Golden Reel Awards: I'll Be Missing the Party

Brenna and Bob at the Golden Reels last year. Note the lack of shiny statue.One of the last TV shows that I worked on before we left Los Angeles last summer was the final season of "ER." It was a huge honor to have worked on the series, and I was lucky to be part of a great crew. We were recently nominated for a Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award. That's a mouthful -- Brenna just calls them the sound geek awards. The ceremony is tonight, and I'm sad that I won't be there to dust off the tux and hang with my pals (banquet food aside). Brenna is missing the excuse to search out the perfect vintage gown. Good luck Walt, Darleen and Bruce. We both miss you guys, and hope you take home a shiny trophy.

For those of you who don't work in post production sound, and might be wondering what the day-to-day activities of a sound editor really look like -- It's, frighteningly, a lot like this video!

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Going Out With a Bang!

The Oscar nominations weren't the only awards announced this week, and while I'm so very happy with the Best Picture nominations (and also Amy Adams!!), it wasn't the most exciting news at the Redpath household. Other entertainment industry award nominations were announced this week as well - and Bob has been nominated for three Golden Reel Awards, which are presented by the Motion Picture Sound Editors,

"... acknowledging the year's best work in the various areas of sound editing: Dialogue & ADR, Effects & Foley, and Music."

Bob was nominated in two categories for the TV show

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Bob Redpath voted Best Of 2008 by The Cynic

You might not know this, but Bob is a published author. Yes, yes, it's true - he is a man of many talents. He was published for the first time in September 2008 by The Cynic Online Magazine. Right after he sent in his first ever submission (Beginners luck says Brenna - who hasn't been published.) Bob just received word from The Cynic that his essay has been picked for The Best Of 2008. You're dying to read it right? Well - here's a bit:

Reinventing the Wheel for Fun and PROFIT!

My work in television post production for the past twenty years has been seasonal to say the least, and, lately I’d consider it more off-season than on. When there are no new TV shows airing, there’s no work. In show biz we like to say we’re on hiatus. It’s got that voluntary time off, summering in the South of France sound to it. It feels important -- self important, but we take our importance where we can get it. When the state of California sends me a check every two weeks, they remind me its called unemployment, and for the record, yes, I sought work this week.

Read the whole essay here...

Aren't We All A Little Bit "Iron Man?"

WARNING: Super-hero movies should not be viewed while under the influence of the boredom from unemployment.

This isn't something that I would have considered writing were it not for my friend, Wendy, who encouraged me to post this blog. It's about the process of sound editing, or in this case, music editing. On the surface it can be a boring andrepetitivejob, but when you scratch just a little below that surface, the tediousness really shines through. And yet... I must enjoy something about doing it.

This summer after seeing the movie Iron Man, I attained a clarity that'snormallyreserved for vision quests or near death experiences. In this case it was probably the combination of action movie adrenaline,unemploymentboredom and movie-snack sugar. I felt as if I was channeling Tony Stark (for the less geeky of you, that would be the character played by Robert Downey Jr. in the movie.) I knew what I had to do. I would convert the garage into a lab and fashion myself one of those fancy iron suits so that I could fly around and

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The Spotting Session

Updated on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 10:54AM by Bob & Brenna Redpath

I’m sitting in a spotting session. That’s where the producer or director or picture editor or production assistant or janitor, if he has anything to add, tells me how their television show is supposed to sound. Things like, “When she fires the gun, we need to hear a good gunshot,” or “As he closes the door, make sure we hear the sound of a good door close.” They always preface whatever sound note they're giving with "good," as if my first choice would be to go to the really crappy door close or completely inadequate gunshot. If these things sound obvious to you, you’re overqualified to be

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