Recording Sound

In a reverse twist on the silent movies of old, The Companions: A Lost Screenplay is a film without moving images. Or, as described in accompanying notes from the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the sound installation becomes “a type of auditory cinema that explores the vital role sound plays in shaping narrative and affective space in film.” The 20-minute work, presented in the de Young’s iconic observation floor (one of the free spaces within the museum), couples sweeping 360-degree views of the city to a soundtrack of music and sound effects as reproduced through a 24-channel system of Meyer Sound loudspeakers.

Slice, currently in international release from A24, is a quirky comedy/horror tale centering on a neighborhood pizza parlor that doubles as “a gateway to hell.” For Steve Giammaria, of Sound Lounge’s Film + Television division, who acted as both supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer, Slice offered an opportunity to indulge both his sense of humor and taste for the macabre.

The rustle of a newspaper, the sounds of the bus engine far away, the steps of the stalker in the pitch-black night. Writer/director Roxanne Benjamin used only the soundscape to make her short film Final Stop and to create an astonishingly realistic and thrilling cinematic atmosphere. Benjamin made Final Stop for Sennheiser to showcase some of the company’s latest audio technology. It was recorded in immersive 3D audio, using just a Smartphone and recording most of the audio with Sennheiser’s Ambeo Smart Headset, which was developed with A/D conversion specialist Apogee.