Academy Talks Sound

“Sound In Motion Pictures,” two programs dedicated to motion picture sound, will be presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on June 9 and June 23, at 7:30 p.m., in the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Open to the public, the evenings will feature unique audio tracks, photographic examples and film clips.

The June 9 event will pinpoint milestones in the development of sound for motion pictures. The evening will illustrate sound progression the earliest sound experiments, the full integration of sound, and more recent innovations. The program will be hosted by David Gray of Dolby Laboratories, who earned the Academy’s John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation in 1998. Academy sound branch member and former governor Don Hall, and Ioan Allen, who has earned three Scientific and Technical Achievements Awards, will be among the participants.

On June 23, Academy sound branch member, former governor and Bonner Medal recipient Douglas Greenfield will lead a program on microphones and loudspeakers, two technologies that represent the beginning and the final delivery of the sound process.

In conjunction with the programs, the Dunn Theater Lobby will feature an exhibition of microphone technology that helped to transform film. Materials provided by the University of Southern California School of Cinema, the Warner Bros. Archive, Mayhew & Company, Location Sound Corp., History for Hire, and The Mole Richardson Company will be on display along with items from the Academy’s own collection.

As an audio buff, these programs sound captivating and edifying to me.