Randy Thom interview: Part two

 Hey everyone so this is part two of the Randy Thom interview, this next part will talk about the topic of editing picture with sound in mind, this will primarily focus on film editors rather than sound designers however its useful to know if the editor your working with has sound in mind while editing.

One technique that he mentions is a technique that walter murch uses who is a film editor and sound designer as mention in my previous blog posts. The technique involves editing the picture without hearing the synced sound track, you are editing the picture in silence. He says that this approach can ironically be a great boon to the use of sound in the movie. He also says that if the editor can imagine the sound which might eventually accompany a scene rather than listen to the rough dis-continuous, often annoying sync track then the cutting will be more likely to leave room for those beats in which sound other than dialogue will eventually make its contribution. I think this makes a lot of sense, I have only edited a few times and while editing the scenes together the audio was quite annoying and distracted me from making certain cuts and transitions that I might have done if I were working in silence.

He also lists a few bullet points of what sound can do for a film

·      Suggest a mood evoke a feeling

·      Set a pace

·      Indicate a geographical locale

·      Indicate a historical period

·      Clarify the plot

·      Define a character

·      Connect otherwise unconnected ideas characters, places images or moments

·      Heighten realism or diminish it

·      Draw attention to detail or away from it

·      Indicate changes in time

·      Smooth otherwise abrupt changes between shots or sscenes

·      Emphasize a transition for dramatic effect

·      Describe an acoustic space

·      Startle or soothe