[dizzy]

Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce said:

When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a rocket sound.

... which is why just about every spaceship "whooshes" when it crosses
camera in outer space?

Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine whining.

Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.

[Chris Hornbeck]

On 10 Jun 2008 15:43:56 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Very few films actually have silent passages. _M_ and 2001 are probably the
best examples of the use of silence that I can think of.

My favorite is still _Band of Outsiders_'s "minute of silence".
"Course, Godard was famous for inapproprite sounds, and for sheer
good fun, nothing beats the traffic jam in _Weekend_.

I saw that in college, when it was current, and remembered that
reel until my recent interest in movies - almost forty years.
Now *that's* "memorable". Arf.

Much thanks, as always,

Chris Hornbeck
"True, but only for large values of zero."
-Mike Rivers

[Chris Hornbeck]

On Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:27:16 -0700 (PDT), Uncle Bob
wrote:

From filmsound.org

Film Sound Cliches

Film Sound Stereotypes and Common Logic Flaws

snipped but saved for future re-enjoyment

Not included because it's a TV rather than a film thing
is the laugh track story. Lore says that TV laugh tracks
are so old that most of the laughing are now dead.

Creepy if true, but creepier if urban legend.


Much thanks; great stuff,

Chris Hornbeck
"True, but only for large values of zero."
-Mike Rivers

[jakdedert]

Uncle Bob wrote:
Hi All!

selected clippage follows

From filmsound.org

Film Sound Cliches

* Dolphins always make that same "dolphin chatter" sound when
spinning, jumping, etc.

Ah, the 'Flipper' effect.

* Snakes are always rattling

Unless they're hissing.

BICYCLES


* All bicycles have bells (that sound)

In high school, I had a bell on my bike. People laughed....

BOMBS & EXPLOSIONS

* Bombs always have big, blinking, beeping timer displays.

And the way you know you've disarmed the bomb, is that the timer
stops...not goes out or resets. It always stops at whatever time it was
disarmed...usually some fraction of a second.

* If something explodes, it takes about a minute for the
explosions to stop

* Explosions always happen in slow motion. When an explosion
occurs, make certain you are running away from the point of detonation
so the blast can send you flying, in slow motion, toward the camera.

Kind of silly to run *toward* the explosion, eh?

* Bombs "whistle" when falling from a plane

Some actually do, but the effect is overused.

CARS

* Car tires "always" screech on dirt roads.

One of my pet peeves....

* Car breaks must always squeak

Unless it's a *very* expensive car.

* Car tires must always squeal when the car turns, pulls away or
stops

Mine usually do. I need new ones....

* On big budget films- whenever a car does any maneuver It must
accelerate - ideally to the point of peeling out! even if it is going
under 20mph

* In a route we hear a large truck and a horn with Doppler effect

COMPUTERS

* Every button you press on a computer makes some kind of beep

....and it keeps on beeping while it's computing.

* Text being spelled out on screen (whether computer or lower
third) MUST make some sort of typing and/or dot-matrix-printer type of
sound.

ALWAYS spelled out, letter by letter.

* In U.S. films playing in big cities there's always a police horn
in the background - in films from other countries... never!!!!

Not so out of character....

* When a light bulb gets broken, there's always a kind of electric
sound

* Whenever there is a fight or commotion going on in the upstairs
of a house, the person downstairs won't hear a thing because the noise
of gunshots, chairs falling over, screams etc will be totally masked
by the following sounds; the phone ringing, the washing machine
beginning its spin cycle, the dog barking, a drink is being whizzed up
in the liquidizer or the maid beginning the vacuum cleaning. .

Or the observers are deaf.

HELICOPTERS & AIRPLANES

* Helicopters always fly from surround to front-speakers.

* People standing outside a running helicopter can always talk in
normal or just slightly louder than normal voices

Same with people jumping out of airplanes. Even with a 130 mph wind
rushing past them, they can speak by simply raising their voices a bit.

* Every helicopter shutting down emits the chirp-chirp-chirp sound
of the rubber drive belts disengaging, in spite of the fact that only
the famous Bell 47G (the Mash chopper) actually makes this sound.

I always wondered what made that sound.

* Piston helicopters always start up with screaming turbine engine
sounds.

* An approaching airplane or helicopter will make no noise until
it is directly over the characters, at which point it will suddenly
become thunderingly loud.

That one always gets me....

