In Star Wars, in particular, all the sounds of the lightsabers and laser blasters will have been added using foley sound as they are impossible to replicate on set while filming. The best Foley art is so well integrated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience. It helps to create a sense of reality within a scene. Without these crucial background noises, movies feel unnaturally quiet and uncomfortable.
In an interview on the official Star Wars YouTube channel, Burtt explains that the soundtrack is completely fabricated in a studio. Only about 15 to 20% of the dialogue in the Star Wars franchise was recorded on-set; everything else was recorded later, including sound effects from footsteps to cloth rustle to exploding Death Stars.
One of the main techniques used to record the added sound is called foley sound. This is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to a film in post-production to enhance audio quality. The most commonly reproduced sounds are footsteps as they are rarely picked up by microphones when the film is being shot. In Star Wars, in particular, all the sounds of the lightsabers and laser blasters will have been added using foley sound as they are impossible to replicate on set while filming. The best Foley art is so well integrated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience. It helps to create a sense of reality within a scene. Without these crucial background noises, movies feel unnaturally quiet and uncomfortable.
Foley artists recreate the realistic ambient sounds that the film portrays. The props and sets of a film often do not react the same way acoustically as their real-life counterparts. Foley sounds can also be used to cover up unwanted sounds captured on the set of a movie during filming, such as overflying aeroplanes or passing traffic.
No comments:
Post a Comment