Aaron Glascock is a sound editing supervisor, sound designer and sound mixer who has worked on many films. To date, he has won an MPSE Golden Scroll Award for The War of the Worlds, an Oscar nomination for Birdman or The Virtue of Ignorance, and several other nominations. Most recently, he worked on Creed 2 and Chappaquiddick.
DS: Hi Aaron, thanks for joining us. Can you tell us about your background?
Joint Stock Company: When I was young, my father worked as a photographer, editor, director and producer on documentaries. The projects he works on are small, but they have the most exciting subjects and people around them. My mom was an artist and freelance designer, often creating graphics for movies and print ads for camera companies. From this, I became less interested in film and more open to work and creativity. Work is an integral part of life. The house serves as a transit point for people and equipment. The equipment boxes would be there the night before, gone in the morning, and at the end of the day the crew would return and have dinner that night. Sometimes there’s a film editing desk and a Moviola in the living room. My uncle John was a production mixer. When I was 13, I played in a punk band. So, as a drummer, I needed to work to afford cymbals, and I was always breaking cymbals. I worked a lot of jobs over the next few years and ended up working at my uncle’s small audio company doing painting, maintenance, etc. This work experience would lead to my first truly solid job.
At seventeen, I still wanted to be a musician. I just played in a band called America’s Hardcore last year, and I was the drum technician for a then-unknown band called the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and I played drums in a hardcore punk band called the Circle Jerks. My father told me that a “real” audio company was looking for a sound effects librarian and reminded me that I had a rare qualification. I interviewed and got the job. I thought it was just for summer, but it held up. It was the summer of 1984. It became known as the Weddington effects library. Along the way, I built sound effects props, recorded and cataloged the sound effects into a library.
Eventually I became an assistant editor in the sound and video editing suite. Back in the “movie” days, the sound editing room was in chaos. If you’ve proven yourself in one subject, you’re probably ready for the next. The work itself is education. There’s a lot of social interaction in film work because the medium has so many stages and so many people in the working process. The assistant editor is a production manager. All information about these methods is available to learn if you are interested. Everyone at the next level has been in your situation. There are teachers everywhere.
Eventually I started supervising. Editor-in-Chief George Simpson was unable to complete one of the projects he had committed to because of an after-hours shift due to his schedule. He was sure I could do it. The first project is a documentary. To this day, I view every supervisory experience as an opportunity to make new discoveries. In a way, I approached this job as if it was my first job. This is the best way to give new meaning to your work. This is not difficult as no one project is similar to another and the solutions are diverse.
DS: This month’s theme is “Hibernation.” Can you think of any specific examples from movies? Can you tell us about the sound design of these films?
Joint Stock Company: I like this idea. This process is a great opportunity to define the time, events, and places in the storyline and allow the audience to experience how that definition transforms along the way. This process unlocks and opens up the audience’s personal emotions over the course of the story. It taps into one’s subconscious mind to maximize the story experience. The value of greater significance, revealed later, is the key. It is a strong feeling that individual responses to memories are always exaggerated in moments of reflection.
Recently I was working on Creed 2, and there were some reflective moments on screen that were supported by sound, and there were also some reflective moments that relied solely on sound. They are simple. Throughout the story we use sound as a metaphor for legacy and the passing of the torch.
DS: Are there any special elements of the sound design? Are there any tricks to make it work?
Joint Stock Company: The key is not to force it. Watch the story and feel it. This is an emotional guide. Watch it without any sound. Work with your image editor to time the sound to come into play. Sometimes you have to make room for it.
DS: When you made Creed II, did you revive elements from Creed or the original Rocky movie? How do these elements come into play? Can you talk about the sound design of those films?
Joint Stock Company: Because of the long history of “Rocky” movies, director Steven Caple Jr. consciously tried to tell the story of “Creed II” in a new way. The original Rocky IV movie sounds were only used in some on-screen media references to Rocky’s early battles, which were small but informative to the story. There are some sound design moments in Creed II that reflect Loki’s past. Their stance was clear but not harsh. The emotion is melancholic and nostalgic. These moments of sound design work because they’re easily identifiable and subtly handled. They definitely feel like they’ve been lifted out of the original movie. The work of finding its features involves tweaking the processing, so using the original files only earns you bragging rights. It’s easier to make them from scratch.
DS: I saw that you worked on the movie Ben-Hur in 2016.
Joint Stock Company: The process of sound work, like what we do in film sound design, is one of auditory visualization, followed by the creation and/or repurposing of media. It’s a bit like mathematical collage. When a sound element is used with many components, its original form may be completely obscured. We’re looking for ways to stimulate, disrupt and disrupt idle listening environments. We are leaving no stone unturned in seeking results. Because of this, anything can be part of achieving this goal. Sound effects library is a resource hibernating. For example, we recorded several horses and chariots for Ben-Hur. Their recordings are clear but don’t sound like horses in mortal danger. They didn’t feel the destructive energy. I ended up looking for and listening to old effects recordings. I programmed an old horse library and then processed it further into an aggressive, more dangerous-sounding result.
DS: How do you deal with a sound that has been dormant for so long? Can you talk about that process?
Joint Stock Company: That’s a lot of what we do every day. It’s not flashy. There are no popular buzzwords for this approach. There is no doubt that this is the basis of everything all Sound design process. This method explains how all The news reaches the final briefing.
To this day, I can still find uses for things I recorded 30 years ago. This process is only used to identify the sound effect name so that it can be found. An effect name or description is just a shell compared to its potential. Its use depends on how it appears in the mix.
DS: To flip it around, you were involved in the production of Insomnia back in 2002, which was the opposite of Hibernation . Can you tell us about the sound design for that film and how you created the feeling of not being able to sleep?
Joint Stock Company: Insomnia is closely tied to tonal sound design. Musical tones sound as Detective Dormer (Al Pacino) sinks deeper into insomnia. The outlines of some events and objects can lead to an insomniac feeling of saturation and emptiness. Chris Nolan knows exactly how to drive this effort as a well-established process continues to improve. Where the other characters in “Insomnia” have clear environments and details, Dormer’s is muddled and vague. In the rocky shoreline scene before Insomnia, he shoots his partner. Although he hasn’t lost sleep yet, he seems to be entering the vulnerable phase of a long day in Alaska. This is where his mind starts to trick him. It’s like a house of mirrors as he sinks deeper and deeper into it. He is haunted by his past and recent actions.
DS: Is there anything else you would like to add? Any advice for someone just starting out?
Joint Stock Company: I recommend that anyone trying to do this work first develops the ability to discuss the medium of sound. Sound itself is a language. It’s very expressive. Try making your own sounds, try doing your own Foley, play some dialogue, try mixing things – even just to understand the value of the piece. Always document and maintain a library. Working with people who are trying to make movies, people who are just starting out. I still do.
Take on difficult projects. To this day, when I work on sound design for films, I’m trying to make the job more challenging. I’m looking for a less obvious meaning to express. If it was easy, you’d be missing something, because it’s the sound designer’s job to bring more to the story. Each of these movies has never been done before.
But, you have to do it.
Aaron Glasscock on IMDb
