Summer 2001 - The Association of Motion Picture Sound

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AMPS is now officially sponsoring the charity Hearing Dogs For Deaf People. As a result of
the ballot taken at this year's ACM, we have chosen this small charity for our first endeavours to
raise money. The object of the charity is to train donated and rescued dogs to act as ears for the
profoundlydeaf, particularly those who live alone. The dogs are trained t-o react to everyday
sounds such as telephones, door bells and alarms and bring them to the deaf person's attention.
Our aim is to raise f3000 over the next three years to
sponsor a kennel at their new headquarters, Grange Farm
(The AMPS doghouse?). As well as making contributions
from AMPS funds, rather cute doggy collecting boxes are
now appearing at our venues. Members and friends
attending these events are encouraged to lighten their
pockets of loose change. We want-membeis to take an
active part in this project.
In our researches, we discovered that the Charity sells
good quality sweatshirts with "Ears Are Us!" on the front
and the charity name on the back. These could bring a
smile on the set or in the theatre and raise awareness of
this effort. We can organise more collecting boxes if you
think your establishment would support us. The Charity
also offers raffle tickets with regular substantial prizes.
If any of these ideas appeal to you, please contact our
hardworking Membership Secretary, Patrick Heigham,
who seems to have been collared for the role of Organiser
for this effort. If you would like rnore information, look
at their website
www.hearin g-dogs.co.uk
If any of these ideas appeal to you. please contact our hard
working Membership Secretary, Patrick Heigham, who seems to have been 'collared' into
assumins the role of Orsaniser for this effort.
. Progress Chart
We will be publishing regular reports in the Newsletter.
The AMPS Kennel Fund
SANDY lv{AC]RAtr

In Mttrch oJ this year, the Ar:udemy qf'Arts uncl
Motion Picture Sciences (AMPAS) presentetl dn
uward to loan AIIen ancl Rabin Bran.shLrrv of Dotbv
Labs, and Mark Han'alt of Walt Disnett Co ior thehwork
as creatrlrs conr:ept, de,rign antl
i mp Ie rne ntat itt n - t{' t he T rai le r Au.dio S I urulu' d s
As s o c ittt i u n'.t ( 71{,5A J T r ui le r Lo ud nt: s s S t a ntlar tl.
With tlttc respect tfi the ttutu.rd a.nd. uchitv,ernenl.t
of tfu cLbove rt:tipients, AI,IPS editrtrs woultJ like to
tb'aw nzenther's attentittn tr: tl't.r: u,r-trk dt.tnt: itt
Brituitt hy the ll'lntiorz Pir:ture Luutlne.r.t (nmrnittee
(MPLC)on llw sturtt stth.ied, &ntl the Commhree's
achievement in having it's finrlings incctrporated
into a British Standrtrd,
The following is a report byt Graham Hurtstone,
Chairmanofthe MPLC.
MOTION PICTURE
LOUDNESS COMMITTtrtr
F-ollowing adverse press articles about the
excessive sound levels in cinemas, the MPLC
(Motion Picture Loudness Committee) was formed
under the chairmanship of Graham Hartstone in
November i998.
The committee consisted initially of
representatives from Dolby Laboratories, DTS and
Sony Cinema Products Corporation. Other
committee members were drawn frorn the maior
di stri buti on companies, cinema exhibi tors ( C"EA i,
cinema advertisers (CAA), cinema installers, the
British Standards Institute, (BSi), various
rerecording mixers from the AMPS membership,
and the all-important optical transfer supervisors.
Our aim, under the combined wing of AMPS and
BKSTS, was to establish some contiol over
excessive soundtrack levels as a form of industrv
self-regulation, before it became a serious health
and safety problem.
From the early meetings it became clear that other
organisations were pursuing the same goal. TASA
(Trailer Audio Standards Association) in the USA,
CAA (Cinema Advertisers Association) in the UK,
and more globally SAWA (Screen Advertisers
World Association) were all proposing to use a
Dolby model737 LEQ(m) to rnonitor levels. This
rneter measures average peak levels over the
timescale of the programme, in other words, the
annoyance factor. It does not prohibit loud sounds
from being used in a mix, but they must be
compensated by periods of lower modulation in
order to register an acceptable average level.
These LEQ(m) limitations are now widely
accepted in many countries, most of the mixing
facilities have the LEQ(m) meter to moniror levels,
and a further check is made at the optical transfer
facilities. Currently the maximum levels of 86 dB
LEQ(m) forqailers and 82 dB LEQ(m) are adhered
to. Further reductions are being sought,
MPLC successfully incorporated these levels into
a British Standard (BS -5,5-50-7.4.2:2000) and an
ISO equivalent is being drafted.
The human ear has a bLrilt-in protection de vice.
When- subjected to continuous high levels it begins
to self-attenLrate, especially the high frequencies.
Fortunately it slowly retrrrrrs to nornral drrrirrg a
followirrg quieter periocl, although too much
continuous high level exposure may cause
pcrrnailent hearing damage. This phenomenon is
well known to rcrecorcling mixers. Irr future, the
'overtures' to feature lilm presentations (trailers arrd
commercials) carr be played at the starrdarclfader
setting without causing offence. This means that
feature mixers will not have to compensate during
the mix for the virtual certaintv thatlheir tracks will
be turned down in the cinema. Let us make full but
not excessive use of the more than adequate
avai lable dynamic range.
As chairman of the Mpt-C, I woulcl like to thank
all the members of the committee for their time and
contributions so far in achievins the British
Standard, with special thanks t6 John Croft FBKS,
for being an excellent secretary to the committee.
