By Antony Teofilo
Certain veterans of the film industry possess a sort of glow. It's easy to recognize those who did it right, those who didn't sell their souls, the ones who really love getting out of bed and going to work each day. It's because they're unflappable.
On a film set, many hundreds of unforeseen problems arise every day with a regularity that is, at times, uncanny. To the unflappables, there's really never a problem worth getting upset about, because getting angry just wastes valuable time that could be spent fixing things.
Richard Murphy, is a sound guy (meaning both that he's a solid individual, and a purveyor of the aural engineering profession). He's done it all, from boom operator to utility work in a film career that spans three decades. If you're thinking about making movies your profession, you should read carefully what Murph has to say. He'll tell you some things that you won't generally hear from the more cynical film pros. He'll tell you it takes a special type to balance the crazy day-to-day eclecticism of a life in the movies with a solid family life. He'll tell you it's not easy.
But he'll tell you it can be done. Welcome to...
The Zen Of Murph
An Interview With Richard Murphy, 3rd Assistant Sound Engineer
By Antony Teofilo
Antony Teofilo: What are your duties in the sound department?
Richard Murphy: I'm the utility sound person. I'm the 'third' if you go by numbers in a three-man crew. I put wires on people, I make sure the equipment is up and running for the day, I make sure headphones and comm.devices are available. I'm sort of like the shortstop, I guess. I go wherever the ball is rolling.
AT: How long have you been in the business?
RM: Twenty-seven years.
AT: How did you get your start?
RM: You'd never believe it. I went to school to be a chemist, and I realized it wasn't really the way I wanted to go. I started tending bar, which is what I did to put myself through college. One day they made a movie outside the bar where I worked on McDougal Street in Greenwich Village. The next day I was getting coffee, and someone taught me how to do what I do. I've been doing it ever since. I got hooked. Movies came in drips and drabs. When you start, until you get into the union, you just sort of work towards it. Nepotism is a big factor in our industry. But even if you don't have family to pull you in, you can still do it without knowing anyone. God knows I did. You just have to persevere, I think.
My Main Man Murph Richard "Murph" Murphy hits takes a moment to shine during the delivery of his duties on the backlot of JERSEY GIRL.
AT: How long did it take you to finally go full time?
RM: It took me three or four years. I had a soundman who'd let me sit with him for four years. I'd carry his bags and that sort of thing. Then he said it was about time I got out on my own, and I started doing small projects, and 'no money' projects, and things for NYU film school. Horror movies were the way I went. Finally I got my break when I did a movie called FRIDAY THE 13Th parts one and two. That was my first two mixing jobs.
AT: Is a movie like that fun to make, or is it pretty grim?
RM: Well...you take a bunch of nice young kids like that out into the woods and kill 'em all, so that's kind sick [laughs], but we were all kids ourselves. That was just part of the process. Everyone was learning. They were just great learning experiences for me. I wouldn't give them up for anything. Sometimes, they're more fun because everyone wants to be there so badly, and wants to do it so badly. What you don't have in knowledge, you make it work because of your desire to do a good job. The film business, generally, is a great environment to be in. It's one of those few businesses where everyone is working at a hundred and five percent. Sometimes when you get a really special [project], like JERSEY GIRL, where the sum is greater than all the parts, you get to this place where you get more energy back than you put in. That's really the magic of the film process to me.
AT: Are there any real stinkers that come to mind, over your career?
RM: There are jobs that were tough, but I'd rather not speak of them. I think that's just part of living. If you have no rain, all you have is the desert. You have to have some bad ones so you can appreciate the good ones. JERSEY GIRL's a good one.
AT: With all that rain, working in film can be lonely. Lots of people wonder, 'If I'm going to go into film, do I ever have a hope of having a family?' Is it possible?
RM: Yes, but you really have to work at it. I've been married a very long time. I have a son who's in high school and wants to do this also. I live in upper New York State. I drive home every weekend, I get home to be with my family. You have to do that. For three years, I worked on LAW AND ORDER as the soundman, and with travel, I'd do about seventy-five to eighty hours a week. I'd go home every night, even if they were asleep when I'd leave and asleep when I'd come home. You have to make an attempt to have your presence there, or you're going to lose. There's enough failed marriages in this business to show that. I think today, people who are fortunate enough to be in businesses where they get to have a lot of creative input into what they do, they've got to put in a lot of hours. After that, it's up to you to make sure you have enough hours left to give to your family. I think some people lose sight of that and don't get home.
AT: Do you ever regret having to put in that much time?
RM: Guys on Wall Street that are working nine to five, but they're in at six in the morning looking at the paper to be up on the issues for the day. No one's giving money away in this world. This business is great because you really get to see magic get made. It's great to be a fly on the wall. You read a script, and you get a feeling for it after awhile. When an actor makes the same choice you made in your head, and suddenly there's a tear in your eye, it's amazing.
