Summer 2000 - The Association of Motion Picture Sound

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SIR JOHN GIELGUD 19O4-2OOO DOYtrN OF DICTION, Charge OfThe Light Brigade (1968) Sound mixers who had the privilege of working on movies with SirJohn Gielgud will feel great sorrow about his final fade-out. Throughout his long career I doubt whether he ever spoke a word of dialogue that wasn't clear and intelligible. I'm sure that no cinema goer, or for that matter theatregoer, ever had to utter the question every sound mixer dreads to hear, "What did he say?" I had the pleasure of recording him on three feature pictures. His voice level control, precise diction, neutral accent and the meaning given to lines while playing scenes were always a pleasure to hear in my headphones. His professionalism and cooperativeness were remarkable. There was not the slightest objection to having to be fitted with a personal mic. on the one occasion I had to use a radio. His stamina was amazing he was in his eighties when I worked with him. Early calls, journeys to and from locations, tedious hold* ups, long working days - he stood up to them looking less tired and fraught than many very much his junior in years. Many stories about his social gaffes and acerbic wit are now coming out in various tributes. Two I like. It's claimed that once he said to Elizabeth Taylor "I don't know what became of Richard Burton. tr think he married some terrible film star and had to live abroad." The other story concerned his work in a Peter Brook theatrical production. During a rehearsal Peter broke off to put the cast through one of his 'Method'-type exercises, which Sir John felt were a waste of time. Peter challenged the players each in turn to make an action or sound that would scare him. After individual horrific screams, jumps and gestures it came to Sir John's turn. He simply walked up to the director and said quietly to him "We open in five days!" He will be missed, but fortunately he has left behind great performances in many classic movies, so it will be a long,long time before he is forgotten. BOBAT-LEN t4 EDWARD BERNDS 19O5-2OOO PIONEER PRODUCTION MIXER Ed lels l4elvvn Douglas li.sten Edward Bernds, pronounced 'Burns', trained as a radio operator in the early l920s. He was brought from Chicago to Hollywood in 1928 by Howard Campbell, the chief engineer of United Artists' brand new sound department. When he arrived Tlte lron Mask, starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr, was in production at UA Studios. Shot as a silent picture, UA realised that to meet the new trend set by Warner Bros' Vitaphone Pictures, sound would have to be added. They decided that, in addition to a music score. thev would have Fairbanks speak on-screen prologues to the first and second parts of the film; recording these was Ed Bernds' first production mixing job. In his book Mr Bernds Goes To Hollr-wood, he graphically describes going on to The lion Mask set. He was stunned by what he saw: a huge set of a Paris street, filled with people and lit with hundreds of sun arcs. 'It was noisy and crowded; there seemed to be a dozen things happening at the same time . The stage was filled with the grinding noise of the arc motors and the high-pitched whine of the arc flames. I wondered how we sound people could fit into that turbulent world and what changes we would bring. For one thing, the sun arcs would have to go.' Bernds later moved to Columbia Pictures where he became Frank Capra's regular production mixer from 1930-1939, working on the now-classic pictures It HappenertoniNtght (1934), Mr Deeds Goes To Town (1936) and Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939). During this period he was also writing scripts for the Three Stooges' 2-reelers, then in l944he took over directins them - about two dozen in all. He didn't return to sound but became an uncrowned king of B pictures, directing the Blondie series, two Bowery Boys' movies and such drive-in fodder as Rejorm-school Girls {1957), Space Master X-7 (1958), Return Of The Fty (rese). He retired in 1965. His book Mr Bernds goes to Hollywood (ISBN 0-8108-3602-5) is ajolly good read if you can hold of a copy; Amazon UK have it, but listed at{45. BOBALI-I1N
ROBIN CLARKE MUSIC EDITOR 1932 - 2OOO Robin Clarke, one of the Association of Motion Picture Sound's four Music Editor Members, died aged 68 in Kingston-on-Thames Hospital on July 2Zfrom multiple myeloma. As a consequence of the illness, which started last year and attacks the immune system and bones, he had taken the decision to retire from active film making. His funeral was held at Leatherhead Crematorium on August 1 and was attended by around seventy people including several generations of family, fri ends, nei ghbours, uni versi ty contemporari e s and a sisnifican[ number of fellow editors and other filni industry friends. I met Robin in the summer of 1967, he was Music Editor onChitty Chitty Bang Bang and I was an employee of Anvil at Denham where.pre-sc.oring sessions were in progress (I had in fact just joined Anvil and this was my first experience of film --,vork). Born on January 5 