For a man regularly referred to as “The Angry Filmmaker,” Kelley Baker is surprisingly mild and friendly.
Baker will offer filmmaking advice and sign copies of his newest book, Survival Guide Part Two: Sound Conversations with (un)Sound People, at the Northwest Film Center tomorrow evening.
For a man regularly referred to as “The Angry Filmmaker,” Kelley Baker is surprisingly mild and friendly.
Baker will offer filmmaking advice and sign copies of his newest book, Survival Guide Part Two: Sound Conversations with (un)Sound People, at the Northwest Film Center tomorrow evening.
“Kelley Baker is an incredible asset to the Northwest filmmaking community,” said Laurel Degutis, program marketing associate at NWFC. “He’s worked with the big guys on large scale productions but still has that kind of grassroots, do-it-yourself attitude that makes movies happen without needing a big budget.”
Baker is an independent filmmaker who has written and directed three feature films, eight short films and several documentaries. His films have aired on PBS and The Learning Channel and have been shown at film festivals in London, Sydney, Annecy and Edinburgh. An established authority on sound, Kelley created the worlds we hear in six of director Gus Van Sant’s feature films.
In addition to signing books, Kelley will be presenting excerpts from his own films and those of Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles and Stephen Spielberg and will offer advice about the sound production process.
“Kelley in undeniably informative,” Degutis said. “He knows his stuff, and I’ll be surprised if there aren’t a few laughs as he gives a one-of-a-kind behind-the-scenes tour of what makes great audio.”
While speaking with the Vanguard, Baker discussed his new book and the relationship between sound and image. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Vanguard: When did you first become interested in film?
Kelley Baker: Probably back in high school, which was in the—dare I say it—1970s [laughs].
VG: Is that when you became interested in sound production as well?
KB: I first started doing sound because no one else wanted to do it [laughs]. Sound is a job that nobody wants, and when I moved back to Portland I was hired as an editor on Will Vinton’s film The Adventures of Mark Twain, which I didn’t think would be that hard. But it was a monster!
VG: Why did you decide to pursue it as a career?
KB: I started in sound and wanted to write, but really, I’m a filmmaker…who is good in sound. All filmmakers should know about sound in order to call themselves a filmmaker. And I was tired of everybody looking for me to do sound on their movies, so I thought, “If I write a book and explain this, then maybe people would read the book and know what I know and what my friends know.” Then they can do sound themselves.
VG: When did you start writing books on the subject of film?
KB: The first book [Survival Guide Part One: Making the Extreme No Budget Film] I think I wrote two years ago.
VG: Why did you start writing?
KB: I think part of being a filmmaker is also being a writer because I write my own films, too. But I have made a ton of mistakes over the years, and my approach to my books is to say, “These are the mistakes I have made; these are the things that I’ve learned.” So hopefully I’ll pass it on to other filmmakers so they won’t make those mistakes.
VG: How is your second book, Survival Guide Part Two, different from your first book?
KB: I got input from about 18 or 19 of my friends who are sound professionals, and they talk about what makes sound and how they got into the field, the worst jobs they ever had…and I try to take sounds from the very beginning, i.e. the people on location doing all the recording, all the way through to people mixing and doing the mixing and the final product. It’s also full of interviews and just helpful tips.
VG: Why is the relationship between sound and image so important?
KB: We don’t watch silent movies anymore. We’re incredibly spoiled. In silent films, we had title cards to tell us what was happening, but when you’re listening to a radio show, they create a picture in your head just with sound.
VG: I know that you have worked with Gus Van Sant—how was that?
KB:[Laughs] Fine. Gus is a good friend of mine, and I’ve done several films with him. I respect him as a filmmaker, and we’ve known each other for years and years and years.
VG: Are you excited for the May 9 book signing at Northwest Film Center?
KB: Absolutely! I think it’s funny—it’s the first book signing I’ve had in town.
VG: Are you from Portland?
KB: I am, born and raised in Portland. But I’m on the road probably anywhere from four to six months out of the year.
VG: What kinds of things will be happening at the book signing party?
KB: Well, I don’t know if it’s a party [laughs]. I’m going to be signing a lot of films and books, and I’ll be talking a lot about what other filmmakers do and give people a behind-the-scenes look at what really goes into doing sound.
Everybody thinks that all of the sound automatically comes when shooting the scenes, but it can be an incredibly difficult, interesting process: We’ve got sound and music libraries and extra sounds, and we spend an awful lot of time trying to recreate reality. The people who are involved with this kind of stuff are artists.
VG: Is there anything else you would like to add?
KB: There have been a lot of people who have helped out with the book and with the event, and I really hope people will just come out because I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.
