I’ll go ahead and admit it, I didn’t even know his name until yesterday when I saw his obituary. But when I looked at his credits, I’ve loved his work, and I think this (very well-written) obituary really nails why he is being remembered so fondly today and why he’ll be missed:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/r-i-p-cinematographer-harris-savides-1957-2012-20121011#
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what made Savides so distinct” is extremely high praise, in my book, for anyone in this business. Too many artists in his position, or similar positions, either consciously work at developing a unique style or sincerely don’t know how to do anything else and thus settle into their own style. But having your own style is a trap, and one I work hard to avoid every chance I get by questioning my instincts and constantly reminding myself that it’s the story I’m here to serve, not “my style.”
He’s quoted as saying “I don’t think you can ever make a movie that looks amazing when you’re trying to make it look amazing.” That really struck me. The same can definitely be said for sounding amazing, at least for sounding amazing in the way we like to sound amazing. We can do flashy sound design, and it’s fun, but if it doesn’t help tell the story then it’s just a distraction. If it does help tell the story, chances are it doesn’t draw much attention to itself because the audience is paying attention to the story.
And that’s what movie making is all about, isn’t it? Telling the audience a story. That’s why we often tell people who aren’t in the business that if we did our job well, they didn’t notice any of it.
