It was great to be asked out to Den Norse Filmskole in Lillehammer as guest sound lecture. We focused on room calibration and alignment, whilst also covering room reverberation, acoustics and the way we perceive sound. The film school is very well equipped with a main mix stage, multiple pre-mix rooms and an in-house cinema complete with Dolby CP500 cinema processor. We encouraged the students to align their edit suites, using the JBL’s LSR4300 Control Center Software, LSR4300 system, bypassing the JBL Professional’s RMC Room Mode Correction system. We measured the room reverberation in the main mix stage, which was very well controlled and also aligned all the pre-mix room levels so they could be played directly through the cinema processor at the reference level. This really helped the students when it came to screening their end of year projects, to have the same reference in their pre-mix suits and reference cinema is what we’re always trying to aim for. Next stop, the edit suits!

We also had time to visit the local cinema in Lillehammer, Kino123 and found them very welcoming. Unfortunately the HF had not been correctly aligned, probably since installation, so all the high frequencies were missing as I entered to the edit credit music of Titanic. This was a great excersise to show the students a quick alignment and level check, putting the EQ software up on the big screen. The results were dramatic and the report back from the students the next day were very positive. Having well balance sound in the screen channels has to be a minimum for all cinemas, although you will be surprised how often this is not the case. Regular checks and alignments can really improve the experiencing of the general public at any screening venue, let alone, film students! I’ve since seen a few of the students around Scandinavia, ready and prepared for good studio monitoring.