GRAHAM V HARTSTONE IJ-\\4PS FI]KS
Head Of Post Production. Pinewood Studios
ii
I
OMISSIONS & CORRECTIONS
THE EDITORS APOLOGISE
'"-"'*'1
Unfortunately the following names in the
End Credits 2000 columns, printed in the last
Newsletter, were spelt incorrectly : Ann
Boorman, Carmen Dillon, and Hedy Lamarr.
Sadly, the names of Marc Davis and
Bernard Wicki, who both died in January
2000, were missed from the listings.
Marc Davis was the great animator who,
working for Disney, created many cartoon
characters including Bambi, Thumper,
Tinkerbell, and the evil Cruella de Vil. He
was also responsible for devising installations
at Disney theme parks. He was 86.
Bernhard Wicki, actor/director, born in
Austria in 1919 of Hungarian-Swiss parents,
did much to restore the prestige of the
German Film Industry. In 1959 he directed
The Briclge, a story of Bavarian schoolboys
defending a small bridge against American
attack. The film won a Golden Globe and
was nominated for an Oscar. The excellent
Gernran segments in Darryl Zanuck'sThe
Longest Da_y 66yi" were directed by Wicki.
He also directed two American movies. Zhe
Vlsit (l9e) andThe Sttboteur (1965) and
acted in a number of Italian and American
films.
t
I
1
f

Richard Duniel Gaes....
GIZMO GAZING
One of the things that I really enjoy is trawling
through magazines, newspapers, catalogues and
web sites looking for new stuff that might be
usefirl to us iri the sountl game. Recently I have
noticed a speeding up ol consumer technology's
move towards our'professional' territory with
both new hardware and software. From shooting.
to editing, to final delivery, it's all getting smaller,
faster and cheaper. Also the equipment, because of
its cheapness, is no longer the huge capital
investment it once was: if fact. if it doesn't work
it's probably cheaper to throw it away and buy
another one. So here are a few items that I have
selected for your entertainment.
First check out the new HHB Portadisc MDP500
portable MiniDisc recorder (rvrvlv.hhb.co.uk). I have
always like the concept of MiniDisc for location
use. The disk is rugged,light and well protected
and has large label on it for clearly marking content
information. It is also easy to send in an envelope
and pretty damage proof. The Portadisc looksjust
the job as it includes phantom powering tor the
mics, an internal speaker and optical digital inputs
and outputs for copying, plus a six second
prerecord buffer so you wont miss the clapper
board. It has a USB port so that it can be connected
to a laptop to transfer files to and from the
recorder, and to provide editing facilities that
would be useful for'playback' sessions on
location. As with many semi pro products, the
main thing that it lacks is timecode recording but
this might be overcome by using the Aaton burst
timecodeapproach where a few frames of code are
recorder on the audio track at the start of each
recording. On transfer this code can jam a timecode
generator and provide continuous code to the copy.
This brings me to the Ambient Recording Clockit
Sync Module for DAT (and MiniDisc?) recorders.
This unit can genlock the word clock of the DAT
recorder to its very accurate timecode generator
which can be jam synced from a master clock. Text
data logging to a PC is on the way. This may be
useful for Sony 24P shooting!
Bored with using conventional recorders? Well
why not try recording sound on your lap top?
Checkout the Sound Devices USBpre
(rvwrv.sounddevices.com) box which enables you to
connect, via an USB port, two channels of
analogue audio such as microphones (including
phantom powering), and line inputs in any
combination. The unit has a level meter and full
headphone monitoring. All this is powered directly
from the USB port. This sounds ideal for
recording onto Pro Tools V5 on location.
Not sure whether it's working? Checkout the
TerraSonde Audio Toolbox (wr'vrv.tenasonde.com).
When I saw the original Toolbox I couldn't believe
what it offered, and it was purple! This is a
handheld test set, battery or mains powered with
lots of plugs and sockets, ancl includes a distortion
rneter, an impedance meter, a sine wave sweep
generator, a phase generator, a continuity tester,
SPL meter, frequency and hanlonic analyscr and
so on. It has a PC/Mac serial interface for the
transfer of measurcnrents to your coillprlter for the
printing of chafts. A very erttertirining and
unusually designed piece of hardware.
Moving along into the editing domain, chcckout
theApple PowerMac 733MHz G4 computer
(rvrvw.apple.com/ukstore) with its distinctive shape,
optional flat screen and see-through speaker system
made by Harman. This beast includes their new
SuperDrive DVD Recorder and iDVD software
where you can import your videos with sound, edit
them and transfer them direct to DVD, all for about
f3O0O. If you are PC based checkout products by
Pinnacle and Matrox who sell video editing
systems for both the consumer and professional
markets- (Ed: the samz Apple Gl computer can be
used as the basis of a DVD authoring system.from
{5000; or in a full
video editing configuration
using CindWave around f 10,000).
Tired of carrying around all those CD sound
effects libraries from cutting room to cutting room,
and cannot afford a server system? Then checkout
the Hango PJBox. This is a handheld MP3 player
which can hold up to 320 hours of stereo audio on
its 20 Gigabyte internal drive all for the princely
sum of about f700. Creative and Archos also make
similar devices for even less!
Had enough of all this high tech stuff and feel
like a trip down memory lane? Do you remember
when the word 'disc' meant one made of vinyl?
Checkout rvrvrv.danscttes.co.nk for the latest in
portable battery operated record players. Look for
the one called the Fonorette which ejects the
(45rpm) disc at loomph!. Finally, it would be
amusing to read this article in a couple of years
time and see how things have moved on since
now. Happy Gizmo Gazing.
