I did Usual Suspects as well. And a few pictures with Morgan Freeman. Even some others with Brad Pitt.
What I am, or was, rather, is what’s called a re-recording mixer. I sat in a very large mixing room (think movie theatre without the seats) with a console about one-third of the way back from the screen. Kinda like this -
and me, in a very old photo -
Can you imagine how much more simplified that work is now, with sophisticated audio control equipment and software? I really don’t know how you guys managed all of those rows of tiny levers, and knew how to attenuate frequencies to get the right auditory balance. But it also must’ve been a lot of fun. What you were able to do then, no one else could do without investing huge sums in the proper equipment.
If you were still working in the industry, what were some other movies that you would’ve wanted to work on as an audio engineer?
Hey Gary!
It is indeed stratospherically more sophisticated. Huge sums were spent in those days. My stage was built at well over $1Million and that was 1982 dollars. Now kids can do film mixes in their garages (and they do!).
I’m done with that life and there’s nothing that really lights my fire these days. The whole MCU and the like are monumentally complex, with very long hours spent mixing, and at extremely high decibels. Nope, not gonna go back.
But hey, these make great pencil holders -
Not sure we’ll see a bigger flex in here than this 
Not flexing, just showing you a pencil holder. Simple.
Perfect for that TOMBOW Zoom V472. 
Exactly
Definitely an Oscar-worthy pencil (or a Titan-worthy Oscar).
I read some interesting stories about the notebooks used for the opening sequence in Se7en, how they were designed and put together, and filmed while being put together: great example of artisanal work perfectly suiting the mood of the overall movie — and great movie overall!
This reminds me of Kevin Spacey’s in “SE7EN”
Edit: I wrote this before I scrolled down and learned the ruse….
This is the ONLY place where the “flex” of this picture is the pencil 
When I saw the photo I didn’t know which flex was bigger lol
This is my contribution to the thread:
In an endless effort to find the perfect pencil, here is what I do: I write the same standard, all-letter sentence over and over again, looking for the perfect feel. Some might say this is a form of meditation, and when the pencil is the right one, I could concur. Once the pencil has a place in my “good stuff” bucket, I start writing things which make sense with it.
Also, this is a great excuse to see where I can improve with my handwriting: in recent years, I’ve tried to work on my cursive lowercase “z”'s and lowercase “r”'s, as I’ve become aware that they did not look as I originally learnt them — in my elementary school, from a nun who was deadly serious about handwriting and calligraphy. I don’t think I have a very nice handwriting, but I find it fun that the way I write has remained practically unchanged since I was ten or eight.
Nowadays, when I have to jot down something — like the minutes of a meeting — I typically alternate between the type of cursive you can see here, and some form of “rounded/slanted” block letters without connection between one another, which is slightly clearer for a quick review on the fly. If I have to put my thoughts onto paper, the cursive is usually the main choice, whereas when it comes to key concepts on a mind map, block letters are the way.
Fun fact: when I grade my students’ tests, all my corrections and critical remarks are written in cursive, either in red (something was wrong) or in green (something was particularly good); I’m now afraid a large majority of my pupils do not understand my cursive — most of them have a terrible/awful/incomprehensible calligraphy, and only very few of them try to use the cursive hand — and hence all my efforts to show them what is wrong with their work are wasted. Ok, this does not look fun at all… 
I actually think it’s a good idea. It pushes them to expand their writing recognition skills. And it doesn’t take long to get the hang of someone’s writing style.
Case in point, my stepfather had atrocious handwriting. I mean… you really had to struggle to make out what he wrote. To visually describe it, it’s like some letters “melted.” When he’d sign his name, his last name past the 3rd letter was like the profile of a sand dune. Sentence structure helps, of course. As a sentence is constructed, there are certain expectations of preposition, verb, adjective, adverb, noun, and pronoun placement… plus there’s context, which helps as well.
Anyway, in time I came to recognize his handwriting so well that I could read like 95% of it. It actually helped me to read other people’s bad penmanship. Btw Leonov, I like your cursive and it’s 100% legible to me!
This is what I hope. In the end, one of us will have to surrender, and adapt. I’m not ready yet to raise a white flag, so I keep fighting. 
Thanks @cytherian !
How did that pilot feel for writing?
my handwriting is horrible, so horrible in fact i am ashamed anytime i have to sign something like a document or fill out a form
Just saw this… This is the first “proof” of a lie on the internet!
CAUTION: THEY ARE NOT; I AM!
Ps: joking aside, wel written 
