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Ben Burtt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 10/26/10 10:43 AM

Ben Burtt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Benjamin "Ben" Burtt, Jr. (born July 12, 1948) is an Ben Burtt American sound designer for the films Born Benjamin Burtt, Jr. (1977), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), (1981), E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial July 12, 1948 (1982), and the Last Crusade (1989) and Jamesville, New York, United WALL-E (2008). He is also a film editor and director; States ; and voice actor. Occupation Film editor, , sound designer and screenwriter He is most notable for creating many of the iconic sound effects heard in the Star Wars film franchise, Years 1975 - Present including the "voice" of R2-D2, the hum and active the heavy-breathing sound of .

Contents

1 Early life, education and early career 1.1 Sound designer 1.2 Director, editor and writer 1.3 Cameo appearances 2 Awards 2.1 2.2 Honorary awards 3 References 4 External links

Early life, education and early career

Burtt was born in Jamesville, New York, and graduated with a major in physics from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

In 1970, he won the National Student Film Festival with a Yankee Squadron, reputedly after following exposure to classic aviation drama through making an amateur film at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, a living aviation museum in Red Hook, New York, under guidance from its founder, Cole Palen.[1]

For his work on the special-effects film Genesis, Burtt won a scholarship to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, where he earned a master's degree in film production.

Sound designer

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Burtt pioneered modern ,[citation needed] especially in the science-fiction- and fantasy- film genres. Before his work in the first Star Wars (now known as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) in 1977, science-fiction films tended to use electronic-sounding effects for futuristic devices. Burtt sought a more natural sound, blending in "found sounds" to create the effects. The lightsaber hum, for instance, was derived from a film projector idling combined with feedback from a broken television set, and the effect started with the sound acquired from hitting a guy-wire on a radio tower with a wrench.

He is personally responsible for some of the sounds heard in films. In the Star Wars series, part of R2-D2's beeps and whistles are Burtt's vocalizations, also made using an ARP 2600 synthesizer, as are some of the squawks made by the tiny holographic monsters on the spacecraft. In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) he provides the voice for Lushros Dofine, captain of the Invisible Hand cruiser. The heavy-breathing of Darth Vader was created by recording his own breathing in an old Dacor scuba regulator.

Burtt also used a recording of his wife, who at the time was suffering from a minor cold and was sleeping in bed, for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. He created the "voice" of the title character and many other robots in 's film WALL-E (2008), about a lonely garbage-compacting robot. Additionally, he is responsible for the sound effects in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).[2]

Burtt is a voice for Day (voice was inspired by WALL-E from WALL-E) and Night (voice was inspired by M-O from WALL-E) in Day & Night' (2010, released before 3).

Burtt is Sound enngeer and voice of part of Minions in MegaMind (2010) from DreamWorks Animation.

Burtt has a reputation for including a sound effect dubbed "the " in many of the movies he's worked on. Taken from a character named "Wilhelm" in the film The Charge at Feather River, the sound can be heard in countless films: for instance, in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when a falls into a chasm and in Raiders of the Lost Ark when a Nazi soldier falls off the back of a moving car.

One of Burtt's more subtle, but highly effective sound effects is the "audio black hole." In Attack of the Clones, Burtt's use of the audio black hole involved the insertion of a short interval of absolute silence in the audio track, just prior to the detonation of "seismic charges" fired at the escaping Jedi spaceship. The effect of this second or less of silence is to accentuate the resulting explosion in the mind of the listener. Burtt recalled the source of this idea as follows: "I think back to where that idea might have come to me...I remember in film school a talk I had with an old retired sound editor who said they used to leave a few frames of silence in the track just before a big explosion. In those days they would 'paint' out the optical sound with ink. Then I thought of the airlock entry sequence in 2001. I guess the seeds were there for me to nourish when it came to the seismic charges."

Burtt was among the golden ears that critically reviewed the various audio compression systems that were proposed for the ATSC digital television system.

A tongue-in-cheek homage to Ben Burtt appears in the 1997 Activision PC game Zork: Grand Inquisitor - the spell 'Beburtt', which 'creates the illusion of inclement weather', plays dramatic thunderclap and rainfall sounds when cast.

Director, editor and writer

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Burtt directed several IMAX documentary films, including Blue Planet, , and the Oscar-nominated Special Effects: Anything Can Happen.[3] He edited the entire Star Wars prequel trilogy, and several episodes of "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles". Burtt is also credited as the writer of several episodes of the 1980s Star Wars-based cartoon, "Droids".

Cameo appearances

He makes a cameo appearance in two of the Star Wars films as an extra. He appeared as Colonel Dyer in Star Wars Episode VI: (the Imperial officer who yells "Freeze" before knocks him off a balcony. Incidentally, his scream as he falls seems to be his own imitation of the Wilhelm that he popularized.) and in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace as Ebenn Q3 Baobab (appears in the background near the end when Padmé Amidala congratulates Palpatine). Awards

Academy Awards

Sound Effects Editing in 1982 for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Sound Effects Editing in 1989 for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Special Achievement for sound editing in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) Special Achievement for sound editing in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Nominated for:

Sound and Sound Effects Editing in 1983 for Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Sound Effects Editing in 1988 for Willow Sound in 1989 for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Documentary Short Subject in 1996 for directing Special Effects: Anything Can Happen Sound Effects Editing in 1999 for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Sound and Sound Effects Editing in 2008 for WALL-E

Honorary awards

Burtt was awarded the Doctor of Arts, honoris causa, by Allegheny College on May 9, 2004.

The Hollywood Post Alliance awarded him with The Charles S. Swartz Award for outstanding contributions to the field of post production. References

1. ^ http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/old-rhinebeck-aerodrome/13739-rhinebeck-museum-trouble- 354.html#post399478 2. ^ Star Trek Post Production Complete + Oscar-winner Ben Burtt Provided Sound Design (http://trekmovie.com/2009/01/05/star-trek-post-production-complete-oscar-winner-ben-burtt-provided- sound-design/) 3. ^ filmreference.com (2008). "Ben Burtt Biography" (http://www.filmreference.com/film/92/Ben-Burtt.html) . NetIndustries, LLC.. http://www.filmreference.com/film/92/Ben-Burtt.html. Retrieved October 25, 2008. External links

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Ben Burtt (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0123785/) at the Internet Movie Database Ben Burtt (http://www.allmovie.com/artist/83647) at Allmovie Site detailing the history of The Wilhelm Scream (http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/) Interview with Ben Burtt on Silicon Valley Radio (http://www.transmitmedia.com/svr/vault/burtt/index.html) Interview with Ben Burtt on Studio 360 about his career (http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2008/06/27) CineSource Magazine - Ben Burtt and the Sound of WALL-E (http://cinesourcemagazine.com/index.php?/site/lspector_fa/the_sound_of_wall_e_at_the_rafael_theatre/) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Burtt" Categories: 1948 births | Living people | American actors | American film actors | Film sound production | University of Southern California alumni | Allegheny College alumni

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