DANCING SF{ADOWS
SOI.IM) IN MOTION PIC]I'I]RES
Earlier this year BBC Radio 4 broadcast, in surround
sound, four episodes of an excellent series invcstigating the
use of sound in motion pictures.
Produced by Mark Burman and presented by Christopher
Cook, a number of 'top drawer' sound designers / sound
editors along with exhacts lrom the movies they talked
about. Amongst those intervierved were Walter Murch,
Frank Warner, Alan Splet, David Lynch, Mikc I-c Mare
and Graham Hartstone rvith excerpts fromThe
Converssliott, Saving Private Ryan, Eraserhead, Ilts Boot,
BItde Rturrtcr and olhers.
Unfortunately thc programmes were broadcast on a
weekday at 1.30pm so probabiy onll' a fcrv members gclt to

DE\rELOPMENTS
IN INTERNET
TECHNOLOGY
This was one of the best attcnded talks orgarrised
by AMPS. given hy Sarah l"larries (at l"hat tirne
representing Framfab UK) on 22nd Novemher in
De [.ane Lea's Dean Street preview theatre. We are
grateful to them and engineer Gerry Teague for
their support. It is impossible to give an adequate
report here because it was a PowerPoint
presentation, liberally illustrated with'slides' and
websites, though the latter were slow because a
high-speed line was unavailable. However, a few
printed handouts are still available to Members
who wish to order a taped copy of the 2-hour
evening from Bob Allen.
Sarah said that CoNVERGENCE was driven by the
theories that: l/ everything that can be connected
will be; 2l anythingthat can be digitised will be;
3/ everything that can be mobile-enabled will be.
Two important factors were deregulation and fierce
competition. One of her associate companies
provides broadband internet access to homes,
using Ethernet cabling, allowing TV, stereo,
security system and computer all to share the same
network and have connectivity to the outside
world, without bandwidth restrictions.
An example gf a subject vital to the film andTV
industries was RIGHTS MANAGEMENT: who owns
a film, where has it been shown, to how many,
who shares the revenues? This is currently
discouraging owners of film rights from releasing
their valuable assets onto the net, but systems are
in development to address this issue. In the coming
year, new alliances would be formed in the various
areas of IT and telecoms services (e.g. CL, IBM,
BT, Orange, AOL), media owners (e.g. Vivendi,
Warners, EMAP ), broadcasters (BBC, ITV,
NTL, BSkyB) and emerging players (Gameplay,
Two-Way TV, AOL).
Many countries, including the US look on the
UK as a test-bed for the launching of new
technologies. For instance, many are interested to
see what the uptake will be by the public for
ADSL, the technology that converts phone lines to
allow faster 512k connection to the Internet. 512k
is not the maximum achievable in fact, but to keep
infrastructure and the cost per subscriber down BT
are intending to share this bandwidth between
households at times, so achievable speeds will still
vary according to how many neighbours are online
simultaneouslv.
With digital TV,ihe Government's stated
intention to switch off analogue TV transmission in
2006(?) should drive consumers to upgrade their
TV sets and hence increase the number of
households capablc of rcceiving interactive TV
serviccs. The poterrtial of interactive TV for
comrnercial exploitation lry retailerc and advertisers
has already attracted huge investment hut as yct vcry
few succcss stories exist as thc arxlicnc:ers arc still so
small. Sonre think thal" TV vicwing will renrain
passivc and relaxing anrl that viewcrs will never tnrly
'irrteract'.
Mobilc phones ancl mohile inl.ernet dcvices are
dcvcloping f ast. WAP phorrcs (which can display
basic: versions of internet sites) are alrcady here but
slow and crude. GPRS is the next step which will
allow faster connections and hence better quality
displays. After this will come '3G', the slang term
for3rd-generation mobile networks using the UMTS
spectrum). This will offer mobile phone subscribers
the potential of 2MBls connection speeds to webbased
services allowing the to-ing and fro-ing of
'rich media' such as video and music files.
The Virage-Ingest system, now being used by the
British Pathd newsreel library, logs a freeze-frame
each time there's a scene-change in a reel: these form
the backbone of a database that can be published,
searched and previewed on the Net. Clips can be
displayed in'streamed video' format.
Bluetooth is a short-distance radio connection that
doesn't depend on line-of-sight; for example it will
'connect' your mobile phone to your laptop so you
can check your e-mail on the train (while the phone is
in your pocket!). It could evenzap a pre-bought film
being received by your mobile onto a special screen;
the Japanese are already testing these in bars.
Streaming is a method of compressing and
encoding video and audio data so it can be chopped
into small packets and sent over the internet at
variable rates, but played out at constant speed. Each
frame is discarded once viewed, meaning no full
download is necessary prior to viewing.
There are several makes of such devices, e.g. Real
Player, MS Media Player and Apple Quicktime; none
are very good because insufficient bandwidth is
available, and the level of compression necessary
omits a lot of picture detail. If you intend to put video
on your own site, encode it for the player your
audience is most likely to have; a lot of costly storage
space and software licences would be needed if you
were to offer video streams suitable for all types of
player at all modem speeds. (The cheapest option is
Windows Media player, as there is no licence fee for
the website owner and no charge for the player for
viewers/users.)
Many other subjects were fluently touched on by
Sarah, and the evening ended with a Q & A session.
We all left rather awed by the huge horizons opening
ahead of us.
6
I'}iI'ER N{T]S(iRAVIl
NB: Sarah now works at ICL, where she
consults on emerging technologies. Her email
atldr e s s is : sarah.harries @ ic l.c om

THE BEACONSFIELD
TROLLEYRALLY
On Sunday May 13, a fine sunny morning,30
AMPS mcmbers and guests assembled in the
National Film & Televisit'rn School'sTV $fage at
Beaconsfield Studios.'l'liey had given trp their
Surrday morning'tie-in' and urgent springtinte
gorden work to gather and hear production mixers
Sandy MacRae,-sirron Bishop, Strrart Wilson and
Patriik Heigham, expound on the whys ancl
where{ores o1'the type of rccorcling work they
undertook, and the reasons for the various pieces of
equipment displayed on their trolleys.
