Moderator {action} hello everyone! we're getting ready for our talk
with mike payne.
17:54:36 Moderator {action} he's the sound supervisor
for Babylon 5. you can start sending your questions now.
17:54:41 Moderator {action} we'll start in just
2 minutes.
17:57:31 Moderator {action} ok, everyone.
we're welcoming mike payne, the sound supervisor for b5 tonight.
here's our first question.
17:57:33 K57 {question presented} how closely
do you work with Don Matthews?
17:59:57 mike_payne {public msg} Not very closely,
since I deal mostly with the post-production sound. Luckily, Don does a
great job , so I don't need to deal with him much. S
18:00:06 JoanDarc {question presented} how long
have you been invloved in this aspect of the industry...where did you get
your start, and why this particular field??
18:00:16 mike_payne {public msg} I'
18:01:15 mike_payne {public msg} I've been in
post-sound for 11 years, and it was mere accident that I got into it. After
graduating from film school, I needed a job, and just happened to answer
an ad for a gopher position, which was in a post-sound house.
18:01:24 VorlonSega {question presented} Do you
do a lot of layering of effects or more single sounds?
18:01:46 mike_payne {public msg} Lotsa layering,
sometimes as many as 32 different elements.
18:02:15 Reschell {question presented} Of which
particular effect are you most proud?
18:03:30 mike_payne {public msg} Well, since most
of the sound effects were designed before I started working on B5 (I just
began working on the show this season), I really haven't designed many
of the sound fx, but the sound that I think is the "coolest" is the whitestar
engine.
18:03:33 Kaz {question presented} How hard is
it to mask or block out noise the cast makes during a scene ?
18:06:20 mike_payne {public msg} Good question.
It depends on the scene, of course, and as I said, Don Mathews does such
a good job recording the production sound that there is little need to
"mask" or "block" things out. But sometimes, if there's a lot of movement
which makes it hard to understand the dialog, we'll have to dump the production
track and "loop" the actors, so we get the lines "clean."
18:06:22 VorlonSega {question presented} What
is the most versitile object you use to make sounds if any?
18:07:16 mike_payne {public msg} Well... equipment-wise,
it's the "Synclavier" -- a sound-design-editing tool that has been around
for ages.
18:07:19 NowaY {question presented} How is the
"Kosh speaking sound" done?
18:08:02 mike_payne {public msg} The "kosh sound"
is simply music that Christopher Franke has scored.
18:08:05 K57 {question presented} how long does
it take to finish the sound on an episode?
18:08:40 mike_payne {public msg} We spend about
three weeks on average for each episode. The TV movies take much longer,
though, since they are so much more involved.
18:08:43 Nikki {question presented} Are you reworking
any of the regular sounds, like the doors or jumpgate sounds, for Crusade,
or will things stay pretty much the same?
18:09:03 mike_payne {public msg} That is still
to be determined....
18:09:38 Reschell {question presented} What kind
of physical things would we be surpised that you use to achieve your effects?
18:10:25 mike_payne {public msg} Scraping swords
played a part in the design of the "Whitestar" engine...
18:10:30 Kaz {question presented} How much experimentation
do you do with a scene to find the right sound ?
18:12:37 mike_payne {public msg} Depnds on the
scene... for things that are already established, like the various ships,
etc, there really is little further experimentation. But for Thirdspace,
for instance, which contains ships that we've never seen before, as well
as new worlds, we experimented a lot, with JMS and John Copeland listening,
approving, giving suggestions, etc...
18:12:50 K57 {question presented} where is the
post production sound done? what equipment?
18:13:34 mike_payne {public msg} The post-sound
for B5 is done at "EFX" -- a sound studio in Burbank. Equipment? Hundreds
of different devices even I don't know all the names of.
18:13:47 NowaY {question presented} How is the
Shadow vessel sound done?
18:14:21 mike_payne {public msg} Unfortunately,
for you all, I don't really know. As I said, most of the sound fx were
designed already before I became involved with the show. Sorry.
18:14:30 MarshallH {question presented} How much
consideration is given to "surround sound" effects? Is it a difficult
process?
18:15:55 mike_payne {public msg} Not difficult,
just a little extra time. JMS and John Copeland LOVE having fx in the surround
speakers, so we put as much back there that we can. But because not everyone
at home has a surround set-up, we never put FX ONLY in the surrounds.
18:15:57 Reschell {question presented} If you
were hijacked to a "Career Day" at a high school, what's the best thing
about being a sound supervisor that you would tell the students.
