INTERVIEW
I
tgoeswithoutsayingthatwhena
movie director, especially George
Miller, calls “action” or “cut”, that
isexactlywhatheexpectsto
happen. But what if the actors
can’thearorseehim?
Picture a scene from Miller’s latest
action flick,MadMax:FuryRoad.
TheWarRigisspeedingacrossthe
Wasteland. The Doof Warrior, aka
rock musician iOTA, has the volume
crankeduponhisflame-throwing
guitar and the drummers are in full
flight–partoftheirwarritual.Howdo
theyhearthefoldbacksotheycankeep
rhythmandtempo?Howcantheactors,
engulfed by noise in the vehicles, hear their
cues and have their lines recorded? And,
howcanacommunicationsnetworkcopein
the furore of speed, heat, dust and landscape
of a remote Namibian desert so that Miller
canheartheactorsandgivethemorders?
That’sjustafewoftheoutsizedprob-
lemsBenOsmohadassoundrecordiston
Fury Road.Heclearlydidanoutstanding
job because he and two other sound techs
onthefilmlastyearwonOscarsfortheir
work.ThemovieitselfscoredsixAcademy
Awards, more than any other that year.
Actors who win Oscars always snatch the
limelight but, without the specialist skills
ofOsmoandthesoundteam,theresimply
couldhavebeennomovie.
“Communication was important on that
film. We were so remote and we travelled
sofarawayfromthetowerstheyerected
for the walkie-talkies, they didn’t work,”
explains Osmo. “If we went around a
corner into a canyon, for example, they
couldn’tgetreception.ButIhadreception
andputmicrophonesonquiteafewpeople
who weren’t in front of the camera – princi-
pally George and the camera operators – so
they could talk to each other and hear the
actors’ dialogue.
“Attheendofthatsixmonths’filming,
George said to me, ‘Ben, I couldn’t have
done it without you’. Even though he
knewhewasgoingtoreplacealotofthe
dialogue,myworkwastofacilitatehim
communicating with the actors, with the
cinematographer, with the first assistant
directorandkeepthefilmgoing.”
It helped enormously that Osmo had
his Osmotron, an outdoor broadcastingvehicle initially intended to be parked in
one spot to collect sound data within a
4kmradius.Butitsoonbecameanaction
vehicleinitsownright.Onthefirstday
of a run-through, the War Rig drove for
7.5km – well beyond range of the com-
munication towers. So the Osmotron
wasriggedwithantennassoitcould
roar across the desert too, always
keeping within 500m of the action.
“It was four-wheel drive. It never got
bogged.And,wehadafantasticdriv-
er,” says Osmo. Even so, there were
troubles. The constant jarring in the
truck meant his computer kept crashing,
andiOTAandthedrummerscouldn’tget
their foldback. A switch was made to a sim-
ple, tiny, solid-state iPod. Problem solved.
Osmo prizes his gold-plated Oscar,
which seems heavier to lift than its 3.9kg.
“GeorgesaidtomeasIwasgoingupto
the stage at the awards, ‘Ben, it’s not just
for this film. It’s for the last 40 years’. I had
tears in my eyes. That is what it is. It is
your peers acknowledging that you have
done a good job.”
Just for the record, Oscars are worth zip.
Thestatuetteisgoldplated,sointheory
the precious metal has value, as does its
novelty and rarity. But they can’t be bought
or sold. Every winner since 1950 has been
banned by the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences from selling their statu-
ettes without first offering it back to them
for$US1.Beforethen,Oscarssoldforup
to six-figure sums. Now unless a winner
agrees to the academy’s terms, they simply
aren’t given a statuette.Let’shearit
for Mad Max
STORYALAN DEANSFirst job, mail boy in an advertising agency, then
promoted to screening room. Also a singer song-
writer who plays guitar and flute; travel makes
itimpossibletoplayregularlyinaband.
Filmingtakeshimtoexoticlocations
including a stormy North Sea
oil rig.Ben Osmo
Award-winning movie sound
recordist,calledamixerintheUS.Age
65; lives on Sydney’s northern beaches.Fact file
An Oscar award has been the ultimate accolade for a sound expert