Dane and Julia began the process by spotting an in house Red Planet trailer tape for sound effects. Although these will be temporary effects, it will help in developing the concept and feel of the sound for the movie. Sound recordist/Sound designer John Fasal attached two omnidirectional mics to a fan grill. Since the microphones are wired to the objects we had to spin in circles holding the the pole and the recording machines. The sound of the air passing through the fan may be one of many layers used to create the wind in the Martian atmosphere. Jeremy spins with two fan grills, each is recorded in stereo to a four track Deva. This Duel Stereo format will give us two separate layers that will match in action.
In order to create a controlled wind source to blow over various objects we used an air compressor. We built a muffler to eliminate the very loud sound of the air nozzle. We attached over 950 of safety and plate glass to 20 rods using epoxy and fishing line. The rows varied by size and type and could be used in any combination needed. In the film there will be scenes with glass floating in zero gravity. We are recording the sound of the glass shards hit each other in the air. Rich and Jeremy adjust two sets of microphones underneath a field of the hanging glass. By sweeping our hand through the glass we created the sound of "swimming" through suspended glass shards.
For the Red Planet we have over thirty different types of fire to create sound for. We worked with pyrotechnician Clay Pinney, and his assistant Bill Harrison to record the raw material that we needed. Clay has earned two Academy Awards for his special effects work on the movies Backdraft and Independence Day.
Dane Davis supervised as we set up to record a propane mortar on the old western street at Warner Brothers. This is a 60 gallon tank filled with propane at up to 80 psi. When released, the tank empties all of its contents in under a second. Pictured is a burst from the tank filled at pressure of 60 psi.
We used two DEVA 4 track digital audio recorders, two portable DAT recorders and an analog NAGRA. Clay created a flame thrower using liquid propane. We had a couple of relatively inexpensive microphones that we could put in dangerous positions. Andy used a boom to get in close with Johns "fire" mic.
This is propane climbing up through a piece of hanging flex tube. We recorded various intensities of flames as well as ignites and bursts. Here we are changing the setup so the we can swing the flex tube from a twelve foot high C-stand. In the back Jeremy is on a DEVA, and Dane Davis is using the NAGRA to get a saturated analog sound. John and Rich are using boom poles to get in closer to the flame whooshes.
Clay Pinney sets off a KA 8/10 fountain that sends out an eight second shower of sparks.