Council member, Peter Musgrave, a sound editor
by craft, organised the meeting on behalf of the
AMPS Council and acted as chairman. After
welcoming all to the meeting, he introduced the four
speakers.
It was pleasing to note that six Institute of
Rroadcast Sound (IBS) had accepted AMPS'
rvitation to attend. However although the same
rnvitation was extended to the British
Kinematograph Sound & Television Society
(BKSTS) and the Association of Post Production
Studios (APPS), none of their members attended.
An added special facility for the meeting was the
loan of the Film School's video projector, set up to
enable the speakers to show clips from productions
they had worked on.
Sandy, who opened the proceedings described the
equipment he used. He said that he'd been
apprehensive about DAT but was now an
enthusiastic convert. He showed a clip of well
recorded dialogue from one of the many episodes of
Poirot that he had been production mixer on.
Stuart and Sandy's rigs had been set up on their
trolleys before the meeting started and over-theshoulder
expert Patrick's cases were on display on
adjacent table but there was no sign of Simon's
_an
;ear - it was still loaded in the truck that he had
backed onto the soundstage.
Simon opened his talk with confessing that he was
always late so had designed his rig for rapidity,
claimingthat it took him only 75 seconds to be ready
to shoot. To prove the point he flung back the doors
of the truck, pulled forward two runners a la
wheelchair access, wheeled out his trolley with gear
assembled, pulled it over to the front of the meeting,
operated a few flaps and sliding shelves, clicked on
some switches and called "Sound Running!". His
timing was spot on 75 seconds!
Stuart showed unedited eKcerpts from his present
assignment using an &track recorder. The director
on this job will not allow booms to be used so the
exercise is almost lOUVo personal mics on radios.
Further more, the director is anti rehearsals and a
sreat deal ofthe dialogue and action is'off-the-cuff'
iraking 8-track essential. I must say it's not the sort
ofjob I'd like to handle but Stuart seems to thrive on
the challense.
7
Patrick whose type of work normally precludes the
use of a trolley carries all his equipment neatly and
economically packed in three medium-sized cases and
an over-the-shoulder bag. One rigidised flight case
contains microphones and suspensions, while a
smaller rigidiscd case houses an immaculatc kit of
tools and tes[ gear. The third case contirins tris rnixer
in a shoulder harness with radio mic receivers
attached. He has to be ready to go as soon as the
cameraman lifts the cirillera to his shoulder. The
Carry-Alt he calls his "run bag" and crontains spare
battcrios, ttre rattio tttics, spare tapes and a picce of
white card for camera balance. It seems that the
cameramen have come to rely on Sound to provide
this white card service and Patrick told the meeting of
one occasion, working for an American client when,
in a dash up a hill on foot to grab a shot before light
faded, the white card got left behind. Disaster was
averted however by the lady PA saying "My panties
are white", and obligingty slipping down her trousers,
bending over and presenting her backside to the
camera!
Patrick showed excerpts from a documentary
following various stars of the Grand Prix circuits,
around the world. For me, another challenge I'd
rather do without.
At the conclusion of the talks, Peter opened the
meeting for questions. Unfortunately I didn't think of
my question until I was driving the 101 miles home.
When I was a production mixer,l liked to be as close
to the set as possible. I wanted to be able to see all that
was going on. Being on the set gave me clues to
actors movements and when they spoke. I could see if
there were noises made by the crew that could be
elirninated; and keep close contact with the director
and boom op. Also I felt that being involved on the set
kept the director and crew aware that sound was being
recorded. So my question to mixers with large rigs on
trolleys is, how close to the set can you get?
It was an excellent meeting and I'm sure all who
attended derived great benefit, especially from the
open discussion with the speakers when they
descended from the platform to sland by their tieffgs.
The National Film & Television School is a gfeet
venue, so special thanks to Andrew Boulton and the
School management for allowing our use of it. We
hope that we will be welcomed back for future
meetings.
At the close of the meeting, Andrew said to all
assembled that they and otherAMPS members were
always welcome to visit the school and he would be
extremely pleased if any would volunteer to come and
talk to the students. He very much wanted the
students to have plenty of contact with people
working in the industry.
A turnout of 30 peopls on a sunny Sunday morning
is not bad but the Council would like to see much
more support of organised events. Those who didn't
attend missed another really good meeting.
BOB ALLLN
(For pltotos autl more commeilt on the rneeting) +

OFF MY TROLLEY
AMPS' MAY MEETING AT THE NATIONAL FILM & TV SCHOOL
A sRNov MACRAE
V SIMON BISHOP
T STUART wILSoN
Y PATzuCK HEIGHAM

;
-
E
I
s
- -
OFF MY TROLLEY
Those tricky questions...
More difficult questions
No drinks ... crossed arms
Pictures by Tim Blackhum und Bob ALLen
The audience..intent and intense
No trollev - iust over-the-shoulder
More questions ... still no drinks

The'Olf Mg Trolley' Meettng...
A SOUND EDITORS VIEW
The divide between production artd postproduction
sound in film and television, though
irot wilful or intcntional. is irr practice very real.
Both sidcs of the lirre have questions they'd like to
put to the other, Lrut time ancl opportunity rarcly
permit a proper exchauge.
