Re: [Leica] Sound on archive footage

["Dan Post" <dwpost@email.msn.com>]

When I was a dispatcher with our police dept., the communications people had
to go to 'rookie school' which included an ATF taught bomb school- The only
time we really heard a 'boom' was the demo with 3 quart bottles of ANFO
detonated in the tub of the bomb truck- there was a 'boom', a smoke ring
from the top, and the roar of the shock wave as it rushed skyward. That was
the only really bang in the whole course- even the demo with C4, cutting a
car in half was pretty tame! Gunfire is much less spectacular! Even a .357
magnum at 50 yds. sounds like a pop gun, unless you are shooting it, then
hearing protection is advised!
I had the opportunity to observe the filming of some scenes, from that great
American Cinema Classic- "Hellraiser III" and halt traffic during takes,
while they filmed in lovely Downtown Greensboro. I was amazed, too, at the
small amounts of 'pyrotechnics' the movie people use. In the scene where
they blow up two police cars, which takes place in a fraction of a second on
screen, took several hours of preparation. They removed motors, gas tanks,
all fluids, including brake fluid, and set up 'mortars' powered by black
powder. Additional small flash/bang charges were used to give the effect of
an explosion- the mortars themselves, again, were unspectacular. a low
"whoomph" and the back end of the car flips up- but the little squibs on the
side make it look like all Hell's breaking loose!
If you have ever had the misfortune to have been fired at, it ain't like the
movies, either. A small >pop<, a tiny blue flame, and if you aren't paying
attention- you could miss it. My wife could not believe that no body knew
what was happening in the recent church shooting- she wondered why they
didn't know that shots were being fired. I told her that true danger doesn't
sound anything like in the movies, and most probably didn't know until too
late.
And, too, I wish that the "Foley Artists" would get the sound of an
'incoming' round right!
Dan

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Simon Stevens <simon@wizard.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 1999 10:18 AM
Subject: [Leica] Sound on archive footage


> "Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com> wrote:
>
> >I'm always surprised by the loud, short, snappy "pop" sound of most
> real life movie explosions, as opposed to the prolonged >blast sound one
> hears on the soundtrack.  I read once that the soundtrack versions come
> from extremely large military >explosions, far beyond the size of the
> movie explosions for which they are used.
> >-- Anthony
>
>
> I'm not a combat veteran, but when I was an infantryman we played with
> things that go bang quite a bit - demo charges, Bangalore Torpedoes,
> Claymore mines, hand granades and M203 grenades, etc. etc.  You are
> right, the movies (with the exception, imho, of Saving Private Ryan)
> have the sound all wrong.  You don't really hear an explosion so much as
> feel it, but I don't see how any movie can really recreate the effect of
> feeling your kidneys vibrate in your body which is an effect that even a
> little hand grenade will produce.
>
> Incidentally, I was startled by how much real machine guns sound like
> the ones in the movies. But I have yet to see a war movie that
> faithfully reproduces the tinny little "kak!" sound of a real M16 - it's
> just not impressive enough. And the M203's "bloop!" sound just plain
> funny.
>
> I think there is a difference between this and sound added to archival
> footage which should certainly  be as accurate as possible. But I think
> we can grant fiction movies some artistic license. For example, when
> they show an explosion there is the obligatory  ball of flame which is
> ludicrous, but understandable given that real explosions are pretty
> boring to see - a flash and a puff of smoke. The real damage is caused
> by the invisible shock wave of rapidly produced gasses and the equally
> invisible rapidly moving debris. Which is why you normally don't watch
> it, of course.
>
> Simon Stevens
>
>