Wired.com's Geeta Dayal was lucky enough to score an interview with the one and only sound master Ben Burtt where he discusses a little Star Wars, the influence of Forbidden Planet, and more. We have an excerpt for you below, but make sure to click here for the full read.
"Wired: Why was George Lucas so adamant that Star Wars not have the usual electronic sounds associated with sci-fi movies?
Ben Burtt: His idea for Star Wars, which would distinguish it in many ways from other science fiction movies, would be that it would seem like a real world. In other words, he wanted it to sound like everything truly functioned ? it wasn?t some magic behind it.
If a spaceship had a rusty door on it and you closed the door, that would be OK. Whereas much of science fiction movies prior to Star Wars tended to make it a pure electronic world where everything was either silent or a little wisp of air or a tiny feedback of some kind, electronic feedback. He didn?t want that ? he wanted it to sound like it was natural. And he was right.
Wired: What drew you to the field of sound design?
Burtt: I was always interested in creating science fiction sound effects. But obviously, my approach has always been to do some research and find out what went before me. If I?m going to do a Western, I?ll try to figure out what are all the Westerns I like; I?ll listen to the sound and figure out where I can build onto that.
When I had the opportunity to do the first Star Wars movie, I realized, here?s a film I?ve sort of wanted to do all my life ? it?s the kind of movie I enjoyed as a kid. So I drew upon the films that influenced me a lot, and Forbidden Planet was one of them."