But something has driven Richard Portman, one of Hollywood's best and most
respected sound mixers, out of the business and into a teaching position at the
Florida State University Film School.By A. D. Welch
Special to the Florida State Times
He won an academy award for his work on The Deer Hunter. Eleven times he has been nominated for the prestigious award. On hundreds of films, you've heard his work.
But something has driven Richard Portman, one of Hollywood's best and most
respected sound mixers, out of the business and into a teaching position at the
Florida State University Film School.
Hollywood. "They've driven me out," says Portman, who has retired at age 61. "I cannot practice my craft. It's like we're working on a house, and they want the roof before I put in the foundation."
Uncompromising, Portman sees his work as an art form. When it's practiced perfectly, movie viewers don't notice anything. The footsteps on the sidewalk, the cars going by, the slight rustle of leaves all meld together to make the world sound right. Portman's work is mood and tone, and he says that is lost on too many of the people making pictures these days.
Over 38 years, he has put in more than 91,000 hours on his many films, including Harold and Maude, Little Big Man, The Godfather, Young Frankenstein, Body Heat, On Golden Pond, Carnal Knowledge, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, and Dolores Claiborne.
Portman says he has tired of the frustration borne from seeing his standards, which used to be the standards of the industry, trampled on by movie makers. As a re-recording mixer, he took his directions from people who had little idea what his job was.
"In 97 percent of the movies I've worked on over the last few years, I've had to make them too loud," Portman said. "To them, loud is good. To me, it's lousy."
Portman, whose father recorded the first "all-talking" movie in France in 1927, is wounded by the way things are done today.
"You're already hearing the difference," he said. "You can't hear the dialogue. And if you can't hear the dialogue, if it's just loud and obnoxious, why go to the movie? Get yourself a good novel... People keep giving me lumber to finish, and it's warped and full of knots."
Portman says he needs to be involved in the beginning of a film and follow it through to the end. But Hollywood doesn't do it that way anymore. By the time sound reaches him, it's usually filled with too many mistakes to overcome, he says. Mood is disregarded, and some things just don't make sense.
"I haven't talked to a production mixer (the person who records the sounds in the early stages of making a movie) in a face-to-face conversation in 15 years," he said. "I have no control over the soundtrack."
But Portman has a plan. If you can't beat `em, get to the next generation. Through his teaching, Portman hopes to give his craft a fighting chance.
"The only place where I can go back and show people how it's done from microphone to loudspeaker is at the university," Portman said.
"I want to teach an appreciation of sound as an art form, being an honest workman and being an ethical being," he said. "A lot of people know nothing about the business they want to get into. I want to show them what actually is going on, so that they're prepared to face what they'll be coming into. I've forgotten more than I can remember, and I'd love to show the tricks of the trade to someone who's really interested."
The thought of Portman teaching at FSU sends Film School Dean Ray Fielding into a maniacal laugh of triumph. He thinks he's pulled off a coup. Actually, Portman, who has friends in Tallahassee, wrote to Fielding and expressed a desire to come to FSU.
"It creates for us overnight what I would say is the strongest sound department in any film school in the country," Fielding said. "I can't think of any school that matches that kind of talent."
Portman, who teaches graduate and undergraduate classes, is on a year-long contract, but says he wants to continue teaching at FSU. He said Florida has committed itself to establishing a film industry, so FSU is a logical place for him.
Trying to shape the industry's future, Portman recalled the past, in the early 1970s, when sound mixers were still included in the credits in the beginning of the movie.
"That was the beginning of the end," he said. "Then the know-nothings came in; they put us to the rear with the caterers and truck drivers."
Portman's passion has carried him through four decades. Now his hope is that the passion can be spread to his students.