Excerpted from the article entitled "Creative Reach", printed in the May 31, 2001 issue of Variety Daily.
By Rochelle Winters
Design process benefits from technical innovations, less literal approach.
From re-creating the sounds of 1940s Manhattan and the bombing raid on Pearl Harbor to inventing the futuristic World of a boy robot and the realm of a videogame heroine, the creators of this summer's soundtracks offer up a slate filled with aural innovations.
These sound pros have also seen several longstanding wishes come true. Improved technologies enabled production mixers to capture more useable dialogue; sound designers, editors, re-recording mixers and composers collaborated early in post; and sound teams found themselves free to take a less-is-more approach and create psychological moments where verisimilitude once ruled the day.
[An example is] director Simon West's "Tomb Raider," an action adventure based on the videogame franchise about Lara Croft who crisscrosses the world in search of ancient artifacts. "Simon wanted us to create a soundtrack with a sense of clarity and space and to leave room for emotions," says sound supervisorand designer Steve Boeddeker ("X-Men") of West's direction. "He was looking for sounds that would jump out at the audience," adds supervising sound editor and four-time Oscar nominee Alan Murray ("Space Cowboys"), "because it helps viewers focus on the important things and gives the action more impact."
"There is a scene where Lara's home is invaded, and Simon silenced all the weapons,"explains Boeddeker. "It is a Way to have fun wham-bam action without being assaultive. Like Pearl Harbor, Tomb Raider's music and sound teams also discussed the soundtrack early in post but they went a step further and spotted the entire movie beginning to end.
'He was looking for sounds that would jump out at the audience because it helps viewers focus on the important things and gives the action more impact'.
Alan Murray, supervising sound editor for "Tomb Raider"