Meet the Association of Motion Picture Sound: live-tweets

On Monday 17 June, Directors UK members gathered at our Covent Garden offices for our meet the Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS) event.

A fascinating evening saw a host of sound experts talk the audience through their roles, ranging from the shoot to post-production, and how they prefer to work with directors. The experts were Judi Lee-Headman (Production Sound Mixer — Britannia, The Tunnel), Jens Rosenlund Petersen (Sound Editor — Bohemian Rhapsody, The Long Song, I Am Not A Witch), Howard Bargroff (Re-recording Mixer/Dubbing Mixer — Cleaning Up, The Little Drummer Girl, A Very English Scandal) and Anna Bertmark (Sound Supervisor/Designer — God’s Own Country). The session was moderated by Emma Butt. 

If you couldn’t make it on the night, don’t worry — you can catch up with all the live-tweets below. 

The stage is set for our event with @AMPS_UK, which will be kicking off very soon! Follow #DUKAMPS for the live tweets. pic.twitter.com/GFtJpgQ1Eh

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

And we’re off! Our audience will be hearing from Anna Bertmark (@atticsound), Judi Lee-Headman (@leeheadman), Howard Bargroff (@sonorouspost) and Jens Rosenlund Petersen - moderated by Emma Butt (@emmabuttsound) #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Emma: Sound is often seen as a middle-aged white man’s profession - there’s still a little way to go but things are changing. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi shows us a clip from Britannia, and uses it as an example of how you sometimes have to get clean dialogue from challenging places. “I find it helpful to speak to the director before the start of shooting”. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi: The idea that you can make up for what you get on location in post is not really true...It makes our lives a lot easier to work with directors who have a good understanding of sound. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi: A large part of our job is collaboration - we often want to speak to costume so we know where best to put the mics. On Britannia we needed to establish if mics needed t be installed in hairstyles or sewn into costumes. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi: When you’re doing a recce you iron out issues like how close the generator is to set, and any quirks that might come with the location. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi: Sometimes directors are so involved in performance they forget about intelligibility...mumbling does not always bring a greater sense of art to the piece! #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi: At the end of the day it’s about telling a story, and people need to hear it! #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

#DUKAMPS pic.twitter.com/GcnTbjaluz

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi: Sometimes I’m quite a good scapegoat - if there’s been a bad take you can say you need it again for sound! #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Jens introduces us to dialogue editing: “If Judi’s job is to capture sound, mine is to preserve it.” Jens demonstrates with a clip from Bohemian Rhapsody, which he worked on. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Jens demos different audio tracks from the scene, showing us how massive an effect they can have - particularly in a tender scene like this one. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Jens: You can’t always predict which lines are going to work in the edit, because there are so many factors involved. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Jens: Sometimes there’s stuff you want to take out: lip smacks, birdsong, and particularly stomach rumbles around lunchtime. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi recommends using a hawk to get rid of seagulls on set. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Jens: Camera movements, footsteps and dolly squeaks are all things that we work to clean up. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Jens shows us an ADR sheet from Bohemian Rhapsody: “One of the most important things is simply deciding what needs to be ADRed and what doesn’t.” #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Jens: If you’re recording wild tracks for sound purposes, the energy and the performance has to be exactly the same. Low energy takes are unusable. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Anna introduces us to Sound Design and Sound Supervision. We watch example clips from Chimerica, which Anna recently worked on. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Anna: We help directors explore how the project can push boundaries with its sound, and what might be best for the story. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Anna: We help directors explore how the project can push boundaries with its sound, and what might be best for the story. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Anna: With film you often have more creative license than TV, and you think a bit more about the cinema experience - making full use of the speakers they have in there. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

#DUKAMPS pic.twitter.com/Lk60zSJAAk

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Anna: As sound supervisor, I relay information from the director and producer to the team - and vice versa. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Anna: If you’re lucky enough to start before the shoot, or even before shooting is locked, it’s important to have those discussions about sound design and create sound sketches. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Anna: When the sound goes to the final mix the money clock is really ticking - so you don’t want to be making major changes after that point. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

And with that, Howard introduces us to Sound Mixing. We watch before and after clips from The Little Drummer Girl, which Howard worked on. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Howard: I’m always adjusting music around dialogue - sometimes we’ll have to swap the music out for things that are cleared for international use. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Howard: We have a bit of a perfect storm these days with more cameras on set, shorter turnarounds and thinner (and therefore rubbish-sounding) TVs. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Onscreen, Howard shows us the huge number of effects, ADR and foley tracks involved in just this one scene. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Howard: We generally get about 2 weeks an episode for effects (sometime 3 depending on the show) and 3 days for foley. We’ll get between 2-4 days in the final mix. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Howard echoes the experts who have spoken tonight. “We are your ears, ultimately we want to tell the story - and that’s why we have these hundreds of tracks on the go.” #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Howard tells us that on a feature film the number of tracks will typically run into the thousands. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

We now move on to audience questions. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

We now move on to audience questions. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Anna talks about how you can play with contrasts, going from mono for intimate scenes to something much larger for more epic shots. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

A member asks about how to deal with an echoey location. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi: If the rooms not meant to look echoey, you try to get as much acoustic treatment as you can budget. Sometimes you can float helium balloons under the ceiling or use drapes. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Judi: If the room is supposed to look echoey, you need to get your mics as close as possible for the dialogue- and it’s one of the only times I’d say to keep your voice down. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

For working on lower budget films, Anna says she looks through the script in advance to identify sounds she wants recorders to capture on location - because she can’t afford to source them later. #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

#DUKAMPS pic.twitter.com/cOBX4fR0Ds

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Jens: There’s one key secret to making a film sound really good - have lots of time! #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

And that’s a wrap! A huge thank you to our experts Judi Lee-Headman, Jens Rosenlund Petersen, Anna Bertmark and Howard Bargroff, and moderator Emma Butt. That was an absolutely fascinating session! #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

If you’re looking for outstanding sound for your film - and you should be - check out the @AMPS_UK directory to find the experts you need. More info: https://t.co/HPmr7pVYcF #DUKAMPS

— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) June 17, 2019

Thank you to everyone who made it to the session! You can find out more about AMPS here, and consult the AMPS directory for sound expertise here.