Sound Design

“The talking film is not everything. There is also the sound film.” Thus explained the French filmmaker RenÐ"© Clair in 1929. With this statement Clair was challenging us all to push the boundaries of sound design in films. From the primitive synchronization experiments of Lee de Forest and Thomas Edison to state-of-the-art Dolby Digital 10.2 surround sound, there are no boundaries for creating a virtual deluge of sound. Even though one is tempted to hypothesize about the future of sound design, it is only through an educated study of past inventions and their effect on the market that one is led to the next innovation in aural imagery.

To truly understand the marriage of sound to motion pictures, one must return to the late 1800s, when The Edison Company under Thomas Edison experimented with the idea. In 1894, under the direction of W. K. L. Dickson, Edison made a short twenty-five second film known today as The Dickson Experimental Sound Film. The film depicts a man playing a violin before a phonograph horn as two men dance about it. The idea of filming a movie and at the same time recording the soundtrack into a phonographic horn on the movie screen seems to primitive today. However, it set a precedent for film with audio. It was blended with the idea of synchronization; if the video film and audio record could be played back on separate machines together then one would be able to have a “talking film”. This gave Edison the incentive to expand on the invention of the Kinetophone, which was a Kinetoscope with an integrated phonograph. One could then look into the Kinetoscope and simultaneously watch a motion picture while listening to the accompanying phonograph with a simple pair of headphones. The picture and sound were synced together by connecting the two with a leather belt. The invention drew vast attention; in spite of this success, Dickson left The Edison Company, which ended any further work on the Kinetophone. Eighteen years later a different version of the Kinetophone was introduced to the public. With a celluloid cylinder record measuring 5 1/2" in diameter used for the phonograph, the sound was made to synchronize with a motion picture projected onto a screen. This was achieved by connecting the projector at one end of the theater and the phonograph at the other end with a pulley system (Library of Congress). During 1913, Edison produced nineteen talking pictures, but by 1915 he mysteriously abandoned all experiments with sound for motion pictures. Even though no one really knows why he halted his experiments on sound for motion pictures, many reasons may have attributed the discontinuation. One reason that could be assumed was that union rules stipulated local union projectionists had to operate the Kinetophones, even though they had no proper training. Because of this, synchronization errors occurred. Another reason was that the Motion Picture Patents Company disbanded in 1915 leaving The Edison Company impecunious of patent protection. Although Edison stopped all future work in furthering sound design for film, it is through his truly genius and innovative efforts that many were spurred on to make his dream a reality.

With the ingenious developments of Thomas Edison, Stanley S.A. Watkins and George R. Groves catapulted motion pictures into an audio revolution. In 1925 Bell Labs impressed Sam Warner, of Warner Bros., with a demonstration of synchronizing picture with sound. This was done by playing a sound on a disc and syncing it to the video. He was greatly enthused, and convinced his brothers to come to another demonstration. Even though they were not impressed with the syncing of dialogue, they were, however, thrilled when they heard orchestra music being played. This eventually led to the an idea that recorded music could be played live in big city cinemas, so that even in the smallest theatres the audience could have the music of a great orchestra, and furthermore have the ability to watch famous musicians play. On the June 25, 1925 Warner Bros. went into partnership with Western Electric, forming The Vitaphone Corporation. It is The Vitaphone Corporation and the inventions they will create that will lead motion pictures into undiscovered areas of aurality.

Two British electrical engineers, Stanley S.A. Watkins and George R. Groves, invented the Vitaphone system, which is a system of linking a movie projector and record turntable together. This system changed film forever. In working for Bell Telephones Laboratories, originally Western Electric, Watkins was given the responsibility of applying sound amplification and speaker systems to concert halls, theatres, and sport arenas. Since electronic sound amplification was in its infancy, Watkins was able to gain valuable experience. Eventually, Watkins was assigned to develop an electrical method of recording and reproducing phonograph records. By 1922 the group had succeeded in producing a prototype for electrical disc recording, which used a condenser microphone developed by their colleague E.C. Went. With this development, Watkins was assigned the task of synchronizing commentary to a silent, animated diagram film that explained the workings of the Audion valve. The idea was to have the lecture recorded on the new electrical disc and have it played simultaneously with the video. A method was devised by putting counters on both the record player and the video projector. Because the record player was electric and had the ability to run at a constant speed, the projectionist could match the counter numbers together. The system was a qualified success; however, it still wasn’t exact because of human error. Nevertheless, it provided the inspiration for the idea of the “talking movie.” As a result of this achievement, Watkins was named Vitaphone's Chief Engineer.

Along with George Groves, Watkins was hired to record the score for the upcoming feature Warner Bros. movie Don Juan. Don Juan became important because it set a new precedent for orchestral recording techniques. Groves began recording the orchestra of 107 people with six microphones instead of just one. This technique is still used today, in modern orchestral recording. The movie opened to rave reviews, and Variety even brought out a special edition. Conversely, most producers and directors agreed that that music was decent, but that audiences did not feel the need for talking pictures. However, on Oct 6, 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, which featured musical numbers sung on screen by Al Jolson. This film became an overwhelming success, as people flocked to both see and now hear the new movie. The Jazz Singer set the melody to which all movies would be sung.

Although The Jazz Singer seemingly used the latest in technology of the Vitaphone for providing