The Director of Audiography (DoA) [1] , Director of Sound (DoS) [2] [3] , Audio Director (AuD) [4] and, historically speaking, the Sound Director (SD) [5] or Recording Director (RD) [6] , is the head of the sound department and the person responsible for planning and managing all the audiography of filmmaking or multimedia-making. In this context, "audio" and "sound" include sound design but exclude music and song.
The DoA understands the Director's vision, identifies the tasks necessary to realize this vision, budgets for those tasks and coordinates all the work from preproduction to postproduction whilst keeping an eye on overall quality. The DoA is often credited in Bollywood films [7] [8] [9], which also include music, song and choreography as important ingredients.
In recent times, the job of DoA and DoS has emerged out of the ongoing tension between the visual and aural dimensions of film - a creative and professional conflict that dates back to the emergence of "talkies". Production sound crews often complain at the lack of consideration given to sound on film productions [10]; having a DoA or DoS in preproduction helps to exert a powerful presence to defend the dimension of sound in filmmaking.
No-budget productions [11] have been among the first to employ a DoA in the Western world, since their producers and directors are less constrained by Studio practices or trade union demarcations.
In the early days of the Hollywood studio system, every studio had an SD or RD who headed the sound department and took sole credit for the work done by an large crew of sound technicians [12]. Notable Sound Directors include George Groves of Warner's, Tom Moulton, Gordon E. Sawyer and Don Rogers of Goldwyn Studios - who also worked at Warner Hollywood Studios [13]. Douglas Shearer is credited as the Recording Director at MGM from 1930 until 1953 [14].
Hollywood sound editor David Yewdall bemoans the loss of the SD in Hollywood [15] and recalls the story of film producer Ross Hunter, working on the film Airport, who neglected to take the advice of sound editor Joe Sikorski to record aircraft sound effects on location; an SD would have immediately appreciated the financial implications of not taking such advice [16]
Following the demise of the studio system and the loss of the Sound Director [17], part of this role was delegated to the Post Production Supervisor, Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer or Production Sound Mixer - each role having less knowledge, influence, responsibility and scope than the former SD. Where no DoA is hired - as is often the case when filmmaking in the West - there has been some debate on the most appropriate role to head the sound department; a Supervising Sound Editor is seen as a technical manager - comparable to an Art Director - whereas a Sound designer is viewed as a creative visionary, analogous to a Production designer [18] [19]. In practice, the industry sees both roles as equivalent [20].
The Director of Audiography should not be confused with a Production Supervisor or Post Production Supervisor - both are administrative roles in the Production department. In contrast, the Director of Audiography is a technical role blending leadership, management and administrative skills with creative audiography ranging over preproduction, production and postproduction - constrained only by the Director's vision and the production's schedule and budget. In many ways the DoA role is a natural extension of the more limited postproduction role of Supervising Sound Editor.
References
- ^ The Culture-Specific Use of Sound in Indian Cinema(1999)
- ^ http://www.schoolofsound.co.uk/ The School of Sound][http://www.frameworkonline.com/42cb.htm Call for a new role of Director of Sound
- ^ http://filmsound.org/QA/sound-design-philosophy.htm.
- ^ http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Audio_Director/Audio_Manager/Sound_Producer/Sound_Design_Manager
- ^ The Lost Sound Director (page 35) in The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David Lewis Yewdall, M.P.S.E., Focal Press (1999).
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790428/
- ^ Yehi Hai Zindagi (1977)
- ^ Virasat (1997)
- ^ Bhoothnath (2008)
- ^ An Open Letter from your Sound Department by John Coffey et al.
- ^ The Park (2009)
- ^ Sound-On-Film by Vincent LoBrutto (1994)
- ^ Sound-On-Film by Vincent LoBrutto (1994)
- ^ Douglas Shearer
- ^ The Lost Sound Director (page 35) in The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David Lewis Yewdall, M.P.S.E., Focal Press (1999).
- ^ The Lost Sound Director (page 116) in The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David Lewis Yewdall, M.P.S.E., Focal Press (1999).
- ^ The Lost Sound Director (page 35) in The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David Lewis Yewdall, M.P.S.E., Focal Press (1999).
- ^ Sound-On-Film by Vincent LoBrutto (1994), page. 254
- ^ Sounds of Movies by Nicholas Pasquariello (1996, 1997), page. 130
- ^ [1] AMPS website - see the note on Supervising Sound Editors in the Directory of Members PDF
See also
- Sound designer
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Filmmaking
- Audiography
- The Sound Manifesto has pages on:
- Director of Sound
- Post Production Supervisor or Supervising Editor
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Director of Sound web sites: Matthew Gough Edward Grabczewski
- CASCall for a new role of Director of Sound
- Gordon E. Sawyer - Sound Director at Goldwyn Studios
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