AllThings:NotWorthStartingANewThreadOver

Some posts in the Asian film thread got me thinking about some of my favorite experiences with sound and movies.

Dolby Atmos is used for over 45 films this year, compared with 12 last year. I remember last year seeing Brave at El Capitan, because that was one of the few places with Dolby Atmos, and because Brave was the first film released in Atmos.

Likewise, a friend and I once stood in line to see Days of Thunder opening day at the National in Westwood. That was the first film released with digital audio, and the National had a huge screen and the best sound in town. It's not a great movie, but it was a lot of fun and, yes, the sound was well worth it.

I also had to catch Saving Private Ryan at the National. Great mix on a great system resulted in unbelievable sound imaging. You could even track the paths of individual bullets as they whizzed past your head in the opening moments. This was an unforgettable movie experience that should be made easier by Atmos, though I've yet to experience its Atmos equal yet.
 
I think it's two things.

First, it's more speakers, specifically, overhead speakers that are supposed to help localize sound imaging more precisely. Some are skeptical over this. After all, Saving Private Ryan, as I described had superb imaging on Dolby Digital, albeit on a superior system. Maybe Atmos speaker placement guarantees that same kind of localization even with slightly more standard equipment? I don't know.

Second, and, according to some/many? more importantly, it's part of the mixing process, and this part, whatever it is, allegedly makes it easier for sound mixers to control the localization. So, even if the film is not projected in Atmos, the sound mix should still benefit from the Atmos process.

This is all just my recollection of it from when I looked it up last year, so I hope it's at least fairly accurate. I really do need to get more obsessed again when I get a chance.

I hope these technologies are like video games in that the artists will become more adept at bringing out all the power of the technology as time goes on.
 
Blood in Your Eye: Why We Need Violent Stories -- Vulture

Imagine if Mr. Carrey had instead decided to do the press tour for Kick-Ass 2. Imagine if, on every stop on the junket, he’d used this promotional soapbox to talk about real-world violence versus violent fiction. His reticence to appear in support of the film comes from the Newtown shooting event — an event, like all the others, characterized by those left behind saying, “I don’t understand.”

The fact that he didn’t use the opportunity is less a failure of intelligence and imagination than it is a symptom of the way we generally demonize violent acts and violent work. We make them Other, and we just distance ourselves. They are Other, and they didn’t come from us, and we’re just going to stand over there and shake our heads sadly. And, moreover, anyone who gets closer to it in order to experience or understand it must be a freak.
Click to expand...
 
What is your favorite Focus Features movie? FilmDistrict movie?
 
Disney's Cinderella, re-cut and accompanied by the soundtrack from the trailer for the new "Carrie" movie. Brilliant.

 
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