- As an editor ancl re-recortling rnixer I'm firmly
routed in post production. Aparl from the courfy
chairs and air-conditioning, one of the things ['ve
found attractive about the post world is the everexpanding
range of sophisticated equipment
available to achieve our ends. Not particularly
high-minded,I know, but there we are. Compared
with this, the pole and shoulder-slung Nagra has
always appeared rather bare and the miracles
achieved by Production Mixers in acquiring usable
sound far too reliant on real-time native cunning
and physical endurance. This, as Production
Mixer and panelist, Stuart Wilson points out, will
always be a big element of the job:
"There will always be a need for this 'real-time
native cunning and physical endurance' as on
location, aeroplanes will fly over period sets,
costume shoes will clump loudly on wooden
floors, sets will be too reverberant and need
dampening, lighting equipment will hum and buzz
and need cooperation to reduce, cutlery and
crinoline underskirts will be louder than the
dialogue and unfortunately no amount of high-tech
equipment will eliminate these very practical,
mechanical problems!"
That said, after the meeting, it's clear that the
array of kit now employed, by said artful
individuals, is hugely expanded. Simon Bishop
demonstrated SAS-like efficiency in deployment
of his customised equipment trolley as, stopwatch
running, he rolled the beast from the back of his
van, powered-up, flipped out a few LCD displays
and control panels and stood, 75 seconds later to
my watch, ready to serve his glorious director.
With his Deva|track HD recorder and facility
for four radio mic's plus booms pltn transfer from
Deva to DVD RAM, Simon would be capable of
leaving options very open for the post-production
department in terms of sources. [n practice, of
course, ever-greater budgeUtime restraints mean
that the PM's live mix is often used by the editor,
with recourse to the multitrack being for
emergencies only. Heart-breakin g, considering the
lengths sometimes gone to to offer this flexibility.
However, this knowledge makes it even more
important that the PM geti the live mix as right as
possible. With this in mind, Simon told of a
colleague who had an interesting solution: He was
using an 8-track rig where seven tracks of his
eight-track recorder were fed from separate mics,
with the live mix going to track eight. Having
recognised that his mix for a certain part of a
t0
recorded scene had not been ideal, he would wait
for a break and then roll-back his 8-track, and
remix the section to DAT still pr:eserving synch.
The post:pro team were apparently anrazecl at the
consistently high quality of the production mix.
Simon is crrrrcntly looking into various models of
hard disk I track, with a view to designing a
systent that woulel allow irrstartt remixing {on set)
bul. not necessarily archiving the B-track originals:
"How many post pro schedules havc timc to
even find the oft'ending shot on the 8-track tapes'/"
comments Simon. Alt this alsn points up the
importance of conscientious dialogue editors. It's
easy for us to complain about lack of information
and consistency, but it's also up to us to make that
extra effort to read any notes and listen to all the
takes. Time permitting... which it rarely is!
Fully loaded with human ingenuity and also
topping the kit-and-caboodle stakes, Stuart told of
his most recent job on which he was using no less
than 11 radio mics going to two eight-track
recorders. [n a quasi Dogma 95-style his director
was adamant about not replacing any dialogue and
recording everything at all times. The film had
started out as a relatively low budget project shot
on DV with available light. Of course, it soon
became apparent that to derive usable dialogue
from this rough-and-ready approach was going to
be far from easy or cheap. The director wanted to
get good sound though and so Stuart was expected
to do what he had to do to make it all happen -
without taking any extra time, of course, save for
a small allowance for getting the radio mics on
before the start of a scene.
Stuart: "There seems to be an idea among some
directors and producers, that sound isjust'there'
and as long as we push the record button, what
goes down on tape will be exactly what they
hoped for - a lovely, clean, ready-mixed dialogue
track with minimum background noise! The fact is
that to make a small improvement on location,
usually involves a disproportionate amount of
effort! But with a sympathetic director who is
prepared to allow the time to get something better
out of a challenging sound situation, there is a lot
which can be achieved."
One such adventure involved two of the main
protagonists engaged in conversation while
hurtling down a water slide, into and under the
surface of a swimming pool, re-emerging to
conclude their chat, covered by a second camera
on the opposite side of the pool. A lesser person
would have marked it down for ADR, but utilising
hermetically sealed plastic bags, condoms for the
mic capsules and lashings of gaffer tape (no Fairy
Liquid bottles), he strapped transmitters to the
actors' backs, placed mics in their hair and got the
whole process as a clear and convincing single
take. Tape should be removed from hirsute backs
with one swift yank!
r>

One of the problems with newer)
irnproved cquipmcnt and it's ability to
achicve better results is that dircctorial
expectations rise and koduction Mixers are
increasingly expected to arrive with huge
piles of kit. The question is, who pays?
Diminishing budgets artcl rising expcclations
arc bound to cause an uncomfortable
Lension. The young and the keen who travel
hopefully towards an intended brighter
tuture afe, as in many professions, wont to
work largely for the experience and for little
reward. It's imperative, though, that this
does not become the 'eternal apprenticeship'
that other show-biz associated trades suffer
from. If, instead of f-5,00O to f 10,00O
worth of kit, you are expected to pitch up
with many tens of thousands of pounds
worth, your rates must surely reflect that.
Stuarl "One suggestion is to charge per-
_ track or channels provided, so 4,track or 8lrack
should be budgeted for accordingly. It
would be good to have a two-pronged pitch
of an approach to sound from location and
post-production crew to producers, to say
what can be achieved and why it is worth it.
