Producers' Guide to Sound Productivity: more sound for your pound

摘要

Good times for sound men The introduction of sound to motion pictures in the 1920s came as a mixed blessing, since the size of the crew increased dramatically and productivity decreased. The picture camera had to be speeded up from 16fps to 24 fps, making so much noise that it had to be placed in an immovable sound-proofed booth with a restricted field of view. Many on-set noises became apparent, such as birds nesting in the studio roof, over-flying aeroplanes, also exterior traffic noise. In many Los Angeles studios shooting began at 5pm and went on until 3am, since the downtown traffic was much quieter. For a while the "sound man" dominated the industry and was the most important person on the unit. He would walk around checking the construction of the set, clapping his hands to test the acoustics. Nobody quite knew what he was up to shut away in his sound booth, so he could get away with anything. How often came the cry, "N.G. for sound, take it again!" It was far quicker to go for another take than to argue.