1932 in New Malden, Surrey, he was christened Christopher Clarke, but was known by his family as Robin from his earliest years. In 1945 he joined his brother, Graham, at Charterhouse, followed by National Service from 1950 to l95Z,which as a commissioned officer in the Royal Artillery took him to Malta and Libya. He then went on a bursary to Magdalene College Cambridge, achieving a degree in history. His wide intefests included ornitholo gy, photo graphy, walking, swimming, canoeing, reading, listening tc music and conservation - especially the Kennet& Avon Canal, the National Trust and RSPB. He had a fine stamp collection and had completed a novel just before he died. In 1973 he was jointly credited for the screenplay for Tales From Beyond The Grave (Kevin Connor's first directorial assignment). His ambition was to write and he was introduced to the film industry by an uncle who edited a film trade publication. One of his earliest jobs was as second assistant editor onThe Indykillst"s (1955), Ealing Studios'penultimate movie before exile to Boreham Wood. For several years he was assistant to Gordon Stone until Gordon's death in November 1964, working on many Disney projects during this period. Perhaps Robin got his enthusiasm for poker from Gordon; there were many card schools in the cutting-rooms at that fime. He was assistant to Carroll B Knudson, Music Editor on Half a Sixpence (David Heneker, 1967), this was quickly followed by the step up to Music Editor onChit4, Chitty Bang Bang (Sherman Brothers. 1968). Other credits as Music Editor included Cross of Iron (Ernest Gold, 1977), Rock Show for which he also had joint picture editing credit (Wings, 1979), FlashGordon (Howard Blake and Queen, 1980), Clash Of The Titans (Laurence Rosenthal, 1981), Yentl (Alan and t5 Marilyn Bergman & Michel Legrand, 1983), this was the only otherfilm that I actually worked on with Robin , Passage To India (Maurice Jarre, I9&+), Revo lut ion (John Cori gliano, 1 985), Aliens jointly with Michael Clifford (James Horner, 1986), Batnwn (Danny Elfman and the artist at that time known as Prince, 1989), Stepping Out (Kander, Ebb, Matz, 1991), Blame It On the Bellboy (Trevor Jones, I99I), 1492: Conquest of Paradise (Vangelis, 1992), Tw elve Mo nkey s (Paul Buckmaste r, 1995\, Restoration (James Newton Howard, 1995), Donnie Brasco (Patrick Doyle, 1997) and Seven Years in Tibet (source music.1997). When we were working on Chitty Robin, Eric Tomlinson and I had regular Monday dominoes evenings usually atThe Swan in Denham and though this was not for rnoney Robin seemed to manage to play and simultaneously battle with a fruit machine thus satisfying the gambler in_him.At this time he was swimming regularly and had short cropped hair that was in later years to progress into a greying ponytail but always combined with a ruddy open-air complexion. He confided in me once that though he loved the outdoor life he met his match in Sam Peckinpah who insisted, in winter when workrng at Elstree, on having a barbecue outside the cuttingroom. His super fitness in earlier days would burst out in wrestling matches down the cutting-room corridors with a young Tony Hunt, or in hauling himself up onto the outside first floor gantry to reach his Pinewood cutting-room, instead of using the stairs. For a long time he had a battered VW with canoe-carriers on the roof, and loved the Island at Thames Ditton, where he lived for thirty-seven years. I have many happy memories of visits there to play Diplomrrc-y (a very complex and prolonged board game requiring a large number of players). This would involve parking the car nearby and negotiating a pedestrian-only toll bridge to gain access. The best way to approach his house was in factby boat and over the years many of us did just that. On one such occasion, when we were on holiday on a narrow boat my children were particularly impressed by the fact that there was a large void under the house (in anticipation of flooding the property was elevated on piers) that was filled with canoes and other river paraphernalia. Wonderful company: even at the end of a very long day he could still be very witty, he was a brilliant relater of long-winded jokes. Always courteous and gently spoken, with a mellifluous voice that was never raised even in tense situations with all around him snarline. Robin was unmarried; our sympathies go out to hii sister Alison Crane, and older brother Graham. So often when reading an obituary I wish I had known the subject because they are portrayed as such an interesting person. For those who did not know Robin and have read this I hope that I have left them with that impression; a true gentleman. Tllvl BLACKIIAIvI
Page 1 and 2: t'- The Newsletter of the Associati
Page 3 and 4: PRO TOOLS DEMO FORAMPS MEMBERS Many
Page 5 and 6: RYCOTE'S International Sound Forum
Page 7 and 8: Interestingly Florian's wish list i
Page 9 and 10: The main difficulty then was the po
Page 11 and 12: LETTING OFF STEAM AMPS Meeting at T
Page 13: THE PINEWOOD STORY The Autltorised

Summer 2000 - The Association of Motion Picture Sound

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