By: Phil Bremen—
When the international soundtrack festival and conference Cinesonika makes its first appearance in the United States, it will be at Ball State University.
The fifth annual gathering to celebrate music and sound design in motion pictures will be Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 on the Muncie campus. In the past it has been held in Vancouver, Canada, and in Northern Ireland.
“Making movies is about more than scripting, acting and cinematography,” said Vanessa Ament, the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Endowed Chair in Ball State’s Department of Telecommunications.
“Great sound is what brings cinema to life,” said Ament, a professional Foley artist who holds a Ph.D. from Georgia State University. Her film credits include “Platoon,” “Die Hard,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
When it unfolds for the first time in the U.S., Cinesonika will feature Hollywood professionals presenting workshops on supervising sound editing, production sound, sound archiving and Foley. Foley is the process of enhancing a soundtrack by adding sound effects after the shooting of a film.
Films selected from around the world to showcase sound will be screened in the David Letterman Media and Communications Building. There and in the Music Instruction Building, film professionals and sound scholars will present panel discussions.
Leading workshops along with Ament will be:
· David E. Stone, winner of the 1992 Academy Award for sound effects for “Dracula”;
· Peter Damski, production sound mixer for “Mad About You”; and
· Steve Lee, sound librarian and wrangler for “Hollywood Lost and Found.”
The lineup also features presentations by associate professor Robert Willey, director of Ball State’s Music Media Production and Industry program, and Josh Kattner, audio technician and music composer.
The conference will conclude in Sursa Hall Saturday night, Sept. 1 with a keynote speech by Rick Altman, world-renowned film theorist and sound studies scholar.
In addition, participants will see the unveiling of an installation from the Hollywood Stereophonic Museum, currently being developed in Los Angeles.
Schedule and registration information can be found at this link. http://cinesonika.com
Also, you may view a pdf of the workshops here.