For example, the aforementioned flexibility
of 8-track on location should be understood,
appreciated, and the extra equipment paid
for. Using machines such as the hard-disk
4-track Deva have advantages, but cost
money to set up. It would be relatively easy
to get a production to pay for a higher
resolution film stock to improve image, and
it is perhaps one of the tasks of AMPS to
help increase appreciation of sound in a
similar way - 'higher resolution' sound is
possible if allowed for. The other advantage
of such a discussion in pre-production, is
. that editors, having rvelcomed the idea of all
'.his flexibility, wouldn't then say 'Oh what a
pain, I have to deal with four tracks, instead
of one or two' when it comes to the editing
stage. If there is a wish to keep flexibility
and separation, the post route needs to be
thought through and there is no doubt that
more time in post is required to edit location
multi-tracks to get the best out of them.
Dubbing theatres can have hugely
expensive, high-tech gear, but if one is
looking to use original performances rather
than ADR, there is a limit to what all that
gear can do with a seriously compromised
original - as the old saying goes: You can't
polishaturd."
This and other topics of great import were
taken up afterwards over lunch in the local
pub including tales of mythic sound effects
libraries containing such gems as 'Ash on
carpet' and 'Distant shot of dog on grass'.
Some things never change.
JIM BET'I-ERIDGE
1l
BAFTA TV FILM SOUND AWARDS
The policy of AMPS Newsletter in
reporting the nonrinees aild winners of
Oscar and BAFTA awards lor sound
lras always been to give the names of
those responsible for Production
Sound, Sound Editing attd Sound Re-
Recording, as again in this ycar's
BAFTA Film Sound awards. However, we
have had difficulty this year in
obtaining all the names responsible for
the BAFTA TV Film Sound Awards.
Several have been listed simply as'Team' and others with
only one or two names. While the Team idea may appear to
be a fair way of including all the technicians who worked on
the nominated productions, it seems rather impersonal when
other craft awards which are also team efforts are personally
named.
The editors of the AMPS Newsletter have always made a
point in congratulating all persons making up the crews of
sound award nominees and winners.
BAFTA TELEVISION CRAFT AWARDS 2OOI
SOUND FACTUAL
BzuTAIN AT WAR IN COLOUR {ITV)
- BrianAheme
DUDLEY MOORE - AFTERTHE LAUGF{TER (Omnibus) (BBC1)
Michael[,ax
SIMON RATTLE ON JTJDITH WEIR. SOTJTH BANK SIIOW (IT\T)
- Paul Vigars, Alex Thompson
VOLCANO (C4)
- Victor Chainev. Chris Phinikas
SOUND FICTION / ENTERTAINMENT
(sponsored by Future lrilm Group)
A TOUCH OF FROST (ITV)
- John Fountaine, Adam Severs
ANNA KARENINA (C4)
- listed as Team - Stephen Phillips, Stuart Hilliker avps
cLocKrNG oFF (BBCl)
- listed as Team - Bill Dodkin
LONGITUDE(C4)
- listed as Team - John Rodda ANlps, Kevin Brazier AMps,
David Humphries AMPS.
Congratulations to all winners and nominees and to the
crews who worked on the above productions
FOR SALE.
Ll Full set of Sound Equipment including P/8. In full
working order. All metal boxed for transit. For info contact
0208 953 1998 (tel/fax)
I Sound effects library consisting of 67 Sound Ideas CDs
(Series 3000, 6000 and 7000) at two-thirds price (€115O) and
24 Hollywood Edge DATs at half-price (f400), all very
under-used, with catalogues. Ring Peter Musgrave on 01895
635010.

A SUIET DAY IN THE SOUND DEPARTMENT
- TRtrBUTES TO KBN WESTON *
From Saruly MacRae :
It was a sad day, Ken's funeral. Amongst
the mourners, there was a large turnout
from the Industry Sound Department and
this caused me to wonder who was doins
the sound that day. Maybe it was a mute
day.
I had the good fortune to visit Ken a
couple of weeks before he died. I was
acting 'Messenger Boy' on behalf of
AMPS, delivering congratulations on his
Oscar win. It was a good meeting; Ken was
on new painkillers and was comfortable
enough to sit and chat for a couple ofhours.
He was amazingly philosophical about his
predicament. His only regret was not being
well enough to make the Ceremony but he
pointed out that had been there before for
the Evita Nomination so he knew what it
was like. He was really chuffed with his
Oscar and, to quote the man himself, "What
a way to go!"
I'd known Ken for quite a few years and
he recalled the first series of Poirot where
we worked as two crews on alternate
episodes. We discovered we had similar
ways of working and the same aim - to get
the best out of the production. We were two
voices in the Production Office saying the
same things, supporting each other.It made
the difference and he remembered the
experience as I did, great for both of us.
We consequently became friends and
occasionally we met for lunch in town on a
Friday with Ivan Sharrock and Richard
Daniel. It soon became dubbed'The Friday
Whinge Club'- what else do four soundmen
do when they meet socially! But it was the
'crack' we all met for, and Ken was always
up for that.
That was all too many years ago I'll
miss him - it will be quieter without him.
From Lionel Sn'utt
As a Sound Technician Ken was one of the all time
greats. His list of credits is phenomenal, with thirty
films as Boom Operatorcommencing withThe Eiger
Sanction (I975) directed by Clint Eastwood and ending
with a Hollywood OscarAward and Cinema Audio
S_gciety Award for Best Sound on Ridley Scott's epic
GkuJiator, one of around twenty five major films on
which he was Production Mixer. This, in itself, is a
fitting tribute to Ken.
To achieve this within just twenty five years, is an
indication of how prolific a worker he was. Ken
notched up around fifty major credits including such
marathons as six episodes of the Poirot TV series in
1989, for which he received BAFfA awards. And the
numerous long term stints in far away places on such
epics as Evita(1996) on location in Buenos Aires and
Hungary, with Alan Parker directing. A particularly
complex shoot and a challenging taskfor any
Production Sound Mixer.
