Mr. David Sonnenschein earned a BA in Biology / Music from the University of California, San Diego and an MFA in Cinema/TV from the Univ. of Southern California. He has directed and sound designed many document- aries, animations, shorts and features. He is also a classical and jazz musician and plays the clarinet and flute. He teaches at Video Symphony and lectured in film schools throughout Europe, Asia and South America.
Choices – which is a mixed genre of fiction/documentary and animation around the area of “how we go from conditioned response to conscious decision making”.
I have another feature that is in post- production called Tantric Twist, which is a romantic comedy/satire on the Tantric yoga scene in Los Angeles.
My current website, sonicstrategies.com, already has some articles and interesting original sound design for listening. I’m also expanding the website to include tutorials, games and an online store that will furnish anything you would need for sound design – microphones, sound effects libraries, etc… That’s another big project I’m working on. We will also be including things like podcasts to get more information out there about working in the sound industry…
This book is also being translated into Chinese and will be released later this year in China! I am also in the works to do a second edition for this book with additional materials on New Media.
I am also currently producing an audio CD series to help children in various areas of their lives. The first title is "Help Kids Sleep" and is on www.helpchildrensleep.com. It is a product that allows kids to listen to this audio CD with guided imagery and different psychoacoustic and musical background, which is very therapeutic and helps them rest better. We also find that the CD usually keeps the parents calm as well. We’re working on developing these areas more for adults, as well as some corporate applications.
I will just play some music that may not have anything to do with the film. Walter Murch has an interesting process as well when he is picture editing -- he’ll put up a story board on the wall with the various sequences of the film in vertical columns. And he’ll start to see relationships on the horizontal access… In that same way, I may do something with sound where I take the sound from another scene and stick it in where I have the block to see if it works. It’s kind of like doodling with sounds, using a bit of improvisation. Another way to help is collaboration… Bring in another musician, or bring in the director or picture editor. Ask them what they think is missing.
What components differentiate a good sound designer from a great sound designer?
Sonnenschein: A good sound designer needs to cover their bases with the first two steps of sound design which is cleaning up their sound, making sure their dialogue is good, and making tracks that create a believable reality for the scene. The great sound designer goes a step further and brings something out beyond what you are seeing on the screen -- it will help the audience feel what the intention of the scene, characters and story are all about.
What do you think is the most important aspect of becoming a good sound designer?
Sonnenschein: Learning how to listen. It's like being a musician, getting in tune with not only your own instrument, it's pitch, rhythm, volume and all, but also listening to the other musicians, like in improv jazz. I coach my students (I teach regularly at Video Symphony in Los Angeles and lecture around the world) to hear how their environment is made up of sonic contrasts, at least a dozen different layers, not our common listening mode. It's like learning how to meditate, watching our own awareness and how we make sense of the world through sound. We explore what I call sound spheres, going from the innermost thoughts, to our bodies, to the limits of our touch, sight and knowledge of the physical reality around us. It's amazing to discover how unconscious we normally are of sound, and once we learn to listen, then we have incredibly powerful and creative tools to impact the audience.
Do you have any new projects coming up that you’d like to share with us?
Sonnenschein: A few actually, although I can’t go into too much detail yet. I am in post production on a feature film called
affected them by going beyond the film itself. A film like JAWS was much the same thing, only with the music in that film. The theme of the shark has been used many times over now, as well as the screechy violins from Psycho. These kinds of film sounds have really been made into cultural icons.
Is there a genre of movie where you think sound design plays a more important role?
Sonnenschein: Horror films absolutely require the use of sound to evoke emotion. Without the sound, it is likely that the film will not have the impact that the director is looking for. It has to do with a lot of the build of suspense, anticipation, and tension release that is so fundamental to the nature of horror films. One genre of film that wouldn’t need it so much would be a romantic comedy.
Other films that are really dependent on film would be action films. You can have a lot of movement on the screen, but until you put all the crashes, brake screeches, gunfire, the images alone could seem rather jumbled and just frenetic, and you might miss a more emotional impact. Sci-Fi and fantasy are also dependent a lot on sound to take us out of our normal reality, to be able to create environments and situations and objects and all sorts of things that are going to feel real. It takes us into this place where the sci-fi / fantasy world becomes real because the audience can suspend their disbelief and really feel as if they’re in this place.
Do you find yourself conscious of sound most of the time as a visual artist may be more aware of his/her visual environment? Or do you become more conscious just when working?
Sonnenschein: I think I’m involved in this because I do it naturally all the time. I’m unusual in that I guess… I listen especially to sounds that I don’t recognize. Or I pay attention to my own reaction to a sound that I may not have noticed before, and so I think real life situations are there to help us orient to our world and also to give us creative stimulation.
Do you ever get a “sound block” when you’re reading a script or watching the daily’ s and nothing that you consider interesting or original comes to your creative mind? If so, what do you do to remedy this?
Sonnenschein: When I get a block on a particular scene, there are several things I can do to fix it. One is just to go on to the next scene and come back later – don’t get stuck on it. There is always something else you could be doing on the project. Sometimes, I
