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July 1995, Week 2

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BRIAN TAVES <[log in to unmask]>
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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
          [log in to unmask]
 
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