Ken often worked on Alan's films over the years and
they got along famously - Bugsy Malone (1W6),
Midnighr Express (1978), The Wall (1982), The
Commitments (l99l) and Angela's Asltes (1999). At
other times he was working with Stanley Kubrick as
Boom Operator onThe Shining (1980), and with
Ridley Scott on White Squall (1996) as Production
Sound Mixer which was soon followed by the multi
award winningGkxliator (2000), also with Ridley. The
rest of his credits, though prestigious are too numerous
to list.
Ken was a founder member of the Association of
Motion Picture Sound. Proof of how popular he was
came in the mid nineties when an informal meetine
tabled'An Evening With Ken Weston' proved to 6e
one of the most well attended and successful gatherings
of it's kind ever held by AMPS ! He gave a lot of his -
time to the Association and also helped many younger
members. He was kind, generous and considerate.
Not only was he popular amongst his fellow workers
but he was also well known for his rather dry brand of
humour. Alan Parker shared this and loved workins
12

with hirn. Ken was renowned for his
collection of sltort 'poems' most of
which were laced with gritty humour
often related to the particular production
of the day. Lots of thern are unprintable
in profanity [L:rrIIs, bttt they served trr
relieve the stresses and strains of the
fourteen hour days ancl tight schedules
that toclay's film crews have to put up
with. For example, on the Eyrlz shoot, to
the hit tune of Don't Crv For Me
Argerttita, Ken rewrote Lhe Iyrics
"They think I'm a lavatory
cIeaner....,....."
Born in Finsbury Park in 1947 he grew
up in Borehantwood, Hertfordshire
beginning his career in sound as a boom
operator, learning early on how to keep
the mic out of shot! But taking things one
stage further when he himself was caught
full on camera in Midnight Express t
Ken was always very exacting in his
work and demanded the highest
standards. He was not satisfied merely to
deliver an up front 'Radio Mic' sound.
He wanted, and strove, to obtain the
right ambience on his tracks and he
achieved this admirably using his
knowledge of microphones, and
experience on the floor as both a boom
operator and mixer.
A moving Service of Thanksgiving
was held for Ken at Christ Church, West
Wimbledon on the 26th April 2001. After
developing renal cancerin1997 he had a
kidney removed, but the cancer returned
and he died on Good Friday 13th April
2001 only a month after receiving his top
awards for best sound. He married
twice. He is survived by his second
wife, Janice, a daughter and son and
three stepchildren.
The service, conducted by the Rev
Celia Thomson, was well attended and
fourteen AMPS members were amonsst
the many friends and relatives presenl
Alan Parker was also amons the
mourners along with many 6ther industry
professionals. Peter Glossop gave a
reading and David Nichols read a
fascinating address including one of
Ken's poems....... Quote from David
Nichols "One of the few that can be read
in Church".
In memory of Ken a donation was
made by the Association of Motion
Picture Sound to Martin Gore's Research
Fund at The Royal Marsden Hospital.
Frotrt Cr;lin Codner
On Good Friday this year I lost a very close work
colleague and my dearest friend to cancer.
Ken Westort trnd I worked together for over l8
extraordinary years. I was introduced to Ken by John
Llhandl er r. Although crn i grn ati r:, Ken' s motto rcmai tied
"Sinrplicity is Bcst", But, that sinrplicity made hirn a
perf ectionist- l)irectors such as Alan Parker', Ridley
Scott, John Iving, Peter Yates, would specilically
request Ken to record the sound tbr theirfllrtts.
Such was their respect fbr him the culmination of his
career lrad been his Oscar win for the film Clutliu.Lrr
which I had the pleasure of working with him on.
Thankfully he was still around to receive the Oscar
and appreciate the honour.
During our years together I had not only learned
technical skills from Ken but also life skills, the politics
that surrounds the sound and camera departments. His
casual manner, easy smile and having that listening ear
made him a popular crew member. He was generous
and gave a lot of boom operators, who later became
mixer's. their first break.
As I am writing thisThe Son Of Pink Panther ts on
the TV. I can remember Ken giving me the
responsibility for the second unit mixing, with Boom
Op John Chandler, and we did around 4AVo of the
dialogue from the film. Blake Edwards saw the second
unit rushes and commented to Ken that the sound was
all usable stuff. Ken did not take any of the credit. He
told Blake "You should thank Colin for that". He was a
gracious man. Ken Weston was a mentor to several
young sound men: he had lots of respect fron-r his
peers... Ken always spoke up for his crew. Ken will
always be remember by many.
From Dave Nichols' Eulogy for Ken Weston:
" At the risk oJ' heing .flip, tlzere is a.jolce in rhe busine.ys
about souncl being Last to arrive und the first to leave.
The n'uth is our fttiencl Ken dicl leut,e mtich too ,toorl" .
GEORGE STEPHENSON Hon AMPS
Sadly George died in June. Tributes to him will
follow in the Autumn Newsletter. I am sure all
members will wish to express deepest sympathy
to his wife and his son, AMPS member David
Stephenson, especially as David's brother died
just two weeks after his father.
ll\
And sadly, as we go to press we have learnt
of the death of the Footstep Artist, Beryl
Mortimer. Beryl will have been well known to
many AMPS members who worked with her
over several decades..
l3

MIXING IT at dB Post
On the 8th February 2001, dB Post re-recording
mixers Dave Humphries and Alan Sallabank played host
to an AMPS Technical Evening devoted to strengthening
corn m un i cation itnd understandi ng between produc tion
sound mixers, ancl lhe ntysteriorrs*people in 1-rost
yrnrducrti

Dear Bob
I was most
interested to read
Antal Kovacs article
on the ftlmThe ltalianJob in the Newsletter,
especially since I was the production mixer sent ottt
by Paramount to replace the hospitalised Dicky
Bird who was injured as the result of an accident
with a Mini.
