Lincoln

PFD’s Greg Smith was an assistant sound designer for the Steven Spielberg film Lincoln. In this video, Lincoln sound designer Ben Burtt discusses his and Greg’s work on the film.

Here is the recording of Abraham Lincoln’s pocket watch that was used in the film:

From the American University website:

Greg Smith knows what the church pew Abraham Lincoln sat in sounds like.

“It still creaks, you know,” he said, demonstrating in his chair how moving around in a pew could produce a sound.

Smith also knows what the bells of that church, St. John’s Episcopal Church, sound like, as well as one of Lincoln’s pocket watches, and the mantel clock that was in President Lincoln’s office in the White House.

As the assistant sound designer for Steven Spielberg’s new film, Lincoln, […] Smith, an AU audio technology professor, immersed himself in what present-day sounds are left from the mid-1800s.

Smith said he recorded about 50 sound effects for Lincoln, one of his favorites being the pocket watch that Lincoln carried. […]

[His] love for sounds and listening came from a very big family where everyone shouted for attention, Smith said.

“I learned early on that you learn more from listening than talking,” he said, laughing. “Sounds happen around us all the time. How can you not make a career out of that? It’s free. It’s listening.”

Read the full article here.