Telemetry

There’s a door right next to the entrance to Stage 5.

Wander in.

Take the stairs on your right and just stop a moment. Now, listen for the sounds… music, talking, shouting… screaming sometimes… You might hear the same sounds repeated over and over again. They might sound backwards to you. Don’t worry.

Follow the sounds up the stairs to the very top. The only way you can walk now is down the little hallway into the large, dark room. Really, don’t worry about the sounds.

Walk into the room. It smells of cloves. You’ve found the edit suite. This is where Editor Chris Gill and his team are based.

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The sounds you’ve heard will more than likely have been from someone viewing the dailies/the rushes (delete as appropriate depending on whether you use American or British filmspeak). After the film comes back from the lab, the images and the recorded sound have to be synched up. That is what the clapper board is for- along with showing which scene and which take is being shot, when the clapper loader ‘claps’ the top down there is both a visual and an aural link which can be used by one of the Assistant Editors to get the pictures and sound in sync.

Chris is in editing every day and has edited quite a large number of scenes already. Early on in the shoot I asked him how he thought the film was coming together, he circumspectly answered that as long as things continued to go as well as they had been then he’d be very happy. I decided that Chris, more so than most people here, would have the best idea about the final outcome of the film as he is watching everything that’s been shot.

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Now, when Chris is asked how things are going, he’s pleased to answer ‘very well indeed’ and is equally pleased to show off his work. I’ve seen quite a few scenes from the film already… and… well, Producer Andrew Macdonald thinks I’m too “gushing” when I talk about the film, but, I can’t help it, everything Chris has shown me is AMAZING!… But, for you, Andrew, I’ll try and be more measured. *ahem*

Everything Chris has shown me is rather good.

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Andrew also teases me about being an Alwin Kuchler, Director of Photography, fangirl. I’m pleased to report that I was told today that the edit team are big Alwin fans as well.

Chris is already using music and sounds in his edits which is unusual this early on. I was very excited to find out this afternoon that he’s been using some sounds I sent to him in the rough cut of one of the scenes. About a month ago I made a CD for him of some recordings of the Aurora Borealis that were released on my friend’s record label a few years ago. This afternoon when I went for my regular visit to the edit suite, I heard the distinctive sounds of the Aurora Borealis coming from Chris’s room. He told me they fit perfectly and that Alwin loves the scene so much he’s going to ask Danny Boyle not to change it. Chris told me that he can’t imagine the sound department being able to recreate the Aurora Borealis sounds, so I gave him my friend’s email address so they could get permission to use them in the final film. :)

Another little sound tidbit for you space nerds: in another scene Chris is using the sound of Sputnik

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