Hollywood, CA (May 24, 2023)—SMPTE Hollywood subsequent assembly, on May 25, will take a deep dive into remastering basic movies for contemporary theaters geared up with immersive sound methods.
Sony Pictures’ Brian Vessa and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Doug Mountain will discover the creative and technical hurdles concerned in creating enhanced, immersive soundtracks for older studio movies within the context of current restoration work at Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. They can even current samples of that work, performed by the Linwood Dunn Theater’s 7.1 sound system.
The program is being produced by Steven B. Cohen and Linda Rosner. Cohen will reasonable the dialogue scheduled for May 25 at 6:00 p.m. within the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.
Preparing basic movies for screening in fashionable theaters, the place audiences count on immersive sound experiences, could be complicated and difficult. Research could also be required to find the perfect supply components, which frequently want intensive restoration. Audio sources could embody mono composite or DME stem tracks, together with stereo, LCR or 5.1 stems. New sound components could have to be created earlier than it’s all edited and blended in multitrack and immersive codecs. Audio processing [software] with AI elements have additionally appeared to help within the course of.
Brian Vessa, government director of digital audio mastering, Sony Pictures, is a devoted audio skilled with over 35 years of trade expertise. He is a member of the AMPAS Sound Branch and AES and is a Fellow of SMPTE. Vessa is the founding chair of the SMPTE TC-25CSS Technology Committee on Cinema Sound Systems and serves on many SMPTE and AES committees.
Doug Mountain, supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer, Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services, has been recording, modifying and mixing audio for movie, tv and music for over 40 years. Prior to his restoration work, Mountain was a sound editor and engineer for a few years. He additionally served as a consulting engineer for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), together with sound design and engineering for the Grammys Awards for 26 years.
Moderator Steven B. Cohen, senior gross sales director, HCLTech, has been working in media for over 45 years, and is acknowledged as a number one movement image technologist and gear builder. In his present function, he helps digital transformation throughout platforms and merchandise for media associated corporations.
My Dad had an unbelievable memory and depth of knowledge of Hollywood’s Golden Age of film (generally considered the period spanning the mid-1920s to the early 1960s). If we were flipping through channels and came across an old black-and-white movie, he could watch it for about 15 or 20 seconds, then tell you the title, the year it was made, who starred and what (if any) Academy Awards were given to the film, actors or actresses. He’d usually be able to name the director and tell you if the film marked the debut of a soon-to-be prominent actor or actress. It never ceased to amaze me.
Occasionally, I’d get stories of how my Dad and his cousins would pack lunch and head for a movie theater on a Saturday morning, spending the entire day soaking up double-features, newsreels, and cartoons—one of their few means of escaping the Depression and getting a glimpse of the rich and famous. He explained to me how actors and actresses of the time were signed to specific film studios, and I was surprised to learn that they weren’t allowed to seek work outside of their contracted studios, much like modern-day recording artists sign exclusively to a particular record label.
Dad had his favorites, some of whom I recognized: Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. One of his top all-time favorites was Hedy Lamarr, an actress with whom I was unfamiliar and whose name I found most unusual.
Fast-forward to a few weeks ago. I was flipping through TV stations and came across an episode of PBS American Masters called Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. Produced in 2017, “Bombshell” tells the story of this beautiful Austrian-born, er, bombshell actress. I could see why Lamarr was in my Dad’s top ten. I tuned in about halfway through and decided to watch for a while.
The film documents some of the usual Hollywood stuff—the rise and fall, struggles and triumphs of a star—but the episode took a compelling turn when the discussion shifted to Lamarr’s accomplishments as an inventor. “Interesting,” I thought. My Dad would always tease me if we’d see a beautiful Hollywood actress in an interview or TV appearance. He’d give me a smirk and say, “She’s really quite intelligent,” knowing fully well when a glamourous icon was there strictly as wallpaper. Maybe he was teasing me from the beyond.
Lamarr had quite a loyalty to the United States and was concerned with the way World War II was progressing. During the Summer of 1940, she learned that a British ship with 293 people (including 83 children) had been torpedoed by a German U-boat; there were no survivors. According to Bombshell, Lamarr felt guilty that she was in Hollywood earning a fat living while the Allies were losing the war—and U-boats gave the Germans quite an edge. A torpedo launched at a U-boat might need to be redirected, but it was easy for the Germans to find the frequency used for communication between the ship and the torpedo, and jam it by creating interference on that frequency. Lamarr decided to tap into her inventing hobby and do something about it.
The actress came up with the concept of constantly changing the communication frequency between the transmitter and receiver while maintaining sync between the two. This was a technology that would make it much more difficult for an adversary to jam the control signal, because a huge amount of power would be required to block all possible frequencies. As explained in Bombshell, this is called “frequency hopping.”
That’s when I fell off the couch.
You mean to tell me that this bombshell invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum (A.K.A. FHSS)—the same technology used in just about every wireless microphone, instrument transmitter and in-ear monitor system that we use today? In 1941??!!
Yep, and that technology is also used for securing military communications, communications to/from POTUS, and cellular transmission.
The tricky part for Lamarr was synchronizing these frequency hops between the transmitter and the receiver. This is where she called upon her friend, avant-garde composer George Antheil. Antheil had previously composed a piece of music that employed 16 player pianos running in sync.
What if they used the synchronization aspects of the piano rolls to cause the radios guiding the communications to change frequencies?
It sounds insane, but the same technique that kept the player pianos in sync was used to keep the radio transmitter and receiver in sync. Marks on player piano rolls set each device to a particular frequency. As long as the piano rolls played at the same speed, the ship and the torpedo could hop from frequency to frequency while maintaining sync. Absolutely brilliant.
