"Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound" A masterpiece documentary directed by the sound editor himself Interview with director Midge Costin [Director's Interview Vol.85]

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2020.10.16Kazuo Ozaki

As more and more people watch movies outside of theaters, sound becomes even more important.

Q: Lastly, in this documentary, you touched briefly on `` ROMA '' (18), which adopted Dolby Atmos as a local point of sound format. What do you think about 3)?

Kostin: I like so-called immersive sound like Dolby Atmos. But a movie won't be any better if the story isn't good.

I think that director Alfonso Cuaron, who directed ``ROMA,'' was searching for a different sound direction than before. This is an approach that immerses us even more in the work by putting people's voices in surround sound, as if we were sitting in a car together or watching TV together as a family. On the other hand, Walter Murch and his junior, Randy Thom, were actually critical of it, saying, ``There are too many notes and it's distracting.'' But I thought it was an innovative and fun way to do it.

I like having an immersive experience in a big theater. However, I also think that the role of sound changes depending on the size of the theater where you are watching. Many young people now enjoy watching movies on their computers and smartphones. Some of my colleagues lament that ``cinema theaters are dying,'' but as people increasingly watch movies on small screens, sound has become even more important in this context. I think it is increasing.

On the small screen, close-ups of actors may be less emotional and action scenes may have less impact, but sound becomes more important and plays an important role in telling the story. And that's where the emotion and power should come from.

(Note 3) Acoustic programming that supports not only horizontal but also vertical three-dimensional effects by placing speakers on the front, rear, left, and right sides as well as on the ceiling.

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