Four-time Academy Award winner, Ben Burtt visited SCAD’s Hamilton Hall to speak to students about his journey as a sound designer April 22. Burtt talked about how he made his way from Super 8 filmmaker to Hollywood’s go-to science fiction sound designer. As a longtime friend of many of SCAD’s faculty at Halmilton, Burtt brought with him several copies of old home films along with his scholarship-winning short film, “Genesis.” This special-effects heavy experimental short got him into the University of Southern California where he would eventually be hired by aspiring director, George Lucas.
Burtt began his lecture by giving students a background of his home life. He described himself as a very imaginative and playful child who had a, “great influence from his mother” who would take him to the library and read him a variety of stories and check out records to dance and create stories too. One of his greatest child influences came from the Disney classic musical Fantasia.
“Fantasia was a striking impact on my life because it showed how imagination and sound could go together, how they added up to something greater.” From there he began, as a 10-year-old, to create backyard films so he could beat up, “Danny McRady” but justify it as, “art.” Burtt went on to explain the process of filmmaking in the early days along with his Thrill Factory production company.
Following several laughter inducing clips of his “old-fashion” stunts and special effects (including the fantastic tales of “Rod Flash”), Burtt went on to describe his fascination with visual effects. In the time period, it was near impossible to learn the trade secrets of filmmaking. Unless you had a contact in the industry there was no way of knowing how to do these amazing effects. Burtt was lucky to run into author and screenwriter of A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke while studying physics at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. Burtt caught a moment alone with Clarke and after asking him about the special effects, “he kindly went up to the blackboard and just started drawing things.” Burtt’s fascination with the film only increased having seen “science combined with science fiction.”
After applying the skills he had learned, Burtt was able to go to film school where he began to find his interest in sound. He loved discovering new ways to record sound and having real and organic effects for everything he made. Since there were no real sound-design programs at the time, Burtt was mostly self-taught in his skills (which included ripping sound effects from old westerns). It was around that time that George Lucas came to him to ask him to design sound for a movie filming across the seas. Lucas was, “looking for someone, translated, cheap and valuable to go out and record sound effects and develop a library for this film” and so Burtt got started creating effects for “The Star Wars” as it was called at the time. Burtt was able to create a vast library ranging from gunshots altered to blasters, an old projector turned into a laser sword and a bear turned into the lovable Wookie. Following Star Wars, Burtt was able to become Lucas’ go-to sound designer for the following Star Wars films and the Indiana Jones series (in which he revealed that the Boulder in Raiders is just a Honda Civic station wagon).
The audience was then treated to the final episode of “Rod Flash” filmed by Burtt and his Thrill Factory studio, which was filmed over 40 years ago. The Oscar winner ended his lecture with some key advice in filmmaking such as planning ahead, using sound to connect or enhance your visuals, and to always find a way to do what you love. Films can be finished in the backyard or in an apartment, they don’t need the big money to succeed, just the passion of an artist.
Written by Rummel Medina.
Rummel is a Film and Television major from Caracas, Venezuela. He is in charge of coordinating and editing District’s audio and video content. He is also a co-host of District’s advice podcast The Mutiny!
