INTERVIEW BEN BURTT
G rowing up in a family of chosen profession of sound design. It’s a career which has seen him win Oscars for ET the Extra-Terrestrial and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , as well as two Special Achievement Awards for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and Raiders of the Lost Ark . A legend in his field, he’s been responsible for some of cinema’s most iconic audio moments, including the academics made an impact on how Ben Burtt approached his distinctive voice of R2-D2, the hum of the lightsaber and Darth Vader’s ominous breathing. He also popularised the Wilhelm scream, a sound effect he discovered in a fifties Warner Bros archive and has since woven into countless films. He has also lent his talents to films like WALL-E , as sound editor and voicing the titular character. “Both my father and grandfather were professors,” begins Burtt over Zoom, speaking from the 77th Locarno Film Festival, where he was honoured with the Vision Award Ticinomoda. “I was taught to take notes and keep lots of data in notebooks, be highly organised and keep track of what I’m doing. “I still like to make charts and list tasks for myself, putting things in priority, working out steps and deciding on a quota of material,” he continues. “If I break down a script and estimate it needs 800 sound effects, I would look at the number of days I was going to be given and could plan; ‘I’ve got to create
Oscar-winning sound designer Ben Burtt creates sonic landscapes for huge Hollywood movies like Star Wars & Indiana Jones. But sometimes, silence is the most powerful tool of all, he tells Trevor Hogg
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