Episode 30: Writing Sound in the Screenplay (An Interview with Dr. Gabriel Paletz)

In this episode, Dr. Vanessa Theme Ament, author of The Foley Grail and Foley Artist on such films as Die Hard, Platoon, and Predator, speaks with Dr. Gabriel Paletz, a film teacher, scholar, and programmer at the Prague Film School in Prague, Czech Republic. Gabriel recently published an article entitled "Writing sound in the screenplay: traditions and innovations" in the journal The Soundtrack. Delving into the main theses of this article, Vanessa and Gabriel explore the many reasons why screenwriters and the most common master form of the screenplay has often overlooked or eschewed the inclusion and aesthetic elements of the film's aural and musical qualities. Furthermore, Gabriel shares how he teaches an original course called "Learning from Awful Films." Importantly, as Vanessa and Gabriel share, from both a pedagogical and practicioner's point of view, even awful films are more awful with bad sound and bad foley. This conversation makes a very powerful case for screenwriters and above the line personnel to include sound elements in the screenplay and as part of a film's pre-production. Welcome to the Wonderful World of Performative Film Sound.