Home Films/DVD Asylum

Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star.

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Films/DVD Asylum ]
[ Alert Moderator ] [ Edit ] [ Delete ]

Re: Just heard that Disney's TRON is getting the better transfer thing!

66.92.96.33

Someone forwarded the posts about my sound supervision job on TRON so let me just provide some details: the music was recorded ANALOG multitrack by a BBCremote crew at The Royal Albert Hall, using 100+ piece orchestra (The London Philharmonic) plus the organ, and small string sessions were done at famed Walthamstow Town Hall. Later choral overdubs were done at Royce Hall in L.A. Wendy was supposed to create the soundtrack on her ANALOG synthesizers with orchestral overdubs but the film kept being recut and recut and there was no way there would be time for her to proceed as planned, so we reversed the process. We also were the first film to mix directly from multitrack mixes to the final soundtrack mix using SMPTE time code, instead of dubbing down to 35MM mag stock and losing a generation. LOTs of other innovations were included as well. The soundtrack was nominated for an Academy Award for best soundtrack, losing to E.T. in 1982.

A new 70MM print was struck last year for a week's run at the El Capitan Theater in L.A. followed one evening by a panel discussion. Neither Wendy nor myself, nor Frank Serafine who created many of the sounds, nor Mike Minkler, who was the head mixer, were invited to talk about the sound track, or the sound innovations used on the film.

WHY? Sound is the IDIOT BASTARD SON of picture in Hollywood, plus there was a great deal of acrimony involved between myself and the producer Donald Kushner and the Director Steven Lisberger.

I was blamed for the huge cost overrruns on the soundtrack which I predicted DAY ONE when I was handed a ludicrously small budget lifted I think from "Herbie Goes Bananas." The producer told me to work with what I was given and I had to try to "innovate," in order to get anything remotely resembling an adequate soundtrack for such an ambitious film. Using traditional "cut and assemble" sound effects production, the budget would have been busted before the end of the first reel!

My recollection was that I was given a $60,000 budget! And $5000 for "looping" the dialog in a film where ALL of it had to be redone since the characters wore styrofoam outfits that squeaked every time they moved. It was ludicrous!

I told the producer it would cost much less in the long run if they'd give me a reasonable budget, but he just smirked at me and said "Hey, you're the sound supervisor, you have to make it work within the budget." I'll NEVER forget that encounter.

Nor will I forget mixing on a very expensive dubbing stage to a picture which contained huge chunks of blank flim stock because computer footage or processed live action footage simply hadn't been completed, or we'd get plain black and white footage, mix to it, and then receive the final colorized footage with all kinds of visual effects added that we didn't know about and had to create sounds for on the fly! It was a real challenge.

There's a TRON website run by a fan of the movie and I've promised to tell the whole sordid story there when I have some time.

BTW: I see no irony in having supervised that soundtrack and being an analog devotee. As for "Pam" 's post, about not reading the 'rags', I say: IGNORANCE IS BLISS!

Love ya!

Mikey
Senior contributing editor , Stereophile
Contributing editor, Stereophile Guide to Home Theater



This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.  

Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
You can not post to an archived thread.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]