Star Wars Ep3 ROTS was MITB

[potatohead]

That's right, Mixed in the box, ProTools. Everybody chime in on what you think of the mix.

[Pirate Post]

That's right, Mixed in the box, ProTools. Everybody chime in on what you think of the mix.

Is that supposed to be a mean feat to mix in the box? Just curious.

[Sacred Spirit]

Is that supposed to be a mean feat to mix in the box? Just curious.

With how many boxes wired to this 'box'?

[emf1138]

I happened to see it on the local IMAX screen (not an IMAX version, just the 35mm print on the big screen.. very cool) and was hoping for a nice loud playback... holy geez was it low. It couldn't have been louder than 79 or 80. I was really straining to hear some of the o/s and droid stuff. Anyone else notice this or was it just this theatre????

[sleadley]

I happened to see it on the local IMAX screen (not an IMAX version, just the 35mm print on the big screen.. very cool) and was hoping for a nice loud playback... holy geez was it low. It couldn't have been louder than 79 or 80. I was really straining to hear some of the o/s and droid stuff. Anyone else notice this or was it just this theatre????

Must have been the Theatre. I saw it at the Hoyts Theatres here in Sydney near the Fox Lot. It sounded great, and I saw it Digitally projected which was also very very good. Pity about the film, great Craftwork from all concerned but the story was still a pile of SITH.
My 2c
Simon L.

[fantompowr]

was hoping for a nice loud playback... holy geez was it low. It couldn't have been louder than 79 or 80. I was really straining to hear some of the o/s and droid stuff. Anyone else notice this or was it just this theatre????

Where I saw it, it was LOUD... I found several parts to be uncomfortably harsh actually.

[Eric L]

I saw it Thursday in the "dome" at the Arclight. Wow. Digital Projection, Sound was superb, light saber duals outside and reserved seats!! Not to mention, I thought it was the best Star Wars movie by far. I thought the sound design and mix were top notch. I expected nothing less.

EMF, if it was that IMAX up on the hill in Universal City, it wouldn't be the first time the sound has been messed up there. We had some major problems premiering the the last Cameron IMAX film there. Actually had to cancel a screening for the Disney folks due to technical difficulties. Kinda sucked since they were all sitting in the audience. Ouch.

[Andy Hay]

I saw the film the other night at 'The Bridge' in Los Angeles.. great theatre, good sound, digital projection. The mix was basically how I expected it to be - typical conservative Hollywood sounding - big on FX, decent dialog (although some of Padme's lines were really noisy), music only playing from the screen, nothing much going on in the surrounds. Compared to Sin City, which I loved sound-wise, it was a pretty boring mix.

The film as a whole, I though was pretty crappy - I wasn't at all emotionally connecting with any of it. Something that I've always done when I'm sound-designing a film is to always maintain a presence of the actor through the sound of their breathing. For example, I'm currently designing a thriller, and the best way I know to keep the audience connected to the actor is for us to hear them breathing. Even during a loud sequence with plenty of effects, or maybe a fight sequence, if you can't hear the actors "efforts" then you lose them, and you've dropped the ball as far as keeping the emotional connection at its peak with the audience. This is something that jumped out at me in Episode 3 - any time there was a confrontation, all we heard were big FX - while the FX are important, if we don't hear the presence of the actor, we have no idea what they are experiencing at that moment. Big FX alone, for me, do not make the kind of impact necessary to keep me engaged.

my $0.02
-andy
www.spankmachine.com

[emf1138]

Nah.. it was the one in Valencia.

I'm still on the fence about the whole movie.. gonna have to see it again. Definitely in a better theatre, tho.

[bigbadhenchman]

Something that I've always done when I'm sound-designing a film is to always maintain a presence of the actor through the sound of their breathing. For example, I'm currently designing a thriller, and the best way I know to keep the audience connected to the actor is for us to hear them breathing. Even during a loud sequence with plenty of effects, or maybe a fight sequence, if you can't hear the actors "efforts" then you lose them, and you've dropped the ball as far as keeping the emotional connection at its peak with the audience.
www.spankmachine.com

I agree. A good mix means being able to hear the actors and their exertions etc.
It's so easy to just make the SFX loud. Strap an L1 on the channel, and crank it.
Unfortunatley, this is what some people think mixing is.
I can see movie sound moving towards the current trend of music. Limit the hell out of it.