About the Exhibition

From narration and dialogue to sound effects and music, movie sounds are generated throughout every stage of a production. Sound designers, editors, and mixers record, layer, and create a wide assortment of sounds to enhance the visuals onscreen and heighten the viewer experience. The arrival of sound in the movies in 1927 was truly revolutionary, and the technology evolved rapidly from there. For sound recorded on set, bulky microphones that had to be cleverly hidden evolved into lightweight and mobile directional mics. Techniques for sound effects recorded in postproduction likewise expanded. Trailblazing sound technician Jack Foley pioneered so many innovative methods for creating audio effects of the everyday, such as footsteps or door closures, that today these sound creators are called Foley artists. Sound features "Boulder Roll," an 11-minute piece created for the museum by Skywalker Sound, a leading innovator in the field of sound design. "Boulder Roll" explores a range of audio tracks in a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark (USA, 1981), which won the Academy Award for Sound (Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker, Roy Charman) and received a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing (Ben Burtt, Richard L. Anderson).