Filmakademie Wien

Back to the future…

In 2027, (or was it 1984?) the international movie industry was producing its daily quota of films, an endless stream of synthesized spectacle. AI playwrights were creatingnarratives performed with eerie realism, and the once dynamic and creative crafts of cinema were a memory. Sound itself became a clinical and sanitized vibration.

Yet a rebellion was brewing in the shadows – a return to the forgotten art of Direct Sound. The revolution began in whispers and small touches – the essence of films carried by actors whose voices resonated with the raw energy of the moment were rediscovered. People then forgot the sterility of AI-generated soundtracks, the strange perfection devoid of humanity.

They craved the imperfections, the wrinkled clothes, the coughs and hesitations that whispered, “It’s real.”

But the path was strewn with pitfalls. Legacy audio equipment was a relic in the digital landscape. A Cantar X3 or a Nagra were simply no longer usable. Boom operators, by then excessively protein-packed, iron-rigid characters who once danced with microphones, were a dying breed. Their profession, the art of capturing the subtle variations of voices in space, was considered obsolete. AI could replace voices with archived recordings, synthesizing emotions with frightening ease and (seeming) precision.

Who needed a human in the loop? There were some serious challenges there. The raw, unfiltered nature of Direct Sound was uncomfortable, confusing and even disturbing.

And the future is now…

Nowadays, one could easily be surprised by how far AI already went. It has strongly invaded the sound production space, from recording to mixing… more than most of us know!

Meanwhile, on February 15, the company AATON, which produced the famous Cantar X3 (Stradivarius-like recorder), closed its business. A key moment in the ongoing restructuration of the industry, and a strong symbol of the end of an era. In this process, both the global audio-visual landscape and the technical craftsmanship have been turned upside down. “Make it lean, lose the breath and the spirit, nobody cares for… Anymore”.

Welcome to the new order.

During the “Viennese journey into direct sound”, we will revisit the fundamental technologies and principles of direct sound recording.

NAGRA(!), AATON, AMBIENT RECORDING, BEBOB, DEITY, VIVIANA,… hands-on Workshops and state of the art masterclasses will set the tone.

High gloss panels will allow us to redefine direct sound driven creativity, on interlaced levels.

Austrian FTA sound Mixers will be invited to a carte blanche dedicated to Manuel GRANDPIERRE. They will show us the whole spectrum of direct sound driven sound design.
Direct sound Directors (Tizza COVI, Elisabeth SCHARANG) and eminent international sound mixers; Simone GALAVAZI(NL), Yves-Marie OMNES (F), Viktor KRIVOSUDSKY (SK), will give us the ins and outs of designing direct sound on set in 2024. Opening doors to an untethered sound world.
These sound mixers will be joined by a leading ex-developer of the Cantar X3, Pascal GRILLERE. They will draw the line from genesis to iterative takeovers and give us the latest AATON insights. The next uprising might bring us a newly designed stradivaricantar.
Last but not least, Patrushkha MIERZWA and Mark ULANO (the most talented “Euro-American sound spirits”) will honour us for the second year in a row with pure joy, fundamentally levelling up an event that was not even planned as such, the Viennese journey into direct sound. Vintage 2024!
As an extension, a Call for competition, direct sound driven challenge will be annouced. Based on a long time overdue manifesto about this cinematic direct sound, not only “time-space-movement” related, but finally linked to the “psychophysiological coherency” of boom operated microphones.

This event has been conceived, realized on the fly by senior artist William Edouard FRANCK, and co-organized by Karin MACHER, Ewald GRABENBAUER and the crew of the Filmakademie Wien. Cofinanced by FilmTonAustria, FILMAKADEMIE WIEN and Wild Tracks – Wild Frames Sàrl.

(*) movies recorded by these sound mixers will be screened in the Stadtkino Wien, the Admiral Kino, and the Arthouse cinema.

