Michel Schöpping is a man both keen and qualified to wax eloquent on the subject of sound in film. Nominated for two Golden Calves* and now working almost exclusively on productions produced outside the Netherlands, the Amsterdam-based soundman points out how, for him, sound supplants image as the main carrier of emotional meaning within a film.
‘What does sound give you?’ he asks rhetorically. ‘Juxtaposition, abstraction and counterpoint. Sound is the meaning between the lines. If image is sixty per cent, then sound is sixty per cent as well. Image without sound is not film.’ Image works, he stresses, as a means to carry information, a process that our eyes and brain can adapt to at astonishing speed. ‘But the real emotion is carried almost completely by sound,’ he asserts again. ‘Sound and music, the whole aural experience. And music, with its complex rhythmical structure, can offer the most extreme capabilities of playing with time.’
Over the last four years Schöpping has worked very closely with auteurs Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, firstly on their 2006 KHADAK, which was selected for Venice 2006 and for which he won a Golden Aphrodite (Cyprus 2007) for best musical score. After this, he directed sound on the pair’s ALTIPLANO (2009) which was selected for Cannes Critics Week. ‘It was a really great experience to work with Brosens amd Woodworth,’ he comments. ‘On ALTIPLANO I was involved from the very beginning, even during research. I went with them to Peru to get an idea of the world of sound and image there, and then I continued to work on the project for almost two years. They made me their director of sound, partly composing music, overseeing design, mixing and editing. It was great. They are so much into the importance of sound in film, so I don’t have to fight for it.’ Schöpping is currently preparing sound on the pair’s SILENT SPRING, which will shoot in 2010.
Schöpping is also booked in for sound duties in (late) 2010 on THE OTHER SIDE OF SLEEP for Irish director Rebecca Daly (JOYRIDERS, 2006). ‘Actually I have never met Rebecca,’ he admits. ‘Ours has been a conversation by writing and mailing. She saw some earlier projects of mine and was really interested in my combination of sound design and music.’ In 2011 Schöpping is slated to commence sound work on SALVO by Antonio Piazzo for the Italian Cristaldi Pictures. ‘I was asked to attend a scenario workshop at the Torino Film Lab about sound in film,’ he recalls. ‘Piazzo and his friends were attending and they had a screenplay that I thought had great potential in terms of sound. Originally there was no sound in the piece at all but we had a long chat in October 2009, he sent me the new screenplay, which was really great. and I decided to work with them. They already found a Dutch co-producer (IdTV), and for me the whole project will be a huge adventure. I will meet them again in Rotterdam. They will shoot in early 2011 and I will actively commence my work on the project in September 2011.’
Of pressing concern to Schöpping is the sound work that he will commence January 2010 on Victor Kosakowski’s documentary ANTIPODAS. The film compares and contrasts the lives of people who live antipodally to each other, ie at extreme opposite points on the globe. ‘Kosakowski discovers that there are not only geographical antipodes across the world, but also psychological, cultural and economic antipodes as well,’ Schöpping stresses. ‘It really is an amazing project. He discovers a small village in Argentina that is opposite Shanghai where, in these crazy economic times, they have built the biggest river bridge ever. On the other side of the globe, back in Argentina, Kosakowski spotted a tiny bridge over a stream, run by two very old guys who have never left the place and whose only concern was to keep the bridge in order. The film is full of lovely coincidences.’
One downside of Schöpping’s decision to ply his trade on foreign shores is the increasing lack of contact with his colleagues within Dutch borders. ‘I have my contacts in The Netherlands, and I am always very politely invited to the Dutch Film Festival,’ he stresses. ‘But the more I work in international films the more I feel lost within the Dutch industry, which is too bad.’
* 2005: VOORLAND. 2007: TOUR LES LEGENDES