Tuesday, July 4, 2017

David Yewdall obit

David Yewdall Dies: ‘The Fifth Element’ & ‘The Thing’ Sound Editor Was 66

 

 He was not on the list.


David Yewdall, a sound editor and teacher whose long career included work on such films as Escape From New York, The Thing, Twilight Zone: The Movie and The Fifth Element, has died. He was 66. His family confirmed to Deadline that Yewdall died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC.

Along with amassing more than 100 credits and being a trailblazer in “organic sound,” Yewdall was an educator and author. He wrote Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, which was published in 1999 and had a fourth edition out in 2012. Examining sound from the point of view of the key figures in the sound department, the book was described in a review by Mix Online as “a must-read for all students of sound, whether in film school, recording school or already working in the craft.” Yewdall was working on the fifth edition at the time of his death.

Born on October 30, 1950, in Springfield, Mo., Yewdall moved to California with his musical family as a young boy. His first job was as a still photographer for the Coalinga Police Department’s Homicide unit, and he later moved into making documentaries, including one on the Hopi Indians.

Lisa Yewdall, his wife of more than 30 years, told Deadline he went on to do some stunt work in the 1977 Ron Howard cars-ploitation film Grand Theft Auto but rethought that career choice after stunt coordinator Vic Rivers was killed in an accident on set. After that, Yewdall joined the Army, where he was part of the original “coed experiment” in basic training. Having joined up at age 28, he was assigned to the staff and faculty at West Point, where he was put in charge of its motion picture division. There was one problem, his wife said: The unit had been shut down the year before. He was discharged in 1979.

His big break in the movie business came courtesy of Roger Corman, who produced Yewdall’s first films, Deathsport and Piranha (both 1978). Yewdall also was the sound man for the final season of Hawaii Five-O in 1979-80. His work caught the attention of filmmaker John Carpenter, who hired Yewdall for three consecutive films he helmed — Escape From New York (1981), The Thing (1982) and Christine (1981) — along with the 1981 sequel Halloween II, which Carpenter wrote and produced.

“The Thing is arguably his masterpiece,” said Steve Lee, a longtime friend and fellow sound man, told Deadline. “All those frightening creature sounds he created are just fantastic, and just as scary today as they were when the film opened 35 years ago — almost to the week.”

Yewdall — whose wife said he always strove for “the authentic, no matter how weird it was” — went on to work on multiple films every year into the new century, with sound credits on such film as Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Moscow on the Hudson (1983), Evil Dead II (1987), Predator 2 (1990), Jingle All the Way (1996), Dante’s Peak (1997), Starship Troopers (1997), Jackie Brown (1997) and Reindeer Games (2000).

“A handy and effective sound editor for the 30 years following 1978, he also supervised crews and was a gifted designer on some of the best-sounding action and science-fiction movies of the ’80s and ’90s,” his longtime friend David Stone, an Oscar-winning sound editor, teacher and author, told Deadline. “I think his strongest tracks are on the John Carpenter movies, such as Christine and Escape from New York, the masterpiece of their collaboration being The Thing.”

Yewdall was working as a sound editor on the 1985 period drama The Aviator, for which star Christopher Reeve insisted on doing his own flying. The story goes that the film’s insurer would go along with that only if the 1920s-era biplane had a second engine installed. The task for finding one fell to Yewdall, who scoured the pre-Internet landscape for a suitable original engine for the plane. He ended up locating — and using — the motor whose serial number was 00001.

“His own sound effects library he collected over his career was just amazing,” Lee said. “When you traded sounds with him, you always felt you were getting a better deal. He had one of everything, and it was all brilliantly recorded. That was one of the keys to his great success.”

In 1988, Yewdall was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story. Around that time he was the only American to work on Talvisota (The Wionter War), an epic Finnish film that told the story of how that country fought off the Russians in late 1939. Yewdall and his wife were tasked with doing the Oscar campaign for the film.

He also taught at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem during the 2000s, with more than 30 of his students eventually joining the Motion Picture Sound Editors, including some Oscar nominees. At SXSW in March, he took part in a panel titled “VR Film Production in Extreme Environments.”

