Museum of the Moving Image

I really enjoyed my trip to the Museum of the Moving Image. It was really fascinating to see how movies work behind the scenes. The exhibit that really caught my eye was the one about Walter Murch. Mr. Murch was the editor/sound designer on many films, such as The Conversation, Apocalypse Now and Cold Mountain. In these movies he was responsible for both the film and music editing, which is quite amazing with so much work involved. In essence, he is choosing everything the audience sees and hears, taking them on an audio and visual journey. This is painstaking work, as he has to pay attention to even the most minuscule details, while also keeping the big picture in mind and understanding what the movie looks like as a whole. Watching him explain how he achieved the sound of the helicopters and soldiers running was amazing. You don't really know how much effort and thought go into something like that until you see it and have someone explain it to you. Apocalypse Now is also one of my favorite war movies, so it was especially exciting to see how some of that sound was achieved, especially when he talked about the famous beach scene. I always thought that music fit the scene perfectly, and hearing how it was mixed was very interesting to me. I couldn't help but be impressed that he handled both the audio and visual side of the movies. Having a background in audio, I understand how much work goes into that alone. It would take a very special and talented individual to do both, and Walter Murch obviously possessed both of these qualities. I am interested in doing music for film, and this exhibit only made me more excited to learn about it.