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Scene from "Saving Private Ryan" |
Even if the invitation to Technicolor had only been to view their newly refurbished sound transfer department, I would have accepted the offer but with the added attraction of a chance to see Spielberg's much acclaimed 'Saving Private Ryan', the offer was quite irresistible. About 40 other people felt the same way. On arrival, security at the gate said to go in the main door and follow the signs to reception. And there in a large room on a long table along one side of the room was a delicious array of 'finger-licking good' snacks. Down at the far end of the room another table was covered with bottles of very drinkable Jacob's Creek red and a very good white wine for those who prefer it. If wine was not your tipple then lager, orange juice and mineral water were also provided. Soon, in a very convivial atmosphere, people were milling about introducing themselves to one another and engaging in pleasant chat. A great start to a great evening. When arrivals seemed top slow down and those early comers had had a chance of a bite to eat and a couple of drinks, Barry Agar, Head of the Transfer Dept, led groups of visitors down to the sound transfer suites. The new department is quite splendid. Entrance is via a medium sized foyer furnished with comfortable seats. On one wall a flow chart in 3D, made up of examples of the various media used for mastering the mixes, shows their progress to the final release print. There are two transfer suites, side by side. Suite No1 is a large brightly illuminated room while No2 room is smaller but both are far removed from the usual claustrophobic, equipment filled cubicles that transfer operators usually have to work in. Representatives from the three film digital sound systems were present to answer questions. John Iles for SR-D, Caroline Underhill for SDDS and Chris Hollebone for DTS. Barry Agar talked about the new layout and explained the transfer process to make a sound negative carrying all four track formats ie analogue Dolby SR, SDDS, SR-D and DTS timecode. The analogue track is in the standard position, SDDS is down the edges of the film outside the sprocket holes, SR-D is between the sprocket holes and the DTS timecode track is squeezed in between the analogue track and the side of the picture frame Questions from the visitors in the group I was with were few, not that Barry and his team and the system reps were allowed an easy ride, people seemed to prefer to ask their questions directly of the staff and reps rather than from the group. Having started my movie sound recording career in the days when everything was recorded photographically, I got to know and understand quite a lot about the technicalities of the system and the hazards of film processing. To me glow lamp, galvo and light valve modulators are easy to understand but John Iles' explanation that it's the flow of a data stream containing the multi channel mix information applied to LEDs that exposes the film is beyond my comprehension. I must do further study! Realising that 'Saving Private Ryan' would run for about three hours, I decided I'd better pay a visit to the 'bathroom' before the show started. I asked Barry if there was a gent's handy and he detailed one of his crew to lead me through a labyrinth of corridors deep into the lab, to the employees locker room. The door to the toilets faced me, I pushed it open and lo I could hardly believe my eyes. What lay before me was the largest most splendid gent's I've ever been in, in any part of the world. Tiles, stainless steel, masses of facilities, brightly painted and all shining spotlessly clean. A real show piece without a doubt. Seeing this splendour provided for the staff, I recalled a recording I once heard of Alf Cooper who had been an ACT shop steward at Technicolor, talking about the primitive working conditions during the 20s and 30s in the UK film processing labs and how impressed he had been when he went to work for Technicolor in the newly-built West Drayton Lab. I can now understand why he was impressed. Before going to the theatre we were invited back to reception for another drink if we so wished. As we proceeded from there to the theatre we were presented with a mini Maglite from Sony SDDS and super black mug with Technicolor Sound Services printed in gold and lower down also in gold lettering Sustaining Member of AMPS. I got quite a kick seeing it and realising that AMPS is now becoming a recognised entity in the motion picture and TV film industries.
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Scene from "Saving Private Ryan" |
Now about the movie. The sound was great. Led by Oscar-winning rerecording mixer and sound designer Gary Rydstrom, the sound team have produced a war sound track to end all war sound tracks. I found the sound during the Normandy beach landing much more alarming and horrifying than the shots of blood and guts. The incessant machine gun fire and shell bursts from all directions made you wonder how anyone could survive such a concentrated attack. I'm afraid I wasn't upset by the blood and gutz. For me the whole idea of war is completely abhorrent; there have been too many in my lifetime. I am well aware that soldiers and civilians suffer horrific injuries. What I saw on the screen looked artificial and rather contrived. That's not to say that the other visual special effects in the movie were unreal, they were most impressive. For me the movie was too long and I hated the over sentimental opening and closing of the story. However, it looks as if I will be in the minority as already claims of 'the greatest movie ever made', are getting about. The reaction of those present at our screening was interesting. At the end fade out, the audience sat silently as the excessively long credit titles (even a credit for the script typist!) ran on and on, and when they eventually ended nobody applauded. It seemed that they had all been completely stunned, whether by the movie or by the length of the credit titles, I'm not sure. The sound we heard was from the SDDS track and I think that it's fair to say that Gary's guys efforts would have been as well conveyed had we heard them in DTS or SR-D.
BOB ALLEN