That's pretty bad. In their defense (being one of those pesky movie
sound guys) it's often pretty damn hard to have the luxury of
tracking down a whole library of FX for a given foreign local. And
the fact is, 99% or more of the people out there probably would never
know the difference (which is also probably a bit sad). My father, an
avid motorcyclist for his entire life, often vents to me when he
hears them using the wrong sound for the bike, "On screen was a 1952
Norton Commando, and they used the sound from a 1961 BSA blah blah'.
When I point out to him that about 4 other people on the planet
noticed, sometimes he quiets down :)
And often it's the director himself that dictates such choices. In my
first feature film, there was a beautiful Austin Healey, I spent an
entire day recording that exact model, and in the end when the
director didn't think it sounded 'beefy' enough, it was replaced with
a 12 cylinder year 2000 Ferrari. Believe me, we all cringed
constantly and every time we heard it. But in that case, our job is
to listen to the director. We tried very hard to get the real car
sound in there, but in the end, we were overturned. It's very
possible that the director heard the sounds of Africa and didn't feel
they were 'exotic' enough. I've had that happen to me, when the
'real' sounds were tossed out in favor of improper ones at the
bequest of the people who sign the checks.
Not defending them, but the term 'jerk' might just be a tad strong,
not knowing all the circumstances.
Tim
On Aug 6, 2007, at 8:37 PM, Bernie Krause wrote:
>
> I don't know how many on the list have seen BLOOD DIAMOND, but with
> my wife on the road last night, and the Netflix DVD sitting by itself
> on the coffee table and me alone in the house, I put it in the
> player. For me, it ain't a good flick. Way too violent in the
> episodic Hollywood American sense to be worthwhile no matter what the
> "cause." But it was made far worse by the terrible sound editing.
> The story takes place in Africa in (sometimes) forested areas where
> diamonds are mined. I got as far as the scene where those jerks
> inserted a Screaming Piha (Lipaugus vociferans) and tropical South
> American frogs and insects as part of the soundscape. It was at that
> moment they lost me and I shut the damned thing off. I could no
> longer suspend disbelief, having no patience for this kind of
> cynicism.
>
> Bernie
>
> Wild Sanctuary
> POB 536
> Glen Ellen, CA 95442
> 707-996-6677
> http://www.wildsanctuary.com
>
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>
>
>
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