“The lightsaber was, in fact, the very first sound I created for A New Hope. Inspired by the McQuarrie concept paintings, I remembered a sound of an interlock motor on the old film projectors at the USC Cinema Department (I had been a projectionist there). The motors made a musical ‘hum’ which I felt immediately would complement the image in the painting. I recorded that motor, and a few days later I had a broken microphone cable that caused my recorder to accidently pick up the buzz from the back of my TV picture tube. I recorded that buzz, and mixed it with the hum of the projector motor. Together these sounds became the basis for all the lightsabers.”
— Ben Burtt Q&A, FilmSound.org
Hearing familiar, overused sound bites is far more common now that budgets are getting cut across the board. You’d think there was a broader library for the giggling children snippet used in Gladiator when Maximus was dreaming of the wheat fields. I hear that sound bite in nearly every other film or episodic I watch. The days of Ben Burtt crafting the sound of a lightsaber through experimentation have gone by the wayside. The days of hundreds of real extras and magical matte paintings allowing our imaginations to expand and run wild are now in the rearview mirror. Now replaced with cheaper digital versions which no matter how accurate the simulation, it’s still just that, a computer simulation.
There’s a reason why the craft of filmmaking is taking a U-turn back to its roots. Digital works to a degree, but the best way to build dreams on screen is to not put all of the proverbial eggs in one basket. Use all techniques available and weave a tapestry of realized collective imaginations. The art of film is truly the art of play. We don’t really go to work. We play with our toys and every now and then stumble across a breadcrumb of originality. Vanilla ice cream is fine, but it so much better when it’s layered with fudge sauce, Red Hots, and sparkling sprinkles. Say no to vanilla and embrace the layering of styles bringing sound design back to its heyday when wielding sound design as a mad scientist was paramount.