EMAIL LINK: wtwf@mageos.com

„DAS PROGRAMM“

Wednesday April 10

10:00-18:00 THE berauschende WORLD OF MICROPHONES, Kodak Kino
- History, theory and best practice of microphones for cinematic direct sound, from AT to SENNHEISER (the whole spectrum) over NEUMANN SANKEN and SCHOEPS, with industry standards MK41, MKH50, CMIT, not forgetting BEYER DYNAMICs dynamic mics.
18:15-21:30: Manuel GRANDPIERRE “Carte blanche”, ARTHOUSE KINO
- with production sound mixers Johannes BAUMANN, Klaus KELLERMANN, Bertram KNAPITSCH, Tong ZHANG and WEF

Thursday April 11

9:00-10:00 NAGRA! Workshop, Gerhard KIRCHNER, STUDIO 2

10:00-11:30: VIVIANA MASTERCLASS, Group 1, STUDIO 2
- With guests like Klaus BENISCHKE-LANG, Innes VORREITER, DIETMAR ZUSON

11:30-13:00: VIVIANA MASTERCLASS, Group 2, STUDIO 2
- with guests like Matthias EDELMANN, Joseph NIKOLUSSI, Sophie WASSERBUGER, Lara ZILL

14-15 Uhr: BEBOB EVENT, STUDIO 2
- History, DOs and DON’Ts of and for rechargeable batteries

15:00-18:00 The Role of Location sound in Documentary Filmmaking, @STUDIO2
- Vincent ROSENBERG, Production sound Mixer, Product Manager @ Deity

19:30… STADTKINO, SCREENING + Q&A “Call me by your Name”, with Production Sound Mixer Yves-Marie OMNES.
- https://stadtkinowien.at/news/call-me-by-your-name-gespraech-mit-tonmeister-yves-marie-omnes-am-11-april/

Friday April 12

VERY SPECIAL AMBIENT WORKSHOPS @ STUDIO 1 & 2
- 10:00-13:00 AMBIENT RECORDING; TIME CODE , ACN NETWORK
- 14:00-17:00 Script App and one to one classes

15-17:00: Follow up Event 1 with Yves Marie OMNES, STUDIO 2
- diving into Yves-Marie’s cinematic sound

18-21:30: THE GENESIS OF THE CANTAR X3, ARTHOUSE KINO
- Pascal GRILLERE and Yves-Marie OMNES as emblematic powers behind the
  machine. Moderation Genet GLASS & William Edouard FRANCK

Saturday April 13

9:30-11:00 PANEL 1 “THE AATON WORLD”, STUDIO 2
- Simone GALAVAZI (NL), Pascal GRILLERE (F), Yves-Marie OMNES (F),
  Viktor KRIVOSUDSKY (SK), Christoph SCHILLING (D), and Herbert VERDINO
  (AT)

11:15-13:00 PANEL 2 “DIRECT SOUND in 2024” STUDIO 2
- Nora CZAMLER (AT), Manuel GRANDPIERRE (F/AT)), Yves-Marie OMNES (F),
  and last minute guest Mark ULANO (USA), moderation Genet GLASS &
  William Edouard Franck

14:00-15:30 PANEL 3 “ARTISTIC SOUND DESING ON LOCATION”, STUDIO 2
- Tizza COVI (IT), Nora CZAMLER (AT), Simone GALAVAZI(NL), Elisabeth SCHARANG (AT) and Patrushkha MIERZWA (USA)
16:00-17:00 PANEL 4 INSIDER PANEL “CALL FOR ACTION”
- introducing a competition that invites to rise the challenge of a
  new direct sound driven storytelling. To be joined by all present
  panelists of the journey from Tizza COVI to Mark ULANO, including
  invited sound designers Pascal CAPITOLIN, Veronika HLAWATSCH,
  Akritchalem KALAYANAMITR, Jakob MÄSEL, Philipp MOSSER as ghosts guests

Sunday April 14

13:00- 17:00 Screening & Q&A “BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ”, ADMIRAL KINO!!!!!! with PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER Simone GALAVAZI.
- https://www.admiralkino.at/produktion/berlin-alexanderplatz/

Monday April 15

14-18:00 Systemic views on direct sound
18-21:30 Screening+Q&A “LA SYNDICALISTE” with Christoph SCHILLING, Arthouse Cinema
- Moderation Alexander MAHLER

Thursday April 16