Before this class, I had never looked up sound designer credits after watching any kind of film. I think a part of the reason is when sound is so well done it becomes hard to notice, and instead it just becomes an enhancer to visuals. However once I began looking at well known sound designers I realized that the profession is extremely male dominated. But I was able to stumble upon Lora Hirschberg, an American sound engineer who won an Academy Award for best sound in 2011.

So who is Lora Hirschberg?

“I grew up in Olmsted Falls on the West Side. At the time it was 2500/5000 people. Small town. Very rural. My high school was fantastic. Good arts, good music programs, all those things that are still important. I played in the band, made films in high school and decided right then I wanted to become a filmmaker” (Schneck, 2020). Hirschberg then enrolled at NYU’s film school due to her love of cinema. In a 2008 variety interview she says

 

“My aspirations were, like every idiot, to become a director,” she quips with a laugh. “But I learned early on that I didn’t have a good aptitude for dealing with actors.”

 

“When I went to film school, it wasn’t my idea to work on giant blockbuster movies, but I’m very grateful and happy that I get to do that,” she says. “I’m also very keen on working with independent filmmakers who are a little more on the fringes of Hollywood.” … her affection for all things mechanical pushed her into audio post… Over the years, she’s gone from the machine room to the mix stage.

 

Since her beginning in 1990, Hirschberg has worked on over 150 feature films and documentaries (Izotope). Some of her more notable films include “Mrs. Doubtfire, Titanic, Wag the Dog, The Horse Whisperer, Quills, Adaptation, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Finding Neverland, Batman Begins, The Prestige, Iron Man, and The Dark Knight” (Oscars Wiki). In addition to her mixing sound herself, she also supervises and edits sound. (Farinella, 2008)

 

Examples of her work

 

 

 

 

 

References