When the concept was brought to the US Navy, they did in fact think that Lamarr and Antheil were insane. They poo-pooed the idea and it took another 20 years before Navy ships adopted frequency-hopping technology. It wasn’t until May 1990 when an article published in Forbes revealed that Lamarr’s contributions to communications were as significant as her good looks.
The frequency-hopping techniques established by Lamarr and Antheil are useful for maintaining security in any location where a large number of radio communications take place in a confined area. Sound familiar? Everywhere, every day. This technology makes it possible for us to use our wireless production gear, WIFI and cell phones, all thanks to the Bombshell. Lamarr received a patent for her idea, but she never received any royalties.
Eastbrook Studios London will be the U.K. capital’s largest film and TV studio campus.
London, UK (November 3, 2020)—Los-Angeles-based real estate investment firm Hackman Capital Partners (HCP) has agreed to invest £300 million over the next three years to develop Eastbrook Studios London, which will be the U.K. capital’s largest film and TV studio campus.
HCP, which owns Culver Studios in Los Angeles and Silvercup Studios in New York City, signed the deal with Barking and Dagenham Council after the original backer dropped out over concerns regarding the potential impact of Brexit. The project, which has long been touted by its backers as London’s answer to Hollywood, already has planning permission.
The campus is expected to include as many as 12 sound stages, three acres of backlot, offices and ancillary space spread over 500,000 square feet — about two-thirds the area of Pinewood Studios, which is about 20 miles west of central London, where the Star Wars and James Bond franchises are produced. Construction is projected to begin on land formerly occupied by a pharmaceutical factory opposite the Dagenham East Underground station in 2021. The first productions at Eastbrook Studios London are due to start filming by mid-2022, with the campus fully operational by 2023.
According to a statement from the Barking and Dagenham Council, the new studios will be a major boost for the borough, the entertainment industry and the capital, creating an estimated 1,200 jobs, contributing £35M per year to the local economy and inspiring more development into thriving East London.
“Dagenham used to be famous for factories and Fords,” says Councilor Darren Rodwell, leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, “but in the future, we will be equally famous for making films. It’s not for the glamour or glory. It’s about bringing in thousands of jobs, providing education and training opportunities for local young people, and giving people hope in these gloomy Covid times.”
More than £3.6 billion was invested into U.K. film and TV productions last year. The coronavirus pandemic has put a serious dent in the business, but analysts estimate that over 85% of productions have returned, mainly in London and the south east of England, bringing employment to more than 100,000 workers.
Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, believes the new studio complex will aid in the capital’s bounce back from COVID-19: “We are already seeing that the success of this industry will help our economy to recover from the impact of the pandemic, and these studios will play a key role in our city’s future.”
Pictured L-R in United Recording’s Studio B are Luis Conte, percussion; Vinnie Colaiuta, drums; Nathan East, bass; Lindsey Webster; Mark Gray, engineer; Wesley Seidman, United engineer; Keith Slattery, keys, production, composer. David Goggin.
Hollywood, CA (August 31, 2020)—Contemporary jazz singer and songwriter Lindsey Webster recorded her new album at United Recording in just the nick of time, completing the project shortly before Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued his Safer at Home emergency order in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
For her sessions at United, Webster assembled a cast of legendary sidemen to realize her vision: Luis Conte on percussion, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Nathan East on bass and Keith Slattery, who also shares producer and composer credits, on keys. Mark Gray engineered alongside United’s Wesley Sideman.
“Working at United was a dream come true,” Webster recalls. “It was inspiring to be in a building with such an incredible history — to stand where some of my musical idols once stood before me. Not to mention recording with some of my favorite musicians of all time. Oh, and of course, the amazing staff at United made the experience such a pleasure. I can’t wait to get back!”
Warner’s new 11-track album is titled A Woman Like Me. The album’s first single, “Feels Like Forever,” hit #14 on the Billboard charts, followed by “One Step Forward.” She has previously garnered two Billboard #1s and seven Top 10s on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart, reportedly making her the first vocalist in the format to garner a #1 since Sade.
“I had the pleasure of working with Lindsey for the first time in Carmel at the Jazz Weekender concert series,” comments bassist Nathan East. “She captivated the entire audience with her amazing singing and that night we both made a promise that we would work together again. Her new album is only the beginning of what I hope to be many more collaborations together.”
Hollywood, CA (August 5, 2020)—The Cinema Audio Society, Motion Picture Sound Editors and the Association of Motion Picture Sound have released an open letter to the film-making community urging for screen credit changes for the principal sound creatives in order to create parity with other key professionals.
The letter, first reported in the Hollywood trade publications, states, “Production Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Re-recording Mixing all contribute to the complete sound experience and are eligible for recognition of major awards. It is remarkable that these persons who receive nominations for numerous international awards, including those from AMPAS and BAFTA, are generally not afforded prominent screen credits that are representative of their creative contribution to the film. We seek your help in correcting this imbalance.”
The letter is signed by Karol Urban CAS MPSE, president, Cinema Audio Society; Mark Lanza MPSE, president, Motion Picture Sound Editors; and Rob Walker AMPS, chair, the Association of Motion Picture Sound.
“Such a screen credit would assure that individuals who were principally responsible for the creative direction of the soundtrack would be clearly identified and acknowledged by the audience,” they also write in the letter.
The letter provides an example, offering a single card in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood following credits for the unit production manager(s) and the first and second assistant directors reading:
Production Sound Mixer: Mark Ulano
Supervising Sound Editor: Wylie Stateman
Re-Recording Mixers: Michael Minkler, CAS, Christian P. Minkler
As the open letter also notes, film is considered a visual medium but, as Star Wars director George Lucas has famously been quoted as saying, “Sound is 50 percent of the movie-going experience.”
