Sound Operator vs. Creative Audio Director
The lecture first outlines the current state of workflows for film sound, primarily in German cinema and TV productions. The current situation is characterised by an understanding that sound operators in production and post-production are seen as technical employees, and in part also see themselves as such, who deliver sound layouts set by directors and editors technically cleanly edited "in beautiful" to the mix. These sound technicians are not seen as creatives, let alone as co-authors on a par with writers, directors or editors. If, however, there were again the position of a sound director, comparable to a director of photography, producers and directors would have a co-author for sound in the team, who would in turn be the head of a whole team of sound crafts. Incidentally, the position of an audio director existed in US film in the 1940s and still exists in Indian film today. Current agile teamwork models (e.g. Scrum or Design Thinking) - especially in the development of software or complex game projects - are models of modern collaboration for film sound that creatively bundle the swarm intelligence of specialists. It is high time to discuss these forms of collaboration, such as the way to lead such teams and to be interlocutors at eye level with script, direction and editing, as the profession of sound operator will become largely redundant in the foreseeable future due to automation.
Lecture by Prof. J.U. Lensing, Wednesday, 19 February 2022 in the FB-Design lecture theatre (and online via Webex-Stream)

Biography

Prof. Jörg U. Lensing
Born in Düsseldorf in 1960. Grew up in the south of Düsseldorf as the son of a craftsman and a cartographer. 1975 discovery of creativity with his first music teacher Frank Köllges (drumset). 80s studies composition/electronic music at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen (Prof. Hufschmidt & Prof. Reith) and then master student of New Music Theatre (with Mauricio Kagel - Musikhochschule Köln). 1987 Founded the Düsseldorf THEATER DER KLÄNGE, of which he is still artistic director. 1993 Theatre lecturer (1st international stage class) at the Bauhaus Dessau. Since 1996 professor of sound design at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Married to the dancer/choreographer Jacqueline Fischer (2 children together).
Website: www.film-sound-design.de