Antal Kovacs mentions that to his knowledge,
nobody has written a book about that film. I can
inform you that the manuscript of such a book is
now with the publisher BT Basford, entitled T/?e
Mctking OfThe ltttLianJobby author Matthew
Field. After the interest shown in the recent
Channel Four documentary on the sane subject,
the book should sell well.
I was also interested in the article Going Frtr The
Clnp in the Spring 2001 issue of the Newsletter,
iving details of the post production sound on
CrouchingTiger, Hitlclen Drugon. This leads me to
suggest that there must be many more stories like
that one which would prove suitable for AMPS
members. I realise that Production members
outnumber Re-Recording members by almost 4 to
12, and Sound Editors roughly 2 to I. So it is fair
to assume that articles relating to Production sound
should predominate.
But perhaps you could cast your net amongst
members, even Sponsor members, to attract rnore
articles on Sound Editing and Re-Recording. My
experience in these fields is somewhat oldfashioned
so I'm afraid that I cannot contribute on
up to date techniques.
Best wishes from AMPS Costa Del Sol branch
Yours sincerely
JOHN ALDRED
_ ruengirola, Spain
Dear Bob
Hutchings Magnetics is presently winding down
and the majority of assets purchased by RPS (UK)
Ltd under the control of Allan Curtis, my son-inlaw,
who has taken over the baton. We thank our
friends for their continued support.
At 63, I am still quite active, being available to
Allan for technical advice, refereeing soccer up to
Surrey lntermediate level both Saturdays and
Sundays, and running a football club with my son
Jimmy, and Allan.
I apologise for not responding (it appears like
most others) to Tim Blackham's request for what
the membership wants of AMPS. I would like to
offer some suggcstions.
l/ I would like more 'where are they now'
reports on the personnel of my era. I will keep you
aware as to my activities, and I know about Ken
Somerville, Peter Harris and Paul White as we still
l5
socialise, and Allan keeps me up to date with the
studio personnel which he serves. But there are many
more both active and retired that it would be nice to
hear about.
2/ As I have ahvays been a bit wary of the
increasing'iffy'content of films,l seldom go to
AMPS scieenings. It would be helpful if, like TV,
someone could give the films the sqttare, dot,
diamond and triangle treatment so that I could then
attend the square (family viewing) category (if any
still exist).
3/ I would like more articles relating to audio
developments in the semi-pro and amateur field and
how they relate to our profession - ie DVD, internet
audio sourcing etc. The Newsletter itself is excellent
so keep it up.
A few more things about my activities :
- I have sold my French watermill to a Frenchman
(how about the recent floods!).
- My son now lives in a villa near Nice so we have
our own room there.
- My Reigate vineyard is doing well - about 100
bottles of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir this year.
- Our Reigate Hill FC 2nd team won the local cup
last year and the lst team have been promoted from
5th to 1st division in the last four years. Those who
remember the Hutchings Magnetics /Make-A-Wish
charity 5-a-side witl not be surprised by my interest in
football. These charity games still live with me -
many turned out over the years - London Weekend,
TVS, BBC TV, Pinewood, Anvil and many rrrore-
Do these events still take place somewhere?
As you know, one of my last acts before edging
into retirement was to make Hutchings Magnetics a
Sustaining Member of AMPS. RPS (UK) has now
taken over this mantle. I thank you for my honorary
membership - the certificate has pride of place over
my 'homework' desk.
One day, when my 'retirement' is not so btrsy, I'll
settle down and write you the inside story on the birth
and death (although Mark Twain's words suddenly
pass through my mind) of the perforated mag film -
ihose old acetate bases, rusting cans, jumping perfs,
wavy edges, oxide dust et al - perhaps by then it will
rate alongside the dinosaur age, or interest only
fellow Honorary members
Very best wishes to all at AMPS
HARRY .] HUTCHINGS IJSC. I]Ion,\\,II)S
LIONEL SELWYN HAS MOVED
Lionel Selwyn, Foley Artist and Sound Editor, would
like to let all those friends and colleagues, who don't
already know, that in May 2001 he went west, moving
his home to glorious Devon. Details as below:
2 Glastonbury Close
Beacon Heath
Exeter
Devon EX4 9EQ
Home: 01392 270551
Mob: 07703 579999
Email : lionelsel vwvn@hotmail.com

RIGS NOT ON SHOW
.IOHN RODDA .rirrrs BIT-LY SAROKIN IT;SAI
llllllll
TIM FI{ASER PETER GLOSSOP \\u's
LATE ITEMS
We are very pleased to welcome
three nerv Sustaining Members
to AMPS - RG Media,
Shepperton Studios. and the
Soho-based Future Post. More
details on these companies in the
next issue. We thank them for
their support.
Did you work vvith actor Robert Shaw ?
We have been approached by author Paul Wright who is
researching f or a book he is rvriting on the actor Robert Sliaw,
and is keen to hear from anyone who nray be able to assist.
Although he wasn't a very prolific filnr actor it is quite likely
that amongst AMPS membership there are some u,ho worked
with him and may have experiences/stories/anecdotes to relate
that may be useful. Paul Wright would be pleased to hear from
any such mernbers and can be contacted at Trevilley, Raginnis
Hill, Mousehole, nr Penzance. TRl9 6SR or by Email to
Wri ghtTrevilley @ aol.con-r