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Date: | Fri, 7 Jul 1995 11:29:11 EST |
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A footnote to the discussion of sound. Under the studio system,
except for a major director like Lubitsch or Hitchcock, it was
nearly impossible to do any sort of overlapping sound, fade, or
other unusual effects with the track. For instance, through
research in the USC Warner Bros. archive, I discovered that
apparently director Robert Florey tried to experiment with the
dialogue recording to achieve a more realistic effect during a
party scene. This was during the production of a
modestly-budgeted ($230,000) Barbara Stanwyck melodrama, THE
WOMAN IN RED, shot in late 1934. Florey was quickly rebuffed by
the sound technicians complaining to the supervisor, who went to
the production chief, claiming that not all dialogue would be
optimally audible, and Florey was forced to fall in line with
more conventional methods. By contrast, unusual visuals were not
as difficult to achieve, because cameramen seem to have been
often more willing to try different types of compositions or
lighting.
Probably many other directors had the same frustrations in regard
to sound, with similar experiences to Florey on THE WOMAN IN RED.
Brian Taves
Motion Picture-Broadcasting-Recorded Sound Div.
Library of Congress
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