Has anyone pick up this book yet? The Sounds Of Star Wars http://www.chroniclebooks.com/soundsofstarwars and here is a youtube video of a inside look at the book http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTbtHVFyKoQ
It's great, my first copy was defective the read-out screen failed. But there's a play all option, so while reading have just been letting all the sounds play. Two interesting things i've learned from the book, Darth Vader was originally much noiser, more like a droid. But that was reduced to just the breathing. Also Ben Burtt explained how at one point he was working on the only version of the movie and it got eatten in the equipment, that's what's probably caused the two ripped frames at the beginning of the movie and he officially states that the jarring when 3po and R2 are introduced is because of this incident. Another cool thing is the Bossk dialog sound effect was created without seeing the movie so there is an extra few seconds of work to listen to.
I am getting my copy of the book soon from amazon I can't wait to read it.
Also weird stories like the time they locked a raccoon in a bathroom tub and just recorded for an time as it went nuts.
The other things which stuck out was that Ben Burtt's family had a audio recorder as he was growing up and he used it to record movies as a kid. (old school bootlegger!) and this paid off later in life since he knew these old movies in a greater depth then the studios themselves at the time he was doing SW and was able to visit the studio archives sound libraries. trying to figure out how they did the old sound fx and how to improve in SW.
Yea their are great stories in the book and about how they went from analog sound to digital sound to do the prequel films and the clone wars tv series. The sounds of star wars lives beyond the films.
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What other stuff do you like about the book None?
I love how in that video they mention Burtt passed the torch to Matthew Wood, but there is no mention of his messing up the 2004 mix of star wars.
Somehow the audio on the clone wars cartoon DVD's is good though, Woods assistants?
The thing is he did not mess up the prequel stuff, so i guess he just messed up the defining film of the franchise is all, thankfully it was not a remix of the oot and only the bad cgi version.
“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.
Neither Woods nor Burtt mixed the prequels. In fact, in the documentary on the Episode III DVD Burtt is trying to argue Lucas to get the sound effects louder and louder until the mixer finally gets upset and basically argues Burtt down. So if it was up to Burtt, you'd have the prequel mixes being fucked too.
Brilliant sound designer though, he should stick to that. This book sounds kind of interesting. Are there any sound outtakes and alternate versions that never made the cut?
The book has a sound module you can listen to about 275 sounds in full stereo hi-fi either with the included speaker or thur your headphones. But yes their are different sound outakes as well.
Need to hook up Ady with this one. If you can use headphones you can do other things
"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas
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Yeah, it sounds like a perfect tool for fanfilms and edits.
Where were you in '77?
zombie84 said:
Brilliant sound designer though...
Yes, it's a shame that Burtt get remembered for screwing up the sound mix on the 2004 DVDs, instead of his inspired, and sometimes iconic, sound effects:
(these are just from memory - I haven't read the book, but you get the idea)
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The other point which I had heard before was that the original SW mix was started and don't have a sense of the percentage completed by Sam Shaw and his team (Robert Rutledge, Gordon Davison, Gene Corso and six others) before the reigns were handed over to Burtt. They were hired to do the complete mix, but Ben's ingenuity eventually showed that to capture the right 'feel' Burtt's sound collection would be given greater importance. Shaw having worked in the industry before brought in previously 'canned' sound effects, a package called 'Edit-Rite'. The book goes into some of their contributions but quickly mentions how it was tweaked by Burtt. Shaw's team with constant feedback from Burtt finished the stereo mix, after that Burtt alone handled the monaural and foreign mixes. (pgs 35-41)
Someone who does have the book, tell me how the seismic charges sound effect from the only cool scene in AOTC was made. I have always wanted to know.
"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas
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I'm not sure but if you listen to the sound of the cords breaking as the rope bridge in Temple Of Doom breaks and imagine it distorted you might have something similar.
It certainly has a stringy twang to it.
Bingowings said:
I'm not sure but if you listen to the sound of the cords breaking as the rope bridge in Temple Of Doom breaks and imagine it distorted you might have something similar.
It certainly has a stringy twang to it.
Yeah, I think it sounds stringy too. I know it has something rubbery in there as well. I also won't shoot down the possibility of it being a slowed down track of a balloon being popped.
"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas
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It could also be one of Burtt's mast strikes but slowed down rather than sped up (and distorted) like the laser blasts.
EyeShotFirst wrote:
Someone who does have the book, tell me how the seismic charges sound effect from the only cool scene in AOTC was made. I have always wanted to know.
Bad news... pg 236
When Attack of the Clones hit theaters, the seismic charge caused a similar reaction in audiences. Indeed, when lecturing, Burrtt is often asked about it and the twang of the explosion (which he prefers to keep a secret). "When I go out and meet fans, they always ask, 'What was that sound? That was so cool,'" says Wood, "But it's the absence of sound that really is what makes everybody like it."
none said:
EyeShotFirst wrote:
Someone who does have the book, tell me how the seismic charges sound effect from the only cool scene in AOTC was made. I have always wanted to know.
Bad news... pg 236
When Attack of the Clones hit theaters, the seismic charge caused a similar reaction in audiences. Indeed, when lecturing, Burrtt is often asked about it and the twang of the explosion (which he prefers to keep a secret). "When I go out and meet fans, they always ask, 'What was that sound? That was so cool,'" says Wood, "But it's the absence of sound that really is what makes everybody like it."
Ohhhhh, I guess I'll never know. I bet it is more simple than we would think.
"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas
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I really want this book but it isn't released here until late October :(
What is the quality of the sounds like if listened to through headphones?
The quallity of the sounds is very good in full stereo hi-fi.
kenkraly2007 said:
The quallity of the sounds is very good in full stereo hi-fi.
Thanks. I wish this was out already over here because i could really do with recording all these sounds for my edits
Careful, he said the same thing about the 2004 sound mix. :p
J/K, actually the 2004 mix sounds much better when played in stereo, it hides all the surround flaws.
Just got the book this past saturday and I was reading the sounds of star wars book and I like it's fasnating book on the star wars sounds with a lot of great storys from the films to the recent clone wars tv series as well as the 2 speical edition re-mixes in 1997 and 2004. Overall it's a great read and a good book.