Having designed and edited sound for such memorable films as "Inglourious Basterds," "Django Unchained" and "Kill Bill: Vol. 1," Sound Designer Wylie Stateman certainly knows his way around a mixing board. And when designing sound for the film "Deepwater Horizon," Stateman knew that the story's visceral emotional impact would require special handling. And in Stateman's view, the huge dynamic range of the IMAX sound system is a perfect match for the film's dramatic soundtrack.
"What we hoped to accomplish in "Deepwater Horizon" was to give the audience a sense of being out there on that rig, of traveling to a place where we all know a great disaster occurred. The IMAX screen allows the audience to have an experience where they're literally almost falling into the frame. Sound really encompasses dialog, music, which adds rhythm adds pulse adds intensity, and then sound effects, which really gives the audience the sense that they're in this reality trapped, or emotionally swept away with the story."
When asked about his role in creating the film's soundtrack, Stateman says, "the job of the sound designer is to fill out the theater beyond the limits of the frame. And give the audience the sense of being immersed in this experience. The sound part of IMAX is extraordinary, they've taken full range speakers out into the theater, and allowed the audience to sort of hear things in a much more natural way. We're able through sound to both give pause, which is important, because the most dramatic elements occur after a pause. And working from silence, you're able to use the entire dynamic range of the theater to just deliver to the audience something really shocking, really dramatic, really powerful."
"The visual frame is on the screen; it's in the front of the auditorium, it's bound by the edges that the cinematographer has prescribed to that particular shot. Sound lives in the ether, it's dispersed within the theater, it doesn't live in real time the way picture does. Sound is just a vibration in the room. Sound is just a momentary thing that can't be frozen in time."
And on the IMAX experience, Stateman had these choice words, "When you go to an IMAX theater, you're looking at and listening to what the filmmakers intended you to look at, listen to, and experience."
"Deepwater Horizon" stars Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Douglas M. Griffin and is directed by Peter Berg. It currently has a fresh 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is now playing in IMAX theaters worldwide.
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