Sound then Light

[Kevin Sorensen]

Sound is the Primordial substance from which our whole Reality is made, and from which our Universe originated. Whether you consult the Sanskrit Vedas, or the Bible, it is still Sound which is considered the heart of all existence. "In the beginning was the Word," and only afterwards was proclaimed, "Let there be light." Sound preceded all that we see. So powerful and all-pervasive, and yet we pay very little attention to it, and so often confuse it with noise.

[Rainier Davenport]

Yeah, right on! I come from the more shallow end of the Gene Pool so I can't quite match you on those kind of ideas, but what you wrote got me thinking about what happens when you got to meet a Producer or Line Producer/Production Manger for the first time and you know you are a serious contender for the job. So you go through the interview and usually at some point they will give you a copy of the script and you say, "I'll read it and think about the equipment requirements and logistical challenges", and they say "Look, we like you, but there are other people we are considering at this point, but we can't tell you who those people actually are." Both are bold faced lies, because you know you've got enough gear and they hope you might do the job because of the piss weak money on offer.

But the interesting thing about this interview is that they have given you a copy of the script. And what does the script contain? It contains Dialogue between characters, in fact lots of dialogue between characters and descriptions of what is happening in the story. This is the crucial point, a writer/writers have spent lots of time writing dialogue between characters, so, in a way, the sound/dialogue is coming first. By this stage the production probably has a DOP on board who has spent time interpreting the script in a visual manner and considering how their fame and glory is going to arrive by saving time shooting wide and tight, at the same time!

I don't know how many times I've sat at the Sound Desk and Recorder while the Boom Op. is being shafted at the Coal face and I've thought to myself, "This dialogue was written way before You (DOP) came on board this Production and here you are screwing it up for the Sound Team again trying to capture the performance, for your minute in the spotlight".

Probably none of you Hollywood types will agree, as you are all doing "Sound for Picture", but that script came first and it didn't contain any wide and tight camera angles, nor two, three, four, five camera coverage to make the shooting faster (ha ha ha).

I'm not suggesting that multi cam coverage, wide and tight is anything but the norm these days. The point is that in a way the script came first. Pity it seems to get lost in all the noise afterward.

[taylormadeaudio]

~tt

[Rainier Davenport]

I like your story! That's pretty funny.

[taylormadeaudio]

Thanks Rainier,

Yeah, it was all pretty light-hearted -- sorry for the ensuing stench it created between myself and another person. I've always felt that if one can spin this particular concept into more of a humorous banter, it can actually help alleviate some of the tension that seems to creep up between departments from time to time. However, as you may have witnessed in the case of the thread I started, there can be a very fine (and quickly dissolved) line between friendly banter, and derisive personal attacks. I will always try to advocate for the former, but there's only so much a person can take. Anyhow, glad you liked it.

~tt

[Rich Van Dyke]

So then, I guess you would say. "If a Big Bang happened in the Universe, and no one was there to hear it.........."

Just to play devil's advocate, of course your assumption relys on the fact that someone was there to hear the first word, furthermore, I guess it was so dark, before Light, that there was no vision.

So, if I understand your pursuit of Divine Creation, Adam must have been an Assistant Director! Why, because once we were lit, his first word must have been Roll Sound!!

Cheers, no malice intended

Rich Van Dyke

[Jim Feeley]

Why limit the discussion to just two senses?

[taylormadeaudio]

Hey RVD,

I definitely appreciate the light-heartedness of your reply, and certainly don't take offense -- too many people resort to an adversarial stance at the first hint of a difference in opinions -- myself

included.

That said, I hope you don't take the little saying attached to my profile to mean that I'm some sort of right-wing religious zealot who takes everything written in the Bible and swallows it down like so many freaked out man-made religions want me to.

With respect to linear time, I don't pretend to know what happened before I was about 3 or 4 -- that's the farthest back my memory serves me. Beyond that, we have recorded history -- which as you know, is recorded or "written by the winners"... so that system is flawed...

...beyond that, we have some science (and how many times has science "changed it's mind") and supposition... to try and figure out what actually went down between the first (recovered) recorded idea and right around the big bang point in (linear) time...

I wasn't there -- have no idea what actually happened when, and by whose "hand" or "word" or...

But I absolutely love the saying:

"In the beginning, God said let there be light"

...what those words imply about our existence, about the perception contained within the entity from which that saying was originally uttered, or written, or painted... is golden. There is a lot of power in the spoken word, and perhaps what this saying reminds us (or me, anyway) as it pertains to our little corner of the world called filmmaking, is that what I do DOES matter. I do have the potential to contribute to make something better... even if its just a TV show or a movie people will only see on NetFlix, or maybe in a theater, if it's really good and well-marketed... it might not be rocket surgery, but I'm thankful for the career with which I've been blessed -- by whom? ; )

~tt

[taylormadeaudio]

...and just to play devils advocate as well...

So then, I guess you would say. "If a Big Bang happened in the Universe, and no one was there to hear it.........."

Just to play devil's advocate, of course your assumption relys on the fact that someone was there to hear the first word, furthermore, I guess it was so dark, before Light, that there was no vision. ...

Cheers, no malice intended

Rich Van Dyke

Just using simple Aristotelian logic (as base and flawed a system as it is)... why would one have to assume the presence of ears to accept the presence/existence of sound? And likewise, why does one have to assume the presence of light in order to accept the presence/existence of eyes (and with them, the capability for vision?)

Anyhow, just having fun... wherever this winds up going, I'm looking forward : )

~tt