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Gary Rydstrom | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gary Roger Rydstrom (1959-06-29)June 29, 1959 (age 66) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Sound designer Re-recording mixer Supervising sound editor Film director |
| Years active | 1984–present |
Gary Roger Rydstrom (born June 29, 1959) is an Americansound designer andfilm director. He has been nominated for twentyAcademy Awards for his work in sound for movies, and has won seven times.[1]
Rydstrom was born in Chicago, raised in Elmhurst, Illinois where he attended public school K-12, graduating in 1977 from York High School. He graduated from theUniversity of Southern CaliforniaSchool of Cinematic Arts in 1981.[2] He began his career atSkywalker Sound in Northern California in 1983, having been offered the job by a college professor, which enabled him to work with his mentor,Star Wars sound designerBen Burtt.
After gaining invaluable experience as a sound technician inIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Rydstrom went on to do sound design for the comedySpaceballs. The sound design forBackdraft was created from scratch and later served as the foundation for his work onTerminator 2: Judgment Day. The original sound effects fromBackdraft are constantly referenced and have been used for numerous other films includingThe Lord of the Rings film trilogy andShrek.[3]
He won anAcademy Award for his work onTerminator 2: Judgment Day, for which he pioneered techniques still used today for creating realistic sound effects. Rydstrom also worked withTerminator 2 directorJames Cameron on a new5.1 surround sound remix for the originalTerminator.
His sound work onJurassic Park led to further innovations, as he and his team set out to create dinosaur sounds by mixing together numerous different animal vocalizations[4] to make the audience feel as though giant bellowing prehistoric beasts surrounded them. The Academy Award-winning film was the first motion picture to be presented inDTS.[5] The T-Rex roar created by Gary was later re-used for Dim inA Bug's Life, Thanator inAvatar and the Hydra inPercy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.
He subsequently went on to work on sound for numerous films includingTitanic,Saving Private Ryan,Minority Report andFinding Nemo. He won an MPSE lifetime achievement award, and regularly speaks at various sound design forums sharing his extensive knowledge and enthusiasm with aspiring sound design artists.
He made his directorial debut with thePixar shortLifted, earning his fourteenth Academy Award nomination. It was included in theAnimation Show of Shows in 2006. His debut feature film,Newt, a story about two blue-footed newts learning to cooperate, was announced in 2008 and reportedly entered early production but was ultimately cancelled by Pixar in early 2011 due to story issues. He has also directed the Pixar shortHawaiian Vacation and theLucasfilm animated featureStrange Magic.[6][7]
Rydstrom has also served as English language director onTales From Earthsea,Arrietty,From Up on Poppy Hill, andThe Wind Rises, all of which were produced by the Japanese animation companyStudio Ghibli.
Rydstrom has been nominated for 20Academy Awards (7 wins), 12 Golden Reel Awards (5 wins), 5 C.A.S Awards (2 wins), 5 BAFTA Awards (2 wins), and 1 Grammy (1 win).
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