Roles: Sound Editor/Re-recording Mixer

Description:
Spontaneous Combustion celebrates the legacy of Barry Brickell (1935-2016) and the realisation of his extraordinary dream, Driving Creek Railway & Pottery: a productive pottery with numerous kilns, a bush railway, a native bird and bush sanctuary and a lively creative hub attracting artists from around the globe.

This film is a love-song, a paean to those things that Barry Brickell held dear: the bush, the railway, conversation, song, and art-making in all its varied practices. It reflects the sensual attachment Brickell felt to the land and human form, as expressed in the ceramic sculptures that defined his creativity.

A cinematic montage of historic stills and film from present day Driving Creek, is woven with a spirited, poetic narration by Greg O’Brien. The sumptuous soundtrack performed by Robert Oliver and the Palliser Viols with renowned taonga pūoro player, Mahina-Ina Kingi-Kaui, features compositions by Gillian Karawe Whitehead and Ross Harris.

Description from Director & Producer Bruce Foster – https://www.brucefoster.nz

Reflections:

Spontaneous Combustion stands as my first solo feature film. Playing the role of both sound editor and re-recording mixer. Through discussions with the director the goal was to keep things rather minimal, largely by supporting the film with ambiences to help it sit comfortably in a cinema surround sound, and highlight the odd SFX.

The bulk of the film revolves around a singular concert, mixed with live musical performances, poetry, and speeches, leaving the largest task of the film being controlling and balancing all of the various concert performances, as well as finding a way to keep them lively and engaging. This was achieved largely through peppering moments of more intricate sound design, like less natural panning and effects, that would cut back and forth between the largely stationary stereo centric film.