FXF0206 SOUND EDITOR, DAN SABLE: WORKING WITH WOODY ALLEN AND BRIAN DEPALMA

In Brian DePalma’s 1981 film Blow Out, the main character is a sound effects specialist who accidentally records a murder while collecting night sounds for his effects library. The inspiration for this character was Dan Sable, a New York-based sound editor and a collaborator of DePalma’s on nine of his films including, Carrie, Dressed to Kill and Blow Out. Dan Sable built a career as a sound editor working on films such as Annie Hall and Manhattan and multiple films with Woody Allen. Other directors with whom he collaborated include Bob Fosse, Volker Schlorndorff, Ron Howard and Jonathan Demme.

This interview was recorded in Dan Sable’s home by Ira Spiegel and Shari Johanson for Frame By Frame and may be included in a forthcoming documentary on the new York Post Facility Sound One. Here, Dan talks about how he got his start in the film business, specifically in working with filmmaker Brian DePalma, how he successfully transitioned from working in analog and adapted to the tools of the digital era. He begins by discussing the difference between taking on the position of sound editor versus sound supervisor