INNOVA SON DIGITAL
CONSOLE HELPS E.T. PHONE HOME!
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Lyle Dick, Delicate
Productions (seated), with Russell Allen, Dolby Laboratories (standing)
at the Innova SON Sensory Grand Live digital console used at the FOH
position for the 20th anniversary re-release of "E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial" held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: An Innova SON Sensory
GRAND Live digital console was front and center at a recent gala movie
premiere of the 20th anniversary re-release of "E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial" held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
The film, restored by director Stephen Spielberg, includes previously
unseen footage and digitally enhanced scenes plus a re-mastered
soundtrack, but making the premiere all the more special, Oscar-winning
composer John Williams conducted the entire orchestral score live at the
event.
For Lyle Dick, engineer/system designer at Delicate Productions
(Camarillo, California), the sound company contracted to install a
temporary theatrical-style 5.1 sound system for the screening, the
Innova SON was the only choice for a number of reasons: "Isolation,
linkability, ease of installation and just the overall integrity of the
product."
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With redundancy a key issue, the complex setup, overseen
by Russell Allen, exhibitor support manager for Dolby Laboratories, involved a
primary and backup projector, each running a Dolby Digital film print, with the
composite 5.1 music, dialogue and effects tracks available for backup. The
prints also provided synchronization for the main and redundant soundtrack
systems.
The primary six-track dialogue and effects stems came off a mag machine, while a
pair of Tascam MMR-8 digital recorders in sync with each projector offered
additional backup of the music, dialogue and effects stems. At the Innova SON,
Andy Nelson, an Oscar-winning film re-recording mixer and VP of recording
services at FOX Studios, blended the 5.1 mag tracks with the six-channel live
orchestra mix, which was created backstage by veteran film scoring mixer Shawn
Murphy.
"Using the Innova SON allowed us to put two Stage Boxes in the projection
booth, so that if one was to fail, all we had to do was hit a switch and the
second one was online," continues Dick. The Innova SON Stage Box audio rack
comprises XLR connectors, converters and preamplifiers with remote control of
48V and phase, and for the Grand Live offers 48 mic/line inputs - exactly the
number required at the event.
Obviating the need for bulky analog multi-pair cabling, each Stage Box connects
to the console through a pair of 75-Ohm coaxial cables. "That was an
attraction," says Dick, "plus, it gave us total separation
electrically between all those devices and the outside world, so we had no issue
with noise or having to spend hours tracking down ground loops."
"Having the Innova SON front-of-house," continues Dick, "allowed
us to remove all output drive racks. We had quite a complex loudspeaker system
and we didn't have to try to jam racks of EQ and delay up in the booth. And with
the mix position being on the front edge of the balcony it was much easier to
put in a 115 pound surface than a 750 pound surface."
With a total of eight sets of six-channel stems feeding the Innova SON, Nelson
observes that the console offered total control not only of the live mix but
also the redundant tracks. "I did a very minor EQ shift into the dialogue
areas just to try and get a little bit of the upper-mid range out. A big feature
of the Innova SON that I loved was that we were able to group all the lefts
together, all the centers and all the rights, under the EQ. So when I did my
trim to the center dialogue channel it took it out of all the backup tracks,
too."
Allen observes that, on the night, Nelson was more than up to the challenge.
"Stephen Spielberg was just gushing on how well the balance was between the
orchestra and the dialogue and effects," he reports.
Article from Prosoundweb.com