Speed!

When kids these days sit around fantasizing about becoming great filmmakers someday my guess is that they're aspiring not to so-called glamorous positions such as screenwriter, director of photography, producer, or (overrated) director. No, my prediction is that the next generation of budding filmmakers are (or should be) all shooting to become the next great sound mixers.

I mean think about it, we can all name at least five "great" individuals in the professions listed above, but I triple dog dare you to try to name a truly legendary sound mixer. Go ahead and try. Can't do it, right? This, my friends, is why the time is ripe for one to finally emerge.

Now I'm not here to deliver a soapbox lecture. Nor am I here to steer any potential competition that I may have in the future away from pursuing careers in writing and directing films (though I hear computers are pretty lucrative and exciting these days, kids). I'm simply here to pose the question of why there has never been a notable counterpart for D.W. Griffith or Robert Elswit in the sound mixing department? Answer me this.

So what's my point? Over the next two months I will be crewing as a sound mixer on six of my classmates shoots. 1,2,3,4,5,6. This isn't some Ahab-esque monomaniacal mission of mine to become the LeBron James of the 702t sound recorder (pictured above). Not trying to prove anything. As magnificent as I try to make it seem, sound mixing is simply one of those jobs that no film student really wants to do. I really don't mind doing it however, and was thus given the chance to do it as many times as my little heart desired this production period. Which apparently is six. If the six directors I work for do 111 takes a piece, I will have yelled "speed" a the number of time required for me to be recruited into the cult from Rosemary's Baby. This is serious.

What about sound mixing appealed to me? Well, primarily the fact that nobody really bothers you. As evidence, here's a picture of the sound recordist on the film I just wrote and directed "No Hitter":

Notice how there's not a soul in sight bothering him. Not even the annoying director who feels the need to impose himself on every aspect of everything. Nope, it's just Greg, his sound rig, and whatever it is he's snacking on there. Happiness. And, as a Meyers-Briggs confirmed introvert what better job could there be for me on a film set than this? None. (But I will continue to try at being a director, despite my awkwardness.)

So, here I go. Over the next few weeks I will transform into a persistent sound guy. This blog will serve to provide you a glimpse of my experience. Let's hope I don't start hearing things after this is all over.

Ryan the Sound Guy