Brent on “Online Marketing with RSS Ray” Radio Show

Brent — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:23:36 +0000

Just a quick note: I was invited to talk about video blogging on the radio show Online Marketing with RSS Ray. We covered a lot of ground in the hour-long session. Take a listen here!

Written by Brent Altomare

Sounds Good to Me

Brent Altomare — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:10:22 +0000

Alright, we all know that films are acknowledged for their cinematography, the quality of the video, HD or SD, special effects and whatnot. But, what about the sound? The sound of a film completely affects the mood and the environment created. It is my opinion that the greater public overlooks the sound of a film.

Sound has become an art form in itself. Of course, there is music, which has been around forever.. but since the development of Musique Concrete, we have Sound Art, Soundscapes, Sonic Narratives, and more! There is also ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œSound MontageÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â which was initially used by Walter Murch.

Here is an excerpt of an interview with Walter Murch on sound from Vincent LoBruttoÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s book Sound-On-Film:

You often use the film credit ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œsound montage.ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â Is this because you use sounds in combination in the same way a picture montage is created?

Yes, it is. In my teenage years, I was very influenced by some records I heard from the Musique Concrete school in Paris. So when I began to think about sound and film, one of the main influences on me was the desire to somehow bring together film and Musique Concrete.ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âthe fun of assembling all these real sounds in an unusual context and yet having a visual reason for doing so. Also, at the start of my career I was working nonunion, and the title ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œSound MontageÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â appeared vague enough not to set off any alarmsÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦

Did being attracted to sound at that point lead you to filmmaking?

Indirectly. I had gotten very deeply into sound in my early teens. At sixteen I wound up thinking I was going to be an oceanographer or an architect. Instead, I wound up going to USC Film School as a graduate student. The first month and a half they had us shooting stills and learning about camera. Then we did something that needed sound, and thatÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s when those two rivers of my life came together in a rush. Very few people at film school wanted to get into sound because it was just soundÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âthey didnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t think of it as an essential part of moviesÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦**

** Lo Brutto, Vincent (1994). Sound-On-Film: Interviews with Creators of Film-Sound. Praeger Publishers, Walter Murch. (pg. 84-85). Westport, Connecticut and London.

Check out these websites for more on sound as art:

Website of experimental sound compositions and artists:
http://www.phonography.org/phonographers.htm

Sound Culture:
http://www.soundculture.org/

Written by Brent Altomare

local talent goes national!

Brent — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:34:29 +0000

I got an email from my friend (and talented VO artist), Jeff Gelder. He did some voice work that got placed on the home page of ESPN. Just another example of local, San Diego-based talent doing great work for large, national audiences.

Congrats Jeff!

Written by Brent Altomare

audio is half the picture

Brent — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 20:00:17 +0000

Click to Play

ian thorpe from sidecar productions talks about good production audio and why it is important. special thanks to robert mason from doghouse productions for use of his studio!

Written by Brent Altomare

Groovy Like a Movie » audio

Brent on “Online Marketing with RSS Ray” Radio Show

Great PSA for a great cause

using video to explain complex ideas

Sounds Good to Me

local talent goes national!

audio is half the picture