MIT & Movies

& Movies

   As many of you may be aware, during the 1980's and early ‘90’s I had a good deal
of involvement with sound studios in the film industry. At that time, I designed the micro-phone
feeds for many films that were nominated for Best Sound / Best Sound Effects
Editing at the Academy Awards. Many of those films won their categories and a list of
those nominations and awards is enclosed with this letter. But, due to my commitment
to grow MIT I stopped this type of activity in 1993.

   A few years ago I was invited to visit Lucas Film's Skywalker Ranch situated in San
Rafael, California. I have had the pleasure of visiting many of the major film studios’
sound stages over the last 15 years. In my opinion none can compare with Lucas's
Skywalker Ranch facility.

   Even though I was no longer involved with the film industry at that time, the facility
and the people at Skywalker drew me back in. My initial work was with engineer Aaron
Reiff on their Scoring Stage, though I later had the pleasure of meeting and working
with many others in their engineering group. These are the talented individuals who
actually bring us the sound we hear on the film. I found this group to be not only techni-cally
inclined, and easy to work with, but of one mind; they are totally dedicated
towards creating the best sound possible.

   Sometime late in 1998 I was informed that film Stage Mix E was going to be upgrad-ed
and was asked to provide the cabling and AC Power line treatment for this
upgrade. It turned out to be a very large job requiring approximately 28 pairs of cables
and 12 Z-Series power-line filters. You can read about the results of this overhaul in the
two enclosed letters from Skywalker Sound. One from Mr. Aaron Reiff, Engineer,
Skywalker Sound, and the second from Mr. Tim McGovern, Director of Engineering,
Skywalker Sound.

   MIT's relationship with Lucas Film's Skywalker Sound is ongoing and growing. We have
been invited to do another major overhaul with them that should take place within the
next 6 months. We will bring you up to date on those results as soon as possible.

Bruce A. Brisson

President, MIT

As the Scoring Stage Engineer I had been exposed to MIT products for about a year. During that year Stephen Jarvis brought us MIT power conditioners and many MI-350 series cables to try. These products enhanced our Scoring Stage recording environment. During listening tests I was amazed at the drastic differences we uncovered when comparing MIT to other products. So much so, that I went on a mission to lean what made MIT cable sound better in almost every application. lt seemed likely that the standard could be elevated if we engineered this technology into other parts of the audio chain. After a few conversations with Bruce Brisson and some study on my part, I realized that there was real science behind the MIT technology he discovered.
The film Stage Mix E was a logical place to further utilize network cable technology. We discussed the requirements for Mix E with Bruce Brisson and determined that we would need approximately 40 cables. The front speakers required an eighty foot run to the power amplifiers. After the installation was complete we measured up to 18 degrees of phase shift reduction in various audio bandwidths. All of the speakers exhibit exceptional low frequency control and increased articulation. A final benefit was the overall decrease in system noise due to the installation of the MIT 'Z' power conditioners and AC cables. The reduction in noise has increased clarity throughout the audio range.

Aaron Reiff
Engincer
Skywalker Sound

In November of 1998, Skywalker Sound Engineering department had an opportunity to rebuild one of our Film Mixing Rooms. We decided to target what the film industry refers to as "the B-chain". This is everything between the console's monitor outputs and the room's speakers. We did a complete redo of that system, we replaced our analog equalizers and crossovers with a DSP block, we installed new power amps that were made to our specification, we bought and installed new speakers as well. When it came time to choose a wire product to tie the B-chain together, we drew on Aaron Reiff´s experience as our Scoring Stage engineer. That led us to Bruce Brisson and MIT cable technology. Bruce worked with our engineers to arrive at a line and speaker level wire system that allowed us to minimize phase errors through the system. The resulting clarity has been a pleasure to all that use the room. We also took advantage of MIT´s line of power conditioners.

Tim McGovern
Director of Engineering
Skywalker Sound

Academy Award Films

Using MIT Technology

1983 Terms of Endearment Nomination: Best Sound, Best Picture

Winner: Best Picture

1984 The River Nomination: Best Sound, Best Sound Effect Editing

Winner: Special Achievement - Best Sound Effect Editing

1985 Back to the Future Nomination: Best Sound, Best Sound Effect Editing

Winner: Best Sound Effect Editing

Silverado Nomination: Best Sound

1986 Children of a Lesser God Nomination: Best Picture

Heartbreak Ridge Nomination: Best Sound

Star Trek IV Nomination: Best Sound, Best Sound Effect Editing

1987 Broadcast News Nomination: Best Picture

Fatal Attraction Nomination: Best Picture

Empire of the Sun Nomination: Best Sound

Lethal Weapon Nomination: Best Sound

1988 Bird Nomination: Best Sound

Winner: Best Sound

The Accidental Tourist Nomination: Best Picture

Who Framed Roger Rabbit Nomination: Best Sound, Best Sound Effect Editing

Winner: Best Sound Effect Editing

1989 Lethal Weapon II Nomination: Best Sound, Best Sound Effect Editing

The Abyss Nomination: Best Sound

1990 Dick Tracy Nomination: Best Sound

Flatliners Nomination: Best Sound, Best Sound Effect Editing

1991 Beauty and the Beast Nomination: Best Sound, Best Picture

Prince of Tides Nomination: Best Picture

1993 A Few Good Men Nomination: Best Sound, Best Picture

The Last of the Mohicans Nomination: Best Sound

Unforgiven Nomination: Best Sound, Best Picture

Winner: Best Picture

• Voting for Nomination: With the exception of nominations for Best Picture, only those members of The Academy who are involved in that particular

branch my participate in the nomination process, i.e. only directors may nominate for Best Director, only members of the sound branch may nomi-nate

a film or individual for an Academy Award in sound, etc. Hence, within the film industry, a "Nomination" is considered recognition by other experts in that field