5.24.2004

Interview with David Esparza

We caught up with David Esparza, the Sound Designer for the Director's Cut of Donnie Darko, for a few questions. David has already been