logo Sign In

Ben Burtt Quits...

Author
Date
Author
Time
Post link
Ben Burtt Quits Lucasfilm

Ben Burtt quits Lucasfilm and heads to Pixar.

Edited - Took out comment out of respect for the guy whom without Star Wars would have been a silent film...
Author
Time
Post link
Um, is there an actual story there? Other than a picture of grandma?

And I'm sure if they made more Star Wars films, he would come back to do the sound editing.
The Jedi are all but extinct.......
Author
Time
Post link
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
"A Jedi can feel the force flow through him".
Author
Time
Post link
The guy did do a god job with the sound effects so let's be respectful.

The PT being crappy is one man's responsibility.

Burtt created the Vader breathing.....so let's not have any "door hitting him in the ass" comments.

And I want to see something a little more concrete.....that's not even a story!!! And who's Granny is that?
Author
Time
Post link
There was a story there...i read it. I go back to read it again, and its gone.

Ah, ok...just go to print article and there it is.

Here's my favorite line that probably sums it up:

"The last few years have been frustrating, so I was at a point of change. But I had no official plan."
Author
Time
Post link
Twenty-nine years and 10 months.

No one else besides "Star Wars" creator George Lucas has spent so much time in a galaxy far, far away, up close and personal with Jedi knights, storm troopers, wise old Yoda and those delightful droids R2-D2 and C-3PO as Ben Burtt Jr.

The Syracuse native, who has been sound designer on all six "Star Wars" films, refers to it as his "tour of duty." Almost fresh out of film school with a couple of assignments with low-budget, high-profile filmmakers Roger Corman and Russ Meyer, he was plucked by Lucas for the original "Star Wars."

Through nearly three decades, Burtt also has been in the thick of the progress and process of cinema, from the digital revolution to what is termed "pre-visualization." Ahead of filming, Burtt and fellow technicians film a mock scene which can be shown to Lucas, the cinematographers and camera operators to orient them to the sequence.

With "Sith," Burtt says in a recent phone interview, these small

films would be watched by the actors as they played out a scene. This process, he says, gave them a keener sense of the action, rather than simply acting against blue screen before computer-generated characters and scenes were added.

It is over now and Burtt, who has won four Oscars for sound effects editing and creature and robot voice creation, is moving on. He is joining Pixar Animation. It is, he says, time for a fresh wind to blow.

"George hasn't announced officially what his next projects are," he says. At Lucasfilm, almost everyone works from project to project. The "Star Wars" adventures have guaranteed three years' employment, but nothing past that. Besides, Burtt admits, "The last few years have been frustrating, so I was at a point of change. But I had no official plan."

Yet, the time had come for a new challenge and Pixar came calling. He terms it "the most attractive" of his offers. One reason, Burtt chose Pixar was its Bay Area location. The filmmaker has long been a resident of Northern California not far from Lucas' headquarters at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County and its allied operations. Burtt had no desire to pack up for Hollywood.

More significantly, the sound designer and film editor knew many of the Pixar folks. He recalls that many of the Pixar honchos had been Lucas employees when it was a small division of Lucasfilm.

"I had an office just down from them. We were the big shots," he says with a chuckle.

Soon Lucas sold the operation to Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer. Eventually that business became Pixar, which turned out the blockbusters "Finding Nemo," "Toy Story" flicks and "Monsters, Inc."

This week, after a brief break for R & R, the 56-year-old joins that firm. It will not be his first experience with animation.

When the now-Pixar cohorts were working down the hall at Lucasfilm, they persuaded Burtt to try his hand. The result was "The Adventures of Andre and Wally B.," the tale of a bulbous-nosed android named Wally and a persistent bee, the other title creature. Words of wifely wisdom Wives are often said to be the severest critics of their husbands' work. Just ask Burtt. A couple of weeks ago, the co-editor of "Revenge of the Sith" showed a finished print at his alma mater, the University of Southern California. He was worried about its reception and that it might not satisfy fans. He confided his concerns to his wife, Peg. But, after the screening, he was heartened at the cheers and applause the film received. Burtt says, "Peg (in her first look), who is not a 'Star Wars' fan, told me, 'I really can't trust you, Ben.' " Bet that it came as his greatest compliment.

Author
Time
Post link
Good luck for him.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
Author
Time
Post link
Good luck. Can't be easy working for GL, and even harder to criticize him, given how much clout he probably has.
Nemo me impune lacessit

http://ttrim.blogspot.com
Author
Time
Post link
But Pixar is going to offer him so much flexibility and creativity. SW probably did at one time, but all the sounds (save for a few newer creatures) seem to be pretty canned anymore so it's not really resulting in too much creative effort for him. He's gotta be bored off his ass.

Pixar... sweet!
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
Author
Time
Post link
Cheers Ben, it is always nice to see some people have their dreams of better things realised. Good luck with the new job and decorating the new office (plz donate your SW curtains and the Jabba paperweight to me).....lmao....Best of luck I say.....!!!
Author
Time
Post link
"the Jabba paperweight "

LOL...he can bend the whole tree over.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

Author
Time
Post link
What does this mean for getting the DVD soundtracks and scores done correctly? Also, this means he won't be involved with the DVD releases for the PT, which he has been a big part of in the past. Not to mention any impact this has on the sound on the television program.

Bummer.
The Jedi are all but extinct.......
Author
Time
Post link
Quote
Originally posted by: Hardcore Legend
What does this mean for getting the DVD soundtracks and scores done correctly?
Well on the danger of being unfair here, but since the 2004 DVD edition of 'A New Hope' I didn't really feel like it would be a good idea to have Ben Burtt on such a project again. If there'd be one person that would have had an opportunity to say "Hey George, this DVD is an inferior product - I'm not finished with it yet - there are still a few sounds missing and the musical scoring just doesn't feel right - I won't allow this baby to ship in this unfinished state! It doesn't do the film the credit it deserves!". Hmm... well perhaps he actually did say that and what we now see are the consequences of Lucas' 'positive' reaction and Burtt's frustration with it. Oh well.

Quote
Originally posted by: Bossk
But Pixar is going to offer him so much flexibility and creativity. SW probably did at one time, but all the sounds (save for a few newer creatures) seem to be pretty canned anymore so it's not really resulting in too much creative effort for him. He's gotta be bored off his ass.

Pixar... sweet!
When it comes to the prequels, the coolest memorable sounds that Ben Burtt came up with, imho was Anakin's podracer in TPM, the engine and weapon sounds for Slave I, especially the seizmic charge *TWANNNNNNNNG* from AOTC. Those sequences really showed his full creative potential unfolded again.

Good luck on yer future projects, and may yer bosses be mentally more flexible than your last one.
Author
Time
Post link
Let us not forget that Pixar was once a division of Lucas' empire. I bet he's kicking himself for letting it go.
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
Author
Time
Post link
I dunno if he's kicking himself. If it was still a part of LFL, I don't think the studio would be where it is today. I don't think it would have received the necessary resources ($) to complete a picture the way they wanted. The only reason that Pixar is the studio it is today is because they were cut free of any real oversight. They were left alone to be as creative as possible and they had a boss in Steve Jobs who is renowned for allowing his employees to think waaaaaaayyy outside the box. Lucas, not so much.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
Author
Time
Post link
I wonder if John Williams is secretly smiling?

Ha ha!

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition