""Hollow Man"" To Premier August 4 With An Intricate 8 Channel SDDSÆ Soundtrack

Supervising Sound Editor Scott Hecker And Re-Recording Mixers Mike Minkler And Gary Gegan Finalize Intricate Soundtrack For This Psychological Drama

21-Jul-00

Post production of a full 8 Channel SDDSÆ soundtrack for the new high-tension psychological drama ""Hollow Man"" was completed recently on the Todd-AO West Dub Stage at The Lantana Center, West Los Angeles, California. The re-recording team comprised supervising sound editor Scott Hecker, working with Mike Minkler handling dialog and music plus Gary Gegan overseeing sound effects. The 8 Channel Sony Dynamic Digital SoundÆ format provides the unique ability to convey up to eight channels of sound around the audience using the ""five-up-front"" loudspeaker configuration. The additional pair of left-center and right-center loudspeakers - located either side of center speaker - offer additional creative and technical advantages for today's directors and filmmakers.Directed by seasoned veteran Paul Verhoeven, ""Hollow Man"" from Sony Pictures Entertainment stars Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, Kim Dickens and Joey Slotnick. Explaining the basic plot to his new film, Verhoeven says that at a top secret military lab, ""A group of young scientists has just unlocked the secret of invisibility. The team's arrogant leader, Sebastian Caine [played by Kevin Bacon], ignores the risks and decides to test the dangerous procedure on himself - only to discover his fellow scientists are unable to reverse the effect. Working around the clock, Caine's colleagues struggle to devise an antidote. But Sebastian's intoxication with his new-found power grows, and he comes to believe that his colleagues may be a threat to his very existence."" This is the second 8 Channel SDDS soundtrack for Paul Verhoeven - the first was ""Starship Troopers.""A Wider Soundscape For Effects, Music And Dialog""The use of 8 Channel SDDS,"" Scott Hecker says, ""allowed us to spread the soundtrack across five front loudspeakers, providing us with a wider soundscape for effects, music and dialog. We made sure that we took full advantage of the opportunities provided by the extra two channels.""""I wanted to use sound effects sparingly to reinforce [main character] Sebastian Caine's point of view,"" Hecker explains, ""and to add presence to the invisible character, using subtle effects with the musical score. Having access to five, rather than three, front screen loudspeakers meant that we could isolate sounds more easily, and make use of an extended dynamic range. With 8 Channel SDDS, effects and music have their own spaces to live in.""""The result - and 'Hollow Man' was my first 8 Channel SDDS project - has an open, spatial and dynamic feel for the soundtrack, without being cluttered. The music, in particular, is wide and rich. We received a beautifully textured score, which enhanced the drive and emotion of the film, working across all eight channels of the SDDS format."" The score for ""Hollow Man,"" composed by Jerry Goldsmith, was recorded in London, England, by Bruce Botnick.For scenes involving an experimental gorilla, Scott Hecker and sound-effects editor Jay Jennings developed a series of sounds that would complement the complex and painful transformation scene. ""In reality, gorillas do not make much sound,"" Hecker concedes, ""so we utilized various other sounds to sonically animate the gorilla. My brother [Foley artist Gary Hecker], who worked on 'Mighty Joe Young' and 'Congo,' performed a series of 'vocals' for the gorilla, which we sweetened and accented across the five speakers. We also made a number of stereo location recordings of animal cages and primates, plus dog vocals for the film.""High-Quality Four-Channel Location RecordingsDuring the movie's final elevator scene - no specific details here - you'll need to see the film! - Scott Hecker decided to go for realism. ""We made a number of high-quality location recordings using four-channel microphone arrays to capture front- and rear-oriented stereo soundfields. We visited an Edison Power Station in Pasadena [California, east of Los Angeles] to capture the sounds of elevator crashes, impacts, rattles, creaks, groans and debris falling down a large elevator shaft. We also recorded at various other specific locations, including a doctor's office, a machine shop and a large walk-in freezer. Having access to such a large library of sound effects recorded at a dozen locations meant that we could develop a number of great-sounding environments during the movie."" Working with Hecker was sound-effects recordist John Fascal and Eric Norris, assisted by Carmen Flores.Re-recording mixer Mike Minkler is no stranger to 8 Channel SDDS soundtracks, having worked on the first film to be released in this advanced format, ""Last Action Hero"" in 1993. ""Five speakers up front means that I can make much more realistic-sounding pans across the screen - sound does not jump from speaker to speaker. Since the main character in 'Hollow Man' is invisible, I needed to be able to precisely position the breathing and related human sounds, to help establish his location in the action. And five speakers do a better job of handling the dynamic range of a high-impact soundtrack. For me, the soundtrack for 'Hollow Man' is very rich and very spectacular.""For effects re-recording mixer Gary Gegan, ""Hollow Man"" represents his second 8 Channel SDDS soundtrack - the first was ""First Knight."" Having five front loudspeakers means that Gegan could keep the effects out of the dialog channel, and use stereo effects on the inner pair of channels. Stereo effects are always a compromise, he considers, with mixes that can only utilize left, center and right screen channels. With SDDS's inner-left and inner-right channels, Gegan could also make realistic pans across the screen and accent screen placements. Overall, because of the added dynamic range available from five speakers, he considers that 8 Channel SDDS produces cleaner soundtracks.Other films showing now or scheduled to be released in 8 Channel SDDS:- ""The Patriot,"" directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Mel Gibson - June 30 North American release.- ""The Perfect Storm,"" directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring George Clooney - June 30 North American release.- ""All The Pretty Horses,"" directed by Billy Bob Thornton and starring Matt Damon - Fall North American release.- ""Charlie's Angels,"" directed by McG, and starring Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz - scheduled November 3 scheduled North American release.- ""Sixth Day,"" directed by Roger Spottiswoode and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger - scheduled November 10 scheduled North American release.- ""Vertical Limit,"" directed by Martin Campbell and starring Chris O'Donnell - scheduled December 8 scheduled North American release.Other recent SDDS 8 Channel releases include ""U-571,"" directed by Jonathan Mostow, ""Erin Brockovich,"" directed by Steven Soderbergh, ""Stuart Little,"" directed by Rob Minkoff, ""Girl, Interrupted,"" directed by James Mangold and ""The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc,"" directed by Luc Besson.SDDS has been adopted by virtually all major film distributors, including Buena Vista Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Destination Films, Dimension Films, DreamWorks SKG, Miramax Films, MGM, New Line Cinema, Paramount, Polygram, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros.Sony Cinema Products Corporation supplies the cinema exhibition industry with advanced technologies and products. The company's launch product, SDDS, was introduced in August 1994. Due to its high-quality performance, SDDS has become widely popular with approximately 8,000 systems installed in movie theatres throughout the world. Designed exclusively for the cinema, SDDS is regarded as the premium digital sound format by leading film directors and sound professionals.