18:17:38 mike_payne {public msg} Funny question...
I'd probably say meeting the cast. Without exception, they are all fun
to work with.
18:17:45 VorlonSega {question presented} Do you
use a lot of Computer Generated Sound, or more old fashioned creative use
of ordinary objects?
18:18:26 mike_payne {public msg} A mixture of
both. Often, we'll take an "ordinary object" sound, and then CHANGE it
with our computers, to create a whole new sound.
18:18:28 Nikki {question presented} DO you get
to work closely with the CGI guys for timing and stuff? Is the timing hard
to get?
18:19:12 mike_payne {public msg} Actually, we
don't work with them at all. We simply wait for them to comlete their visual
fx, and then we tailor our sound fx appropriately.
18:19:16 K57 {question presented} So how many
people on the sound "crew"? and what are their jobs?
18:21:18 mike_payne {public msg} Let me add them
up... 3 mixers, 2 foley walkers, 2 foley mixers, 2 dialog editors, 3 sound
fx editors, 2 group "walla" mixers, four "group walla" actors, perhaps
10 other assorted support staff, transfer people, etc... it's a lot.
18:21:23 VorlonSega {question presented} Other
than B5 what other large projects have you worked on?
18:22:51 mike_payne {public msg} This is the largest
project I've worked on. I've done mostly TV series (most of which were
cancelled after the first year) and TV movies. Occasional low-budget movies
(anyone see "APEX"???). But B5 is definately the show with the highest
profile.
18:22:58 Reschell {question presented} Do you
study the work of sound-artists on old radio shows?
18:24:06 mike_payne {public msg} In film school,
we did. What those old radio folks did is very similar to what our "foley
artists" do today. Which is live-recording of sound fx like footsteps,
hand pats, movement, stuff like that.
18:24:11 Reschell {question presented} OK -- for
the ignorant -- what's the difference between foley walkers and foley mixers?
What's walla when it's at home? <g>
18:25:38 mike_payne {public msg} Foley "walkers"
are the people who actually "perform" the
foley, for example, they walk
in place on a stage in sync to the actors on the screen The foley "mixers"
are the people who RECORD the foley walkers; in other words, the "mixers"
are the recording technicians.
18:25:41 JoanDarc {question presented} have you
ever tried to slip in a sound to get a cast member to crack up (laughing)
on set?
18:27:16 mike_payne {public msg} Well, our sounds
are never heard on the set. On the set, the cast doesn't actually hear,
say, the sound of the ppg. We simply add the sound fx after they've finished
shooting.
18:27:19 Kaz {question presented} The Minbari
fighting stick makes a cool sound when it opens. Does the stick itself
make the noice or do you put that in?
18:27:32 mike_payne {public msg} We put that in.
I like that sound, too.
18:28:03 Kaz {question presented} Has there been
a character on the show that you had a hard time hearing and had to constantly
redo the dialogue?
18:28:58 mike_payne {public msg} No, because Don
does such a great job, we're always able to hear the actors. But we HAVE
had to replace dialog due to performance, where we use a different actor
to do the voice.
18:29:05 Reschell {question presented} Which episode
of B5, to you, represents the one you would most like on your resume as
an example of sound creation/editing?
18:30:04 mike_payne {public msg} I'd say, not
an episode, but the movie ThirdSpace.
18:30:10 Bluewolf {question presented} How did
you come about getting such a choice job working for JMS?
18:32:25 mike_payne {public msg} Pure luck. A
friend of mine who works at EFX called me up one day and said they needed
a new supervisor for B5, and would I like to try for it. At the time, by
pure coincidence, I was looking for a change. So I met with JMS and John
Copeland, and the next thing I knew, I was working for the show.
18:32:28 Doctor Rock {question presented} how
much dialogue is live from the shooting and how much is looped in afterwards,
the quality of what gets on the show is quite remarkable considering the
non sound studio nature of the B5 production set.
18:33:36 mike_payne {public msg} Actually, we
RARELY do looping, not like they do on other shows. The B5 set perhaps
has been given a bad rap; Don Mathews has been able to get good sound there.
18:33:39 Ivanava {question presented} Mike...Jason
Carter reports in the B5 Magazine that he and a "unspecified" sound person
added another track of dialogue to Claudia's mourning scene with him saying.."Help..help..Let
me out of this box!!!"...any knowledge of this little caper???
18:35:07 mike_payne {public msg} I wasn't the
supervisor at the time (I wish I could say I was), but I WAS there when
they mixed that episode and it was very funny. Of course, it never made
it onto the air that way, but that's what blooper reels are for.
