Tomlinson Holman: THX Originator

Tomlinson Holman is a professor at the School of Cinema-Television andprincipal investigator at University of Southern California's IntegratedMedia Systems Center (part of the School of Engineering). He is presidentof TMH Corporation where he develops entertainment technology. He developedthe Lucasfilm THX Division's offerings-the THX Sound System formotion-picture theaters, Home THX, and the THX Laser Disc Program-and wastechnical director for the design phase of Skywalker Ranch. Holman holdssix U.S. and corresponding foreign patents, licensed by over 40 companies.He won the Samuel L. Warner Medal and the Eastman Kodak Gold Medal fromSMPTE and the 1996 Career Achievement Award from the Cinema Audio Society.He is the author of Sound for Film and Television, Focal Press, 1997.

In the next 25 years, I expect much more work to be done along the path ofmaking sound decisions possible in a wide range of listening conditionsthat translate well into the best venues: alternately the movie theater andthe home theater. I expect both traditions to be with us, since each solvesa sociological need. In the case of the movie theater, we satisfy the needfor coming together with a group of strangers with whom we share certainvalues to have the catharsis, which is so good for the soul. (Doesn'teverybody laugh at the HMO joke in As Good As It Gets?) In the other case,we continue with the stream already established by the best home theaters,cocooning with loved ones to have the experience of program material muchmore frequently than we could if we had to go out to get it. The work inwhich I am engaged attempts to portray as closely as possible the samesound experience no matter the venue, from the best motion picture and hometheaters to the desktop and even very advanced headphone listening, and Ihope that this work will see fruition in the course of time.

I also expect that the distinctions between offline and online systems willgradually disappear, as more and more functions can be provided offline andas digital prices, already dropping dramatically, make the processes betterand more available. This will lead more and more to personal filmmaking. Itis a trend of the industry going back at least to the 1930s that technicalpeople must run the complex technical processes (like sound) in thebeginning, and artistic people, supported by technical people, can takeover some years after introduction, bringing ever greater range ofexpression to bear. Whether personal filmmaking will necessarily be betterfilmmaking is a question. I remember the scene in All That Jazz wherein theexhausted director, waiting forever on the editor, says in effect, "Damnit, it's better," as being near the soul of the filmmaking process.Perhaps, without the reflecting mirror of others to look at the work,personal filmmaking only works on the level of a genius like StanleyKubrick, while the rest of us need collaborators to get along. But at leasttechnology will offer us the choice.