AudioMedia - October 2008 - (Page 36)

The Conch Sound Awards The Iles Of Honour An Interview with John Iles KEVIN HILTON talks to John Iles, who received this year’s Conch Fellowship Award, about his contribution to sound for the ultimate movie-going experience. H ard to believe, perhaps, but there was a time when surround sound was not a forgone conclusion on a feature film soundtrack. Today audiences would immediately know something was missing from their movie-going experience. So John Iles receiving the UK Screen Fellowship during the Conch Awards is a fitting tribute to his efforts in establishing the various forms of multi-channel audio in the cinema during a career of over thirty years. Now retired from his position as Vice President of the cinema division of Dolby Laboratories, Iles says he was “very surprised” to be honoured at the Conchs, calling it “fantastic” and a humbling exper ience. “It’s very rewarding that all the things I did during my career have been acknowledged, but people like me don’t necessarily do the job for thanks. After all, I’m sure there are some in the business who might not have loved everything I did.” Although now heavily identified with sound for the cinema, Iles started out in a different area of audio. While training as a technical engineer Iles was also a playing in a group, like many young men in the early s. He went to London to make a record, became interested in the recording process, and got his first job in the business in , becoming Technical Engineer at Ryemuse studio in Mayfair. He soon began mixing bands as well, and was later offered the chance to work at the new recording studios of music publishers Chappell on Bond Street. During his recording career Iles worked with “many of the big names of the day”, including Cream, Sonny and Cher, French superstar Johnny Hallyday, and The Who. Iles’ colleagues at Ryemuse were not keen on working with Messrs Daltrey, Townshend, Entwhistle, and Moon because of their reputation for smashing instruments, but the young engineer says he had a “great working relationship” with them. By the mids Iles was well established, but decided to make a change and joined Dolby in as a Product Engineer for its noise reduction range. The company had been moving into film since the early ‘ s, but its movie business was still at a very early stage of development. That side of the industry was also fairly uncharted for Iles. “I had recorded film music,” he says, “but I had not mixed film soundtracks.” Despite this Iles eventually became the Dolby consultant on many films during the late s that laid the foundations for the development of audio mixing and reproduction in the cinema. “My role was to offer support for both the technical aspects, getting the best out of the system,” he explains, “and the artistic elements, helping the mixers adapt the system to assist them in achieving their creative goals.” This was not easy, he remembers. There was resistance from directors and producers worried about the additional cost of using the thennew technology, and Iles found himself fighting to get the system on big films. “The film business is conservative,” he says, “the American part of it more so than the European. But convincing the mixers was not difficult. If something is any good they will want to experiment, but the problem is that often the production schedule gets cut and there is less time to do anything new.” Iles found trying to get Dolby Stereo, the company’s first surround system, on major productions a classic “chicken and egg” situation. The breakthrough was Star Wars in , although, Iles acknowledges, this did have a slight negative side effect in making some producers regard surround as a gimmick for action films. “Many didn’t see the need for surround,” he says, “so I had to convince them of the benefits of music in stereo and enveloping the audience in the experience.” As the Dolby system developed Iles had to go through the same process of encouragement and persuasion, from four-channel A-type Dolby Stereo to SR into the digital domain. Cinema surround sound systems have appeared since the s, but in the last twenty years Dolby has faced its most serious competition. Kodak was the first on the market with a digital system, and now Dolby Digital co-exists with DTS. But along the way Iles has formed working relationships with leading re -recording mixers who have championed the general concept and Dolby’s offering in particular. Among these was G ordon McCallum, an American who worked at Pinewood studios. “He was not a young man but he would experiment,” Iles recalls. “I felt he was an artist and I was keen to work with him and others to promote the system.” McCallum mixed Superman ( ), a film Iles regards as an early example of good surround sound. “It was very exciting for its time and Dick Donner (Director Richard Donner) was very sound oriented,” he says. “That’s a big help because even if a film has a small budget its sound can be just as effective as a big blockbuster if the tracks have been well recorded, and built up well, and tastefully mixed.” John Iles has left the film post-production business at another time of great change, this time on the vision side, but from retirement he still maintains his deep interest in what is going on. “Digital cinema is bringing a lot of changes and there is the danger that standards will slip as the new technology comes in,” he says. “Digital cinema should be good for the industry but it could also not be so good. Everybody has got to keep the standards high. Going forward will be an interesting time. 36 AUDIO MEDIA OCTOBER 2008

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Audio Media - October 2008 Content Recording Post Broadcast Geofocus:�Portugal &�Spain What's Up UK IBC Report Microtech Geffel UM 930 Steinberg Cubase 4.5 ADK�Hamburg &�Vienna Final Cut: House of Fallen Lexicon PCM96 Review The Conch Awards Feature Sound Devices 788T Review Lexicon PCM96 Allen &�Heath Zed R16 Power: Fact & Fiction, PT.2 Product Sampler Plug-ins Video Guide AMSR Plasa Report Audio Technica IEM�M3 Rushes Live Mixing Techniques:�Bruce Johnston Drawmer 4x4 Kickbox

AudioMedia - October 2008

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