Basic Audio Lighting and Editing Spring 2009

In the war-torn countryside, a maiden finds her path blocked by a group of threatening men. But a woman from a nearby village suddenly jumps between the men and their victim. The men laugh at this ordinary peasant's attempt at a rescue. Alas for them, this is no common peasant: It's Feroza! The undercover cop saves the day with some back flips and well-placed karate moves – all without smudging her eyeliner. It's a scene from the movie "Najat," a recent title in the growing catalog of Afghan films that questions everything from gender roles to political corruption. Some filmmakers are braving death threats to bring such issues to the big screen, and they hope to change the way Afghans think.   "I want to show that I am powerful," says Saba Sahar, who directed the film and starred as Feroza. "I want to convince all Afghan women that they are powerful."

"We are trying to teach Afghans about their rights," he says. "There is no democracy here. The government and police take advantage of the people all the time." 

Consumers who are motivated by the laurels heaped on these films to plunk down increasingly scarce disposable income will leave the movie house with the message that circumstance is just that, and no match for the indomitability of human will. The films are built on individual successes — kids from the slums who better themselves, a television celebrity who finds his inner newsman, a newborn who overcomes old age and the midlife closeted man who steps into the light — that accrue to the greater good. That message, that darkness can be overcome by individuals working for the common good, is not so distant from the current collective impulse. As President Obama said in his Inaugural Address, “The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit, to choose our better history, to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" "Frost/Nixon" "The Reader" "Revolutionary Road" "Slumdog Millionaire" (Winner) BEST MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY "Burn After Reading" "Happy-Go-Lucky" "In Bruges" "Mamma Mia!" "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (Winner) FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE "The Baader Meinhof Complex" "Everlasting Moments" "Gomorrah" "I've Loved You So Long" "Waltz With Bashir" (Winner) BEST DIRECTOR Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"(Winner) Stephen Daldry, "The Reader" David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon" Sam Mendes, "Revolutionary Road"

The Anatomy of a Gunshot The process of layering effects, allows us to bridge the gap between what something actually sounds like when recorded and what we, as listeners, think it should sound like. Gunshots are particularly difficult to reproduce effectively. They have all the negative aspects you could ever think of from a recording perspective. They are extremely loud, very fast and filled with lots of little details. Creating each gunshot requires several layers not all of which have anything to do with a gun. HINT: Click the to hear MP3 sounds (requires an MP3 player like Quicktime - see apple.com if you need a free version.) The shot that kills Klatt as he holds Mike hostage is a perfect example of the complex layering and sweetening involved in creating gunshots. Some of the layers have little or nothing to do with the original gunshot and some are modified in order to sound more like what I think the audience expects to hear.   I usually choose a gunshot that is from the same or similar weapon used by the character in the scene. (Sharpes Shot) Using this as a foundation I begin to add layers. A deeper boom.  Some echo The bullet sizzle was slowed down from its original   to a more dramatic The bullet hit is comprised of an actual impact recording A hand slap, and last but not least, the sound of a hammer striking an anvil.  All of these pieces are carefully placed, cropped, eq’d and filtered to create the final effect.