Oscar-nominated Beau Borders, also known as Robert Borders, who believes in George Lucas' saying that "Sound is 50 percent of the movie-going experience", is delighted to see how Indian filmmakers recognise this as a creative tool and has shown interest in working with Indian filmmakers.
The "Lone Survivor" sound mixer, who is nominated this year in the best sound mixing category at the 86th Academy Awards, also says he admires the work of Indian sound technician Resul Pookutty, who bagged the prestigious award for Danny Boyle's film "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2009.
"I'm a huge fan of the work that Resul Pookutty did on 'Slumdog Millionaire', as well as his other films. It's wonderful to see how Indian filmmakers value his input and recognise sound as a creative tool. I would love to come to India and collaborate on a film. It looks like such a beautiful place," Borders told IANS in an email interaction.
"Right now, I'm in the middle of working on a film that takes place in India! It's a Disney film called 'Million Dollar Arm', and the production sound quality is fantastic," he added.
His desire to work with Indian filmmakers might still be a distant dream, but he is currently delighted to be nominated for an Oscar. He is up against sound artists like Christopher Boyes, Chris Burdon and Skip Lievsay.
"Being nominated for an Academy Award is by far the greatest achievement of my life. All of the other nominees in my category are not only close friends, but they are all incredibly talented people - and it's an honour to see my name printed next to theirs," said Borders.
"You would think that there would be a sense of competition among the nominees, but it's been quite the opposite. The feeling of camaraderie has been a wonderful surprise," he added.
Explaining his experience of working with the team of this year's Oscar-nominated film "Lone Survivor", he said: "The highlight of being involved with 'Lone Survivor' was the knowledge that my team's craft of sound mixing and editing would play an integral part in the drama and reality of Marcus Luttrell and his team's horrifying experience in Afghanistan."
The Mark Wahlberg-starrer is based on a true story of a US Navys SEALs (Sea, Air and Land Teams). Wahlberg plays Luttrell, who was the lone survivor of the failed Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan. It will hit Indian theatres Feb 7.
Borders says that sound mixing is a very important part of any film.
"(US filmmaker) George Lucas once said that 'Sound is 50 percent of the movie going experience', and I believe him," noted Borders, who uses the on-set production sound for the actor's dialogue only.
"Everything else is replaced later by the sound editors, which gives us ultimate flexibility during the creation of the sound mix," he added.
Borders, who entered the film industry in mid-1990s, likes to keep himself technologically updated.
"The technology seems to be constantly evolving, and it's essential to keep up with it. I enjoy learning new tools, as well as learning 'old school' tricks and methods from my mentors. When I started in the industry we were still using actual film, so I feel that my style is a mix of old and new sensibilities," said the sound artist, who has also worked on films like "Armageddon", "X-Men" and "Transformers".
(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)