18:35:11 Kaz {question presented} What is a typical
day for you when working and when does JMS and John Copeland get brought
into the workings?
18:39:26 mike_payne {public msg} My job really
has no "typical" day, because there are so many apsects to the sound, that
from day to day, I'm doing different things. JMS and John "spot" the show
with me, this is the very beginning of the process, where we go through
the show and they tell me, scene by scene, sometimes shot by shot, what
they want in ways of sound. I offer suggestions, we talk about it, brainstorm,
etc, and then basically they let me do my job. Which is the great thing
about this show, they let me do my job. If there are any "new" sound effects
that need to be created, we'll often preview the sounds for thewm and so
on, like I mentioned before, but mostly they trust me to get done what
they asked me to do at the spotting. Then they supervise the final "mix"
of the show -- putting all the elements together, dialog, fx, music, foley,
walla, looping, etc -- and balancing these elements in the way they tell
us to.
18:39:39 K57 {question presented} Would you be
the one who produces the original songs, like Byron's hymn. Is it
done the same as it would for say an Aerosmith track?
18:41:44 mike_payne {public msg} Well, no. I believe
JMS wrote that song, or at least the lyrics, and I know Christopher Franke
added some music underneath the singing (the singing was done by the actually
cast members on the set). Unlike a real song which would've been done completely
in a sound studio. That song was sung like that on the set as they filmed.
18:41:46 Moderator {public msg} moderator sneaks
a question in: what the heck is walla?
18:44:27 mike_payne {public msg} "Walla" is what
we call the background voices in scenes. For instance, when they shoot
a scene in the Zocalo, the bg extras you see are NOT talking as they film,
so that we can hear the main, upfront dialog as clear as possible. Then,
in post, we add those background voices, basically putting words in the
mouths of the extras. This is called "Walla" -- and it's "performed" by
a group of actors in our studio, who mostly watch the scene and adlib.
18:44:44 Kaz {question presented} Whats the coolest
sound you have done on this show or another?
18:48:00 mike_payne {public msg} In the TV movie
"Sometimes They Come Back," I designed what we called "the sound of fear."
For B5, I don't usually design the sounds myself, but I supervise the people
who do, and sometimes I'll give them suggestions, but luckily, I leave
that hard work to our designers.
18:48:13 Doctor Rock {question presented} do you
have any actors prone to perhpas standing up from low shots to fast and
hitting their head on the boom
18:48:35 Moderator {action} we have time for 2-3
more questions for mike. send them in now.
18:49:38 mike_payne {public msg} Never seen that
happen, but I have seen actors (not on this show) fall down in the middle
of scenes, tripping, ect... and of course, most of that stuff ends up on
the blooper reel. By the way, the B5 blooper reels are some of the funniest
I've ever seen. The cast enjoys breaking each other up, having a good time,
and yet they can snap back to professionalism and get the shot. Good group
of people.
18:49:49 Reschell {question presented} Is there
a sound effect that you wish jms&co would give you a chance to do?
18:51:27 mike_payne {public msg} Yes, and he GAVE
us the chance to do it... unfortunately, I can't say what it is because
it would spoil a plotline. Sorry. But it was a blast to do.
18:51:31 Kaz {question presented} In working with
the Wallas, have they ever done the adlib in a joking manner that got sent
to the bloopers?
18:52:57 mike_payne {public msg} Good question.
The walla folks, who are also very funny, often will do gags, and we put
them in the mix to crack up JMS and John (although, to be honest, sometimes
JMS just groans). But they've never made it to the blooper reel, mostly
because we don't have the time to save it.
18:53:26 Moderator {action} last question
18:53:29 Reschell {question presented} Thanks
to Mike Payne and thestation.com for giving us a window into things usually
not covered by the magazines that tend to cover actors, writers and producers.
18:55:04 mike_payne {public msg} Well, thanks
really goes to you, the fans, for giving ME the opportunity to talk about
this stuff. It's nice to be appreciated, and the great thing about B5 fans,
is they are so interested in the show, interested in these jobs which usually
don't get much credit, that it really makes us who do these jobs feel proud
of our work. So thank you all. You make doing the show worthwhile.
18:55:13 Moderator {public msg} thanks for joining
us tonight mike! and thanks to all of you for sending in your excellent
questions!
18:55:54 mike_payne {public msg} Thanks, and remember:
We live for the One, We die for the One.
18:56:02 Moderator {public msg} good night.
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