Benjy Sarlin explains why Mitt Romney and all of his campaigns of the last decade have been so intent on making 1999 the end of his tenure at Bain.
In today’s brutal new Obama ad, they monkey with the audio of Mitt’s singing to give it that echo-y, tinny yet very foreboding sound reminiscent to me of the announcer in LBJ’s “Daisy” ad in 1964. It’s almost like a vibrato. Is there a term for this among audio engineers?
In a strictly technical sense, this sounds for all the world like a non-military coup — although if we’re being technical about it, I suppose they would say the real coup happened back in the 1870s, and this is merely a restoration of the rightful government. Or maybe the better historical parallel are the Avignon antipopes? Yeah, I’m overthinking it.
Earlier I asked for expert input on the audio effects the new Obama ad uses to give Mitt’s voice a creepy, foreboding quality as he sings “America the Beautiful.” Knowledgeable TPM readers were quick to respond, including a longtime reader who works in film:
I’m not an audio engineer but a movie director. But I can tell you that they are using reverb and echo and ambience tracks (creating the spacial feeling of open air, closed offices, factory floor, etc) and “PA” and “Speakerphone” filters to alter the tonality of his singing track with each environment change in the video. I find the spot very effective in exactly the way you guys have defined “bitch slap” politics. More than the issues it presents, it is a searing and humiliating portrait of Thurston Howell from Gilligan’s Island running for president.
A more extended dissection of the audio techniques in the new Obama ad, from TPM Reader WB: Read More
More from TPM Reader JH:
Please forgive me persisting about this, but again, as a professional sound guy, I’m really gratified that people suddenly have a lot to say about what I do for a living and have so many insightful observations.
I spent some time yesterday drilling down on the audio engineering of the new Obama ad that everyone is talking about (here, here, and here) because I was interested in the technical aspects and, frankly, have zero personal knowledge on the topic.
But I want to pull back from that discussion of the nuts and bolts to focus on a larger point about the ad that emerged in emails I exchanged with readers who are in the film biz: This ad has far and away better production values than most political ads. It really sets itself apart.
But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what a couple of directors I was talking to had to say about it: Read More
Defending Mitt Romney this morning, Romney advisor Ed Gillespie said John Kerry had similarly released only 2 years of tax returns. Actually, he released 20 years.