The Designer I've Chosen

I decided the sound designer I'll be researching is Ben Burtt because I love his work!

Ben Burtt (pictured above with his good friends WALL-E and EVE, photograph from http://www.listal.com/viewimage/1318248)  is an amazing designer and described by many as a "sound legend".


He is responsible for the famous sounds of lightsabers, Darth Vader's breathing and the voice of R2D2 in the Star Wars movies.
And he is also responsible for the sounds of the film about the loveable Disney-Pixar robot Wall-E!

Link to original photo

Burtt has also worked on other films by Lucasfilm Limited with subsidiary Skywalker Sound, (I will research these further in future blogs), and for  J.J. Abrams' Star Trek film (which I will also address again after further research!).


I've found a youtube video about Ben Burtt's work on the Wall-E film: 


WALL-E Special Features Animation Sound Design:Building Worlds From The Sound Up (Part 1)

I found this video particularly interesting and very educational in the ways of creating simulations of every day sounds using objects they can bring into the studio.  Disney has been around for a long time and it was fantastic to see them showing Burtt how things used to be done all the time by them, and to hear his comparisons of using the tools that make the simulated sounds versus physically going out and collecting the sounds from the original places as he used to do. An example of this from the film is when Burtt says to get the sound of a creeky screen door, he would travel out to a house with the kind of screen door he needed the sound from, and wait for quiet so he can record the sound of the door being opened and closed. Disney Studio's have a small box with a spring that makes the exact same sound and they keep it on a shelf in their store room. Amazingly simple! 

There's a great quote in this video from Andrew Stanton (Director of WALL-E) about sound design on  animated films, and in this case especially WALL-E: 

"The big thing that's unique about sound design on animation, is the fact that you get nothing for free. You don't get on a set, and hear the way the environment sounds naturally, or the way somebody walks across a room, or just their voice. But in this case, because there isn't dialogue that often, it puts all this emphasis on every little squeak, beep, squawk; now they all have to MEAN something, or you have to be careful if you use them, people will THINK they mean something."

Link to original photo

I've personally found that in any type of film or production (such as theatre) sound is one of THE most important aspects needed for success.  I've participated in plays myself, and in television commercials (both in front of the camera and editing behind the scenes), I've also worked on radio, been interviewed on camera and interviewed others on camera, and as a final addition to this list, I've volunteered my help in my 5 year old son's classroom, and every single one of these situations needed fantastic sound (in one way or another!) to make it successful! =D