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CIA's Phoniest Home Video (Part 2)
by BRASSCHECK.COM
Fun with sound tracks
Long ago, for six very intense and interesting months, I was a hands on, minority partner in a then struggling motion picture sound editing studio. Our offices were on the 13th floor of New York City's then decrepit Film Center building on Ninth Avenue, two blocks north of the Port Authority bus terminal
I won't mention the name of the company or my then partner because he is not only apolitical, he also finds my opinions horrifying and "negative", However, if you've ever seen "Like Water for Chocolate" (the highest grossing Spanish language film of all time) or "When We Were Kings" (Academy Award winner for Best Documentary), you know his sound editing work.
Anyway, in that brief period, I learned quite a bit about the practical details of manipulating the sound that accompanies film and video so that it seems not only plausible, but *perfect*
Here's some of the things I learned:
First, creating a movie *always* requires the meticulous, step-by-step cobbling together of audio and visual materials to create the illusion of reality.
A good percentage of this work takes place *after*the film is shot. It's called post production.
Second, sound editing (or sound manipulation) is a profession. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people all over the world who practice it every day of the week. It's no big deal. Digital tools have made it easier, but the principles have been in play since the first "talkie."
Third, every television program and motion picture you see depends of aural as well as visual manipulation. In fact - and note this well - of the two, sound manipulation is the more essential.
Here's what I mean. Have you ever seen a godzilla movie where the dubbing is off? The lips are moving, but no sound comes out and then suddenly you hear the person speak with his mouth closed. It kills the "suspension of belief" doesn't it? You're instantly reminded that you're watching a movie, a fake. On the other hand, visual blemishes are routinely overlooked by movie goers and TV watchers. Black and white, for example, does not look real, but within seconds we accept it and become engrossed in the story.
Because of this phenomenon, huge quantities of time, money and energy are spent to manipulate audio tracks (sounds effects and dialog) in the post production process so that they sound "right." It's not at all unusual that due to production problems (a plane flying overheard, a faulty microphone, a muddled line) an entire dialog track has to be re-recorded long after the movie is "in the can." This process is known as "looping" or ADR (automatic dialog replacement) and *every* film actor and film studio is familiar with it.
Any time you see a movie and are not jarred by audio discrepancies, you're experiencing a masterpiece of audio manipulation, the product of HUNDREDS of hours of minute attention to creating, modifying and matching sound to picture so that it is experienced as "real.".
Think about the number of film and TV movies you've seen. How many times have you experienced an audio error? Answer: With the exception of the godzilla flicks, never. The reason: Audio errors are intolerable and they are virtually always fixable. (Audio is far more malleable than visuals.)
Let's get practical.
If the Osama bin Laden "confession" was a faked, how would it have been done?
Before I answer, let me say that I'd love to have a copy of the video for further study. I'd ESPECIALLY love to have the very video that was purportedly found in Afghanistan. It would be pretty easy to detect manipulation of the audio track on the original. It may even be possible to do it from a copy, but the closer to the original the better.
Given that no one is going to give me the original, let me suggest how I, as a former audio manipulation professional, would have created this particular tape. I'll start with an easy method and advance to more complicated ones. However, keep in mind that nothing that I'm describing is rocket science. It is done every day in Hollywood and anywhere else where there are people who make movies for a living.
- The easy way
First: Find some footage of bin Laden. Muddy the video and darken it so it's not easy to match his lip movements with what comes out of his mouth.
Second: Muddy the audio so it cannot be heard clearly. Obscure any passages where he says things that create a context that does not support the "confession" interpretation of what he is saying.
Third: Hire friendly interpreters to create subtitles that interpret everything he says in such a way as to support the "confession" story.
Fourth: Thank Allah the whole thing is in Arabic so the intended audience won't have the faintest clue as to what he was or was not saying.
- A somewhat more involved way
First: Hire an Osama bin Laden look alike. Intelligence agencies are gifte
