Video Analysis 2

For the purpose of this Analysis I picked the classic TV show Seinfeld. Since it was such a large scale show, and in my opinion the best non-animated show of all time, I knew there had to be a lot of people behind the curtain and I was right. With over 20 plus personel in the sound department you can tell Seinfeld took great pride in its audio component.


From the episode "The Pick": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRhOIkYxUIE

Scene One 
0:01 - 0:03 Crazy slap bass solo that I still can't play
0:04 George Dialogue 
0:06 Laugh Track
0:06 Jerry Dialogue 
0:09 Newspaper turns page sound effect
0:10 Laugh Track
0:14 George Slams Table
0:19 Laugh Track
0:20 Elaine speaks from outside the room 
0:21 George Dialogue 
0:22 Laugh Track
0:23 George Dialogue 
0:25 George snaps fingers
0:30 George Dialogue 
0:35 Laugh Track
0:43 Sofa Thud as George sits down
0:50 Jerry's spoon taps his cereal bowl
0:57 Georges slides out antena of old school style chord-less phone
0:58 Jerry's spoon SFX again

Scene Two 
4:00 Kramer Dialogue 
4:01 Handheld vacum SFX
4:04 Jerry Shuts door
4:05 Jerry Dialogue 
4:09 Kramer from his apartment yells "The Beach!!!" -great job by doing this, really gives a feeling of realism and space that Kramer is all the way in his apartment as it is slightly muffled.
4:10 Woman Dialogue 
4:11 Laugh Track 
4:19 Kramer woah noise 
4:20 Laugh Track 
4:24 Kramer Slaps the page
4:29 Kramer tares page out
4:30 Slap Bass solo in between scenes
4:32 Therapist dialogue 
4:34 George dialogue 
4:38 Both sit down on separate sofas
4:50 George fumbles around with his zipper on his jacket makes a rustling noise
4:51 George dialogue 
4:59 Laugh Track 

People obviously credit Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld for the beauty of Seinfeld, but I believe it was those in the smaller roles that made this show brillant. People often overlook the importance of sound even in a sitcom. The emphasize in some sounds such as Jerry's spoon hitting the bowl really make you feel as if you are in the room with them. These sounds make the show apear to be real life and they are never distracting or take away from the main focus of the scene. The laugh tracks are often criticizes as being cheesy but I think they are mixed so well that most people don't even notice over the sound of there own laughter. I believe Charlie McDaniel and Craig Porter have done an outstanding job bringing Seinfeld to life thru sound.




Here is a list of the major contributors in the Sound Department:

Dennis Kirkpatrick	....	boom operator (166 episodes, 1991-1998)
Charlie McDaniel	....	post-production sound mixer / sound re-recording mixer (132 episodes, 1992-1998)
Craig Porter	....	post-production sound mixer / sound re-recording mixer (114 episodes, 1992-1998)
Pete San Filipo Sr.	....	sound mixer / production sound mixer (110 episodes, 1991-1996)
Norman Webster	....	sound mixer / production sound mixer (58 episodes, 1991-1998)
Larry Ellena	....	sound recordist (22 episodes, 1991-1996)
Kathy Oldham	....	sound re-recording mixer (21 episodes, 1996-1998)