Yewdall also served on the board of Utah-based sound production company NightPro Technologies; was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — former sound editor Robert Wise signed his AMPAS certificate — and Motion Picture Sound Editors for more than 30 years; and appeared in last year’s documentary short Sounds from the Cold.

“Yewdall could be a very serious man,” Stone said. “He had a great interest in making the best recordings of vehicles and of military equipment, and he cataloged these with the precision of a museum curator. But what friends and coworkers saw around his cutting rooms and dub stages was the playful artist. Making new sounds for the imaginary worlds which audiences would inhabit was Yewdall’s profession, but he turned work into recreation, energized by his boyish enthusiasm and humor.”

Yewdall is survived by his wife Lisa, whom he married in 1984, and his mother, Mary Frances Lander. Plans for a memorial service are pending.

Sound Department

 

    Space Baby (2023)

    Space Baby

        additional sfx

        2023

    Dog Down!

        sound editor

        2013

    Nobody Loves Alice (2008)

    Nobody Loves Alice

    4.3

    Video

        sound effects editor

        2008

    Dog Days of Summer (2007)

    Dog Days of Summer

    5.6

        additional adr recordist

        2007

    Adam Carolla in The Hammer (2007)

    The Hammer

    7.1

        sound effects editor

        2007

    Lance Henriksen, Cerina Vincent, Kate Connor, Candace Raquel, and Denise Kerwin in Sasquatch Mountain (2006)

    Sasquatch Mountain

    3.8

        sound effects editor

        2006

    South of Hell (2005)

    South of Hell

    6.4

        sound effects editor

        2005

    Buddy: The Musical (2005)

    Buddy: The Musical

    8.0

    Video

        sound mixer

        2005

    R. Keith Harris in Chicks 101 (2004)

    Chicks 101

    7.1

        supervising sound editor

        2004

    Hatred of a Minute (2002)

    Hatred of a Minute

    4.0

        additional sound effects

        2002

    Divorce: The Musical (2001)

    Divorce: The Musical

    5.6

        sound designer (as David Yewdall)

        2001

    Prisoner of War

    Short

        supervising sound editor

        2001

    Terror Tract (2000)

    Terror Tract

    6.0

        sound designer: Digital Dreams Sound Studiossupervising sound editor: Digital Dreams Sound Studios

        2000

    Ali: An American Hero (2000)

    Ali: An American Hero

    5.4

    TV Movie

        sound effects editor

        2000

    Fortress 2: Re-Entry (2000)

    Fortress 2: Re-Entry

    4.5

        sound effects

        2000

    Charlize Theron and Ben Affleck in Reindeer Games (2000)

    Reindeer Games

    5.8

        sound effects editor

        2000

    Tom Berenger, Daryl Hannah, and Peter Weller in Diplomatic Siege (1999)

    Diplomatic Siege

    4.0

        sound effectssupervising sound editor

        1999

    Jerry Springer in Ringmaster (1998)

    Ringmaster

    3.4

        supervising sound editor: MPSE

        1998

    Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Ashley Edner, Cam Clarke, Robert Guillaume, Edward Hibbert, Michelle Horn, Ryan O'Donohue, Ernie Sabella, and Charity Walthrop in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)

    The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

    6.4

    Video

        sound editor

        1998

    All of It (1998)

    All of It

    6.1

        post-production sound (as David Yewdall)

        1998

    Phantoms (1998)

    Phantoms

    5.4

        sound effects editor (as David Yewdall)

        1998

    Robert De Niro, Samuel L. Jackson, Bridget Fonda, Pam Grier, Michael Keaton, and Robert Forster in Jackie Brown (1997)

    Jackie Brown

    7.5

        sound editor

        1997

    Robby Benson and Paige O'Hara in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997)

    Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas

    5.9

    Video

        sound editor (credit only)

        1997

    Dina Meyer and Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers (1997)

    Starship Troopers

    7.3

        Sound Effects Editor (as David Lewis Yedall)

        1997

    Peter Cullen, Jim Cummings, John Fiedler, Ken Sansom, and Paul Winchell in Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997)

    Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin

    7.0

    Video

        sound effects editor

        1997

    Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, and Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element (1997)