* Characters will never hear an approaching airplane or
helicopter, even though in real life you would hear them approaching
for at least a minute before they were close enough to see. This also
holds true for approaching armies on horseback and tank battalions.

Same as above.

* The tires of any jet screech upon landing

They most often do, in my experience.

* Any airplane in a dive will make a whining noise that will get
louder and higher-pitched the longer the dive lasts.

That's not inauthentic, but using the exact same sound effect for every
type of aircraft gets old.



KNIFE

* When a character pulls out a knife, even from his pants, you
hear a sound of metal brushing metal


LANGUAGE & VOICE

* The WILHELM Scream
A series of short painful screams performed by an actor were
recorded in 1951 for the Warner Brother's film "Distant Drums." They
were used for a scene where a man is bitten and dragged underwater by
an alligator. The recording was archived into the studio's sound
effects library -- and it was used in many of their films since. "Star
Wars" Sound Designer Ben Burtt tracked down the scream recording -
which he named "Wilhelm" from a character who let out the same scream
in "Charge at Feather River (1953)." Ben has adopted the scream as
sort of a personal sound signature, and has worked it into as many
films as he can.

I wondered where that came from.

* Even when depicted as foreigners (including aliens from outer
space) all actors speak and understand a common language (usually
English) unless the film's plot depends on a language barrier.

Many uses some sort of 'universal translator' device to get past that.

* The same women's recorded voice is heard in every spaceship,
space station, government building, etc. announcing something to the
effect of the main computer has been shut down, this ship will self
destruct in one minute.

Isn't she the same one we used to hear on telephone recordings? In
fact, ISTR that Kubrick hired her to do 2001....

* Baby crying and bad news

The Godfather: when Don Corleone is shot, Sonny barges in to
his house and announces this. Followed by baby crying.

Snow Falling on Cedars: the sheriff announces to a woman
that her fisherman husband is dead. Followed by baby crying

* Kids can always whisper even if their two inchs away from a
villain - he won't hear. If they step on a branch however, the
villains will immediately know its not some animal, and catch them.

....and people in sitcoms can move five feet away and speak 'privately'
in the same room.

* Scream
Whenever someone falls off of a cliff or building, no matter
how much damage they take beforehand, they scream, even if they were
shot through the lungs twenty or thirty times, or were apparently
unconscious.

If I ever fall off a building, I'm gonna scream!

When villains fall to their deaths, you can hear their
screams gradually fade out, even if they only fall ten feet or so.

* When there's a police car standing, there are always hundreds of
voices in its radio.

Hundreds? Not so far from reality. Depends on the locale.



MICROPHONES

* Anytime a person speaks into a microphone, their first words
will cause the mic to feed back.

And then it will stop, for no reason.

* The first spoken words must be either 'Testing, Testing' or 'One
Two, One Two'

Always the first two I speak, when....

MOTORCYCLES


* Motorcycle engines in movies can inexplicably change from 4-
stroke Otto cycle to 2-stroke cycle operation.

* Motorcycles usually change from Harley Davidson choppers when
engaged in highway operations to Yamaha Dirt bikes when operated off-
road (as in "Then Came Bronson").

I thought TCB used one of the smaller Harleys of the day. Harley
marketed and built some two-stroke bikes in the 50's, through the
mid-70's. Some were rebadged Italian bikes.

No doubt they changed bikes, though.

http://www.motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/classic_bikes/harley_classic.html

* Police Harleys will morph into Triumph Bonnevilles when
operating in tight quarters (on the ship in "Magnum Force").


MOVING GRAPHIC

* Any moving graphic on a sports broadcast (esp. NBC) has to use
the same "fireball" sound effect.

I HATE that sound...and I don't even watch sports.

It's always easy to find romantic make out music on the
radio right when you need it.

They have the 'easy listening' station on preset.

PEOPLE


* The DJ always turns the music down when actors talk in disco and
club-scenes

I wish he'd do that for me. I always have to shout...or go outside.

* Those tiny people far, far away in that long shot on the beach
should always sound like they're talking directly into your ear - no
matter how far away they are, even though they're whispering . . .

How else are you gonna hear them?

* People in a wide-open field or dense forest can make their voice
echo if they yell loud enough.

* When you get punched in the face, it sounds like you broke a
salami over the back of a chair

* All kisses need to sound sloppy and wet.

* Blood will always squish when oozing from a wound.

* Dreams are always drenched in a lot of reverb.

How else would the viewer know it's a dream? I always dream in
technicolor, with heavy reverb--and a halo effect. Don't you?

* People never answer the door until the doorbell or knocking has
sounded at least three times


If they answer it at all.

SPACE

* It is now the modern era, and thus, sound has been installed in
space by the elimination of that nasty vacuum problem.

"In space, no one can hear you scream."

* Explosions in space make noise

* There's a deep humming in space, no doubt about it

* Sounds in space must have some element of a flanger involved

SPEED OF SOUND

* Applies to absolutely every movie: Some noisy event (crash,
shot, explosion) occurs at quite a distance from the camera.
Nevertheless, the sound is heard at the same instant. The speed of
sound - usually 300 meters per second - here always is the same as the
speed of light. (But not everyone - Titanic has a long shot as the
boat starts sinking where a signal flare is set off. The sound follows
a good 2 seconds behind)

I've never understood why they did that.

SURROUND

* Almost any huge surround sound explosion. In fact, generally the
use of surround in any action or action-drama film. Everything is
everywhere, with a crystal-clear glistening 20Hz - 20KHz bandwidth.

You have to justify the extra expense of the surround system. 'Hey
honey! Listen to this....'

WEAPONS & GUNS


* A fired gun never recoils.

Unless it's a beginner firing it. Then it jumps completely out of their
hand...or knocks them to the ground.

* Guns (handguns, rifles, machineguns etc) have a really deep
"BOOOMMM!!" sound not a "CRACK!" Also, the there's old cliche about
the number of rounds the average magazine holds, the good guys almost
never run out of ammo, and they seem to be able to use a handgun
accurately to over a 100 meter range (accuracy of weapons over
distance is pretty much a factor of barrel length - handguns are for
CLOSE distances).

* All sub machine guns sound alike and have the same rate of fire
Machine guns and their rate of fire ... most users of these
weapons can manage to sustain over 10 second continuous rate of fire
(in actuality, you are supposed to fire the things in short bursts --
after a long burst the barrel will heat up so much the weapon will
jam). Also I have never ever seen any protagonist change a MGs
*barrel* no matter how long he has used the MG. (the barrels overheat,
and also sustain incredible wear requiring these to be changed --
often in battle, the gunner's mate will carry spare barrels as well as
the inexhaustible ammo supply which weighs next-to-nothing). Esp. WW2
era weapons.

I heard a radio interview with Ken Burns, who detailed the great lengths
they went to in order to add sound to the (mostly) silent war archival
footage for his WWII documentary. IMO, he got it pretty well right.

[Ralph Barone]

In article ,
jakdedert wrote:

* Scream
Whenever someone falls off of a cliff or building, no matter
how much damage they take beforehand, they scream, even if they were
shot through the lungs twenty or thirty times, or were apparently
unconscious.

If I ever fall off a building, I'm gonna scream!

I just loved the Simpson's episode where Sideshow Bob throws Bart over
the edge of a huge dam. The fall takes so long that Bart has to stop
halfway to take another breath.

[hank alrich]

dizzy wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce said:

When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a rocket sound.

... which is why just about every spaceship "whooshes" when it crosses
camera in outer space?

Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine whining.

Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.

Who needs a turban in a vacuum??

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

[Chris Hornbeck]

On Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:28:01 -0500, (hank alrich)
wrote:

dizzy wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce said:

When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a rocket sound.

... which is why just about every spaceship "whooshes" when it crosses
camera in outer space?

Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine whining.

Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.

Who needs a turban in a vacuum??

I almost hesitate to say that the emphasis should be on
"whining". Almost.


Much thanks, as always,

Chris Hornbeck
"True, but only for large values of zero."
-Mike Rivers

[Don Pearce]

dizzy wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce said:

When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a rocket sound.
... which is why just about every spaceship "whooshes" when it crosses
camera in outer space?
Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine whining.

Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.


I've never been to a cinema with a vacuum in it. Do tell...

d

[jakdedert]

Don Pearce wrote:
dizzy wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce said:

When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a rocket sound.
... which is why just about every spaceship "whooshes" when it
crosses camera in outer space?
Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine whining.

Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.


I've never been to a cinema with a vacuum in it. Do tell...

d

I was, once. I woke up while they were cleaning the floors and left....

g

jak

[jakdedert]

hank alrich wrote:
dizzy wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce said:

When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a rocket sound.
... which is why just about every spaceship "whooshes" when it crosses
camera in outer space?
Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine whining.
Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.

Who needs a turban in a vacuum??

I got my turban stuck in a vacuum once...took me an hour to unwrap it
from the roller brush.

g

jak

[Martin Harrington]

They usually turn them off and put them away before the punters arrive.

M H


On 11/06/08 1:36 PM, in article zf6dnaRRHO_K1dLVnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@plusnet,
"Don Pearce" wrote:

dizzy wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce said:

When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a rocket sound.
... which is why just about every spaceship "whooshes" when it crosses
camera in outer space?
Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine whining.

Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.


I've never been to a cinema with a vacuum in it. Do tell...

d

[Scott Dorsey]

Don Pearce wrote:
dizzy wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce said:

When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a rocket sound.
... which is why just about every spaceship "whooshes" when it crosses
camera in outer space?
Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine whining.

Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.

I've never been to a cinema with a vacuum in it. Do tell...

It's true, they normally just hose the floor down after the show to get all
the empty cups and popcorn debris washed away.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Don Pearce]

Scott Dorsey wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:
dizzy wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce said:

When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a rocket sound.
... which is why just about every spaceship "whooshes" when it crosses
camera in outer space?
Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine whining.
Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.
I've never been to a cinema with a vacuum in it. Do tell...

It's true, they normally just hose the floor down after the show to get all
the empty cups and popcorn debris washed away.
--scott

My local cinemas are all carpeted. That would be an interesting way of
cleaning them.

d

[Arny Krueger]

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
et
Scott Dorsey wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:
dizzy wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce
said:
When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a
rocket sound.
... which is why just about every spaceship
"whooshes" when it crosses camera in outer space?
Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine
whining.
Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.
I've never been to a cinema with a vacuum in it. Do
tell...

It's true, they normally just hose the floor down after
the show to get all the empty cups and popcorn debris
washed away. --scott

My local cinemas are all carpeted. That would be an
interesting way of cleaning them.

In the U.S, the aisles are usually carpeted, and the area under the seat is
not.

[Don Pearce]

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Don Pearce" wrote in message
et
Scott Dorsey wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:
dizzy wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce
said:
When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a
rocket sound.
... which is why just about every spaceship
"whooshes" when it crosses camera in outer space?
Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine
whining.
Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine. Sheesh.
I've never been to a cinema with a vacuum in it. Do
tell...
It's true, they normally just hose the floor down after
the show to get all the empty cups and popcorn debris
washed away. --scott
My local cinemas are all carpeted. That would be an
interesting way of cleaning them.

In the U.S, the aisles are usually carpeted, and the area under the seat is
not.



Thinking about it, my nearest cinema - the Everyman in Hampstead - has
leather three-seater sofas. Very comfy.

d

[Arny Krueger]

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
news
Arny Krueger wrote:
"Don Pearce" wrote in message
et
Scott Dorsey wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:
dizzy wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:

Jay Rose wrote:
On 2008-06-10 14:24:29 -0400, Don Pearce
said:
When the picture is a spacecraft, they need a
rocket sound.
... which is why just about every spaceship
"whooshes" when it crosses camera in outer space?
Nope, you can pretty much always hear a turbine
whining.
Not if there's a vacuum between you and the turbine.
Sheesh.
I've never been to a cinema with a vacuum in it. Do
tell...
It's true, they normally just hose the floor down after
the show to get all the empty cups and popcorn debris
washed away. --scott
My local cinemas are all carpeted. That would be an
interesting way of cleaning them.

In the U.S, the aisles are usually carpeted, and the
area under the seating is not.

The area under the seating is often painted concrete. With the advent of
epoxy floor coatings, this can actually be kinda stylish.

Thinking about it, my nearest cinema - the Everyman in
Hampstead - has leather three-seater sofas. Very comfy.

I've heard of such things - but theatre and concert hall seating in the US
is traditionally cloth-covered. I'm not sure that I prefer leather, even
when I had it at home.

[Don Pearce]

Arny Krueger wrote:


The area under the seating is often painted concrete. With the advent of
epoxy floor coatings, this can actually be kinda stylish.

Thinking about it, my nearest cinema - the Everyman in
Hampstead - has leather three-seater sofas. Very comfy.

I've heard of such things - but theatre and concert hall seating in the US
is traditionally cloth-covered. I'm not sure that I prefer leather, even
when I had it at home.


This is not a mainstream cinema, but a very small arthouse. The big
multiplexes are pretty much as you describe.

d