MAKING WAVES: THE ART OF CINEMATIC SOUND review

Featuring acclaimed sound designers Walter Murch, Ben Burtt, Gary Rydstrom and countless more, now in cinemas and on demand is Midge Costin's documentary about the journey of sound at the movies.

Making Waves starts with a big idea that is hard to dispute. Sound is the first thing we're exposed to, in the darkness of the womb, making what sense we can of the world with the information we're given. It's not too big a leap to equate this to the experience of cinema, with storytellers like Spielberg, Lucas, Kubrick and Coppola name checked as creative pioneers who understood the importance that sound was to their films. That might sound like an obvious statement (as Ang Lee states in the film "movies is sight and sound"), but by charting the history of cinema this film digs deep into how the art of cinematic sound has expanded its role.

Within the first few minutes of Making Waves, we're introduced to talking heads from Walter Murch, Ben Burtt and Gary Rydstrom, three hugely important contributors to how we experience sound at the movies; and they're just the tip of the iceberg for this film, which has an astonishing line-up of key industry figures on show. The film is largely split into two distinct chapters, firstly following the emergence of sound in cinema from the days of silent film to the introduction of sync dialogue and "talkies" in 1927's The Jazz Singer, and right up to the use of digital sound editing techniques in The Matrix and Pixar films that use numerous layered tracks to create this orchestra. Then the film pivots to be an in depth breakdown of every facet of the "Circle of Talent" that creates what we hear when we go to the cinema; so if you've ever wanted to know what ADR is, here you go. Understanding all these different areas of expertise can be a bit overwhelming, so the film uses some helpful on screen graphics to illustrate each discipline which seem daunting enough to make you wonder why anyone would want to make anything as labour intensive as a film, let alone a big budget blockbuster.

During the first half of Making Waves, there's a sense that with the focus on Walter Murch and his work with Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas at American Zoetrope, that we're headed to one film in particular; Star Wars. This actually comes surprisingly early into the film, with the Oscar winning achievements of Ben Burtt well documented (answering the question of what a Wookie sounds like by recording and manipulating the many noises of a bear). It was a given that Star Wars and the Star Destroyer roaring into frame was going to be a feature of this film, but what's surprising is the other films that played an important role in how we experience sound at the cinema today, chiefly the pivotal role Barbra Streisand and her version of A Star Is Born played in introducing stereo sound to cinemas.

There's a danger to films of this ilk that they become 'Film Studies for Beginners' whilst also largely appealing to people who've already studied it. Although there's a certain degree of that when covering the history of the medium, there's also genuine insight from professionals that you won't hear anywhere else that's sure to leave you with the burning desire to immediately re-watch an ever expanding list of cinematic greats. The enthusiasm for their craft is clear, and it's easy to be in awe of their achievements.

Listen up. Making Waves is not only a must see for film fans, it's a must hear.

Verdict
4/5

Drew: The Man Behind The Poster - Trailer

In my humble opinion, anyone who considers themselves a true film fan should know the name Drew Struzan and if they don't, luckily there's a new documentary on the way that should fix that. Not literally the man behind the poster (they would have been incredibly hard to paint so he tends to stand in front of it), he is the man who created some of the most indelible film poster images of the last 35 years, be it Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Hellboy, Rambo, The Thing, Star Wars... the list goes on. 


Held in such high esteem by the directors who've been fortunate enough to have a Drew Struzan poster grace their film's promotional campaign, most of the big guns (Lucas, Del Toro, Spielberg, Darabont) appear in this documentary to talk about his artwork and what effect they think it's had on the audiences perception of their films.


There isn't a single filmmaker in the world who wouldn't want a Drew Struzan poster for their film, now the elder statesman of film poster designers and still the high benchmark for up-and-comers like Olly Moss, Sam Gilbey and Tom Hodge. This doc allows us a closer look at the man at work, now semi-retired and able to choose the projects he wants to do, and offers us the first meeting between Struzan and Harrison Ford, the man whose face he has probably drawn more than any other.


An intriguing looking doc for anyone with an interest in poster art, there's no clear indication yet as to when this is going to be released. Imagine what the poster might look like though...