    The Fifth Element

    7.6

        sound effects editor (as David Yewdall)

        1997

    Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton in Dante's Peak (1997)

    Dante's Peak

    6.1

        sound effects editor

        1997

    Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad in Jingle All the Way (1996)

    Jingle All the Way

    5.8

        sound effects editor

        1996

    Hugh Grant and Gene Hackman in Extreme Measures (1996)

    Extreme Measures

    6.2

        sound effects editor

        1996

    Morgan Freeman and Keanu Reeves in Chain Reaction (1996)

    Chain Reaction

    5.7

        sound effects editor

        1996

    Chuck Norris and Betty in Top Dog (1995)

    Top Dog

    4.3

        supervising sound editor

        1995

    Cassidy Rae and Ethan Embry in Evolver (1995)

    Evolver

    5.5

        sound designersupervising sound editor

        1995

    Spitfire (1995)

    Spitfire

    4.7

        sound designersupervising sound editor

        1995

    Hong Kong 97 (1994)

    Hong Kong 97

    4.6

        sound designersupervising sound editor

        1994

    Bill Paxton and Rob Lowe in Frank & Jesse (1994)

    Frank & Jesse

    5.8

        supervising sound editor

        1994

    Renée Zellweger and Gil Bellows in Love and a .45 (1994)

    Love and a .45

    6.0

        supervising sound editor

        1994

    Sasha Mitchell in Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor (1994)

    Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor

    4.1

        supervising sound editor

        1994

    Blythe Danner, Frank Whaley, and Sheryl Lee in Homage (1994)

    Homage

    5.6

        supervising sound editor

        1994

    Philadelphia Experiment II (1993)

    Philadelphia Experiment II

    4.5

        supervising sound editor

        1993

    Kenn Scott, Billy Blanks, and Ken McLeod in Showdown (1993)

    Showdown

    5.2

        supervising sound editor

        1993

    Elisabeth Moss, Ellen Blain, Michael Crawford, Paige Gosney, Benji Gregory, and Ben Vereen in Once Upon a Forest (1993)

    Once Upon a Forest

    6.5

        supervising sound editor

        1993

    Melinda Clarke in Return of the Living Dead III (1993)

    Return of the Living Dead III

    5.9

        supervising sound editor

        1993

    Lance Henriksen, Kris Kristofferson, and Kathy Long in Knights (1993)

    Knights

    4.7

        co-supervising sound editor

        1993

    Teri Hatcher and Andrew Dice Clay in Brain Smasher... A Love Story (1993)

    Brain Smasher... A Love Story

    5.3

    Video

        supervising sound editor

        1993

    Cuba Gooding Jr. and Moira Kelly in Daybreak (1993)

    Daybreak

    5.0

    TV Movie

        co-supervising sound editor (as David L. Yewdall)

        1993

    Olivier Gruner in Nemesis (1992)

    Nemesis

    5.4

        supervising sound editor

        1992

    Ray Liotta and Kiefer Sutherland in Article 99 (1992)

    Article 99

    6.1

        dialogue editor

        1992

    December (1991)

    December

    5.9

        supervising sound editor

        1991

    One False Move (1991)

    One False Move

    7.1

        supervising sound editor

        1991

    Bobcat Goldthwait and Julie Brown in Shakes the Clown (1991)

    Shakes the Clown

    5.6

        supervising sound editor

        1991

    Journey of Honor (1991)

    Journey of Honor

    5.4

        sound effects editor

        1991

    Moonlight Sonata II: The Street Sweepers (1991)

    Moonlight Sonata II: The Street Sweepers

    4.6

        sound effects

        1991

    Kiljusen herrasväen uudet seikkailut (1990)

    Kiljusen herrasväen uudet seikkailut

    4.2

        sound effects editor

        1990

    Predator 2 (1990)

    Predator 2

    6.3

        sound effects editor (as David Yewdall)

        1990

    Jean-Claude Van Damme in Lionheart (1990)

    Lionheart

    6.2

        supervising sound editor

        1990

    The Winter War (1989)

    The Winter War

    7.6

        co-supervising sound editor

        1989

    Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)

    Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

    4.9

        co-supervising sound editor

        1989

    Dolph Lundgren in The Punisher (1989)

    The Punisher

    5.6

        supervising sound editor

        1989

    Andrew Stevens in Fine Gold (1989)

    Fine Gold

    5.4

        sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1989

    Purple People Eater (1988)

    Purple People Eater

    4.6

        sound designer

        1988

    Cassandra Peterson and Edie McClurg in Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)

    Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

    6.6

        sound designer

        1988

    Out of the Dark (1988)

    Out of the Dark

    5.4

        supervising sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1988

    The Perfect Match (1988)

    The Perfect Match

    4.9

        sound designer (as David Yewdall)

        1988

    Ben Cross and Nicole Fortier in The Unholy (1988)

    The Unholy

    5.1

        sound designer

        1988

    Kristy Swanson, Victoria Tennant, Ben Ryan Ganger, and Lindsay Parker in Flowers in the Attic (1987)

    Flowers in the Attic

    5.8

        sound designer

        1987

    Morgan Fairchild, Billy Dee Williams, John Beck, Joe Spinell, and Vanity in Deadly Illusion (1987)

    Deadly Illusion

    4.8

        sound

        1987

    Sister, Sister (1987)

    Sister, Sister

    5.5

        sound designer

        1987

    Bill Paxton in Near Dark (1987)

    Near Dark

    6.9

        sound designer

        1987

    Virginia Madsen in Slam Dance (1987)

    Slam Dance

    5.2

        sound designer

        1987

    Hot Pursuit (1987)

    Hot Pursuit

    5.8

        supervising sound editor

        1987

    Campus Man (1987)

    Campus Man

    4.8

        supervising sound editor

        1987

    Kay Lenz in Stripped to Kill (1987)

    Stripped to Kill

    4.9

        sound designer (as David Yewdall)

        1987

    Evil Dead II (1987)

    Evil Dead II

    7.7

        additional sound effects (as David Yewdall)

        1987

    Munchies (1987)

    Munchies

    3.9

        sound designer (as Dave Yewdall)

        1987

    A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

    A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

    6.7

        sound designer

        1987

    Hour of the Assassin (1987)

    Hour of the Assassin

    4.5

        sound designer

        1987

    Rutger Hauer in Wanted: Dead or Alive (1986)

    Wanted: Dead or Alive

    5.9

        supervising sound editor

        1986

    Suzee Slater in Sorority House Massacre (1986)

    Sorority House Massacre

    4.4

        sound designer

        1986

    James Remar in Quiet Cool (1986)

    Quiet Cool

    5.7

        sound designer

        1986

    April Fool's Day (1986)

    April Fool's Day

    6.1

        sound designer

        1986

    James Woods in Salvador (1986)

    Salvador

    7.3

        sound designersupervising sound editor

        1986

    Getting Even (1986)

    Getting Even

    4.6

        sound designer

        1986

    Uphill All the Way (1986)

    Uphill All the Way

    4.2

        sound designer

        1986

    Black Moon Rising (1986)

    Black Moon Rising

    5.5

        sound designer

        1986

    Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Ed Begley Jr., Carol Kane, Joseph Bologna, John Byner, and Teresa Ganzel in Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)

    Transylvania 6-5000

    5.0

        sound designer

        1985

    Brion James, Reed Birney, Louise Lasser, Paul L. Smith, and Sheree J. Wilson in Crimewave (1985)

    Crimewave

    5.5

        sound designer

        1985

    The Aviator (1985)

    The Aviator

    5.6

        sound effects editor

        1985

    Gimme an 'F' (1984)

    Gimme an 'F'

    4.0

        supervising sound editor

        1984

    Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Christopher Plummer, Cory 'Bumper' Yothers, Larry Cedar, Redmond Gleeson, Peter Jason, David Patrick Kelly, and Chris Mulkey in Dreamscape (1984)

    Dreamscape

    6.3

        supervising sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1984

    Nancy Allen and Michael Paré in The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

    The Philadelphia Experiment

    6.1

        sound designer

        1984

    Robin Williams, Maria Conchita Alonso, and Cleavant Derricks in Moscow on the Hudson (1984)

    Moscow on the Hudson

    6.5

        supervising sound editor: Hollywood

        1984

    Stella Stevens and Tamara Dobson in Amazons (1984)

    Amazons

    4.4

    TV Movie

        sound editor

        1984

    Christine (1983)

    Christine

    6.8

        supervising sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1983

    The Dead Zone (1983)

    The Dead Zone

    7.2

        supervising sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1983

    Flicks (1983)

    Flicks

    4.9

        sound editor (as Dave Yewdall)

        1983

    Wavelength (1983)

    Wavelength

    5.6

        supervising sound editor

        1983

    Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

    Twilight Zone: The Movie

    6.5

        supervising sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1983

    David Carradine and Chuck Norris in Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)

    Lone Wolf McQuade

    6.3

        sound effects designer (as David Yewdall)

        1983

    Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

    Halloween III: Season of the Witch

    5.2

        supervising sound editor

        1982

    The Thing (1982)

    The Thing

    8.2

        supervising sound editor

        1982

    Safari 3000 (1982)

    Safari 3000

    4.7

        supervising sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1982

    Lovely But Deadly (1981)

    Lovely But Deadly

    4.1

        supervising sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1981

    Halloween II (1981)

    Halloween II

    6.5

        supervising sound editor

        1981

    Robert Englund, Edward Albert, Bernard Behrens, Jack Blessing, Zalman King, Erin Moran, Taaffe O'Connell, and Grace Zabriskie in Galaxy of Terror (1981)

    Galaxy of Terror

    5.0

        supervising sound editor

        1981

    Smokey Bites the Dust (1981)

    Smokey Bites the Dust

    3.6

        sound effects (as David Yewdall)

        1981

    Adrienne Barbeau, Donald Pleasence, and Kurt Russell in Escape from New York (1981)

    Escape from New York

    7.1

        sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1981

    The Georgia Peaches (1980)

    The Georgia Peaches

    5.8

    TV Movie

        supervising sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1980

    Sybil Danning, George Peppard, Richard Thomas, Lara Cody, Darlanne Fluegel, Lawrence Steven Meyers, and Morgan Woodward in Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

    Battle Beyond the Stars

    5.5

        supervising sound editor

        1980

    Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

    Humanoids from the Deep

    5.7

        sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1980

    Fyre (1979)

    Fyre

    4.6

        sound effects (as Dave Yewdall)

        1979

    Richard Kiel, Tim Conway, Fred Covington, Joe Dorsey, Chuck McCann, Reni Santoni, Sonny Shroyer, and Hank Worden in They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way (1978)

    They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way

    5.1

        sound effects editor (as David Yewdall)

        1978

    The Hitter (1978)

    The Hitter

    5.5

        sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1978

    Piranha (1978)

    Piranha

    5.9

        sound effectssound effects editor (as Dave Yewdall, uncredited)

        1978

    Deathsport (1978)

    Deathsport

    4.1

        sound editor (as David Yewdall)

        1978

 

Additional Crew

 

    Out of the Wilderness (1998)

    Out of the Wilderness

    4.1

    TV Movie

        special production consultant

        1998

 

Thanks

 

    Married Young (2019)

    Married Young

    5.5

        in memory ofspecial thanks

        2019

    Hammer Jackson (2018)

    Hammer Jackson

    Short

        Dedicated to

        2018

    Sprinkles (2010)

    Sprinkles

    5.8

    Short

        thanks

        2010

    Nightlights

    Short

        special thanks

        2009

    Hey José!

    Short

        special thanks

        2008

    The Sheriff

    Short

        special thanks

        2007

    Bruce Campbell in My Name Is Bruce (2007)

    My Name Is Bruce

    6.1

        special thanks (as David Yewdall)

        2007

    The Dog Days of Summer

    4.7

    Short

        special thanks

        2004

    Fallout (2003)

    Fallout

    7.6

    Short

        special thanks

        2003

 

Self

 

    Sounds from the Cold (2016)

    Sounds from the Cold

    6.9

    Video

        Self

        2016

    Jussi-juhlat

    TV Special

        Self (as David Yewdall, credit only)

        1990

 

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