Angelus News | October 25, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 36

linking sound with pictures.
“I tell them, my students, ‘Show up
on time, do what you say you’re going
to do, be a good collaborator.’ And if
you’re not really passionate about film
then I would say, ‘Get out while you
can.’ Thank God for unions. But the
hours are crazy.”
Costin wanted to showcase some of
the people “below the line.”
“Above the line in the credits are the
producers, director, actors, production
designer, composer. Sound editors end
up below the line with the crafts-service
people, not that we’re not grateful
to them, too. But I feel that in post-production,
we’re filmmakers as well,
each with our own area of expertise. I
hope the film shows how much effort,
artistry, creativity, and detail go into the
work.”
She also hopes “Making Waves”
names in sound. Walter Murch, called
by Roger Ebert “the most respected
film editor and sound designer in the
modern cinema,” describes literally
orchestrating the groundbreaking,
six-speaker surround sound on “Apocalypse
Now.”
Ben Burtt, who says he got his first
jobs because Murch wasn’t available,
acknowledges having a nervous
breakdown after his early, huge success
on “Star Wars.” The experience made
him realize that he loved his work, but
family came first.
“I put that in because we become
really close to one another in this
business,” says Costin. “We eat our
meals together. We know who’s got a
kid who needs special attention or a
sick parent.”
Gary Rydstrom (“Terminator 2: Judgment
Day,” “Jurassic Park,” “Titanic”)
By the end, you’re proud to be an
Angeleno, grateful for the people
“below the line,” and cognizant on a
whole new level the depth to which
sound in American film has burrowed
into your bloodstream. Tarzan’s jungle
cry. Lauren Bacall’s “You know how to
whistle, don’t you, Steve?” The rushing
water in “A River Runs Through It.”
I didn’t think a documentary about
sound editing could bring me to tears,
but “Making Waves” managed the task.
Maybe it was Oscar-nominated
rerecording mixer Anna Behlmer
(“Braveheart”) who got to me, sitting at
her console and saying exuberantly of
her life’s work: “When you feel those
goosebumps, you know you’ve got it
right. … I pinch myself every day.”
“Making Waves,” recently nominated
for Critics Choice Awards for First Doc
Feature, comes to theaters nationwide
COURTESY OF “MAKING WAVES”
Anna Behlmer at a mixing console.
breaks through the stereotype that
women can’t cut sound effects. “My
students are so diverse, and from all
over the world, so it was important
to me to show diversity in the film as
well.”
The documentary was nine years in
the making and features, among other
notable directors, Steven Spielberg,
George Lucas, David Lynch, and Sofia
Coppola.
It also includes some of the biggest
laughs that he got his first jobs because
Burtt wasn’t available. His love for the
craft and respect for his fellow sound
pioneers is palpable.
There are plenty of women as well:
Cece Hall (“Top Gun”), Lora Hirschberg
(“The Avengers”), Ai Ling-Lee
(“Deadpool”), Bobbi Banks (“Selma”),
Kay Rose, the first woman to win an
Oscar for sound for 1984’s “The River,”
and her daughter, sound editor Victoria
Rose Sampson.
and to various Arclight theaters around
town Oct. 25. It premieres Saturday,
Oct. 26, at 3 p.m., at Beverly Hills’
Ahrya Fine Arts. A panel Q&A will
follow with, among others, Murch,
Rydstrom, Costin, Buster, and Johnson.
Costin winds up: “My blood family’s
back in Boston but my family here in
LA is my sound family. This is a passion
project for me and I’m over
the moon that it’s getting out to the
world.”
Heather King is a blogger, speaker and the author of several books.
October 25, 2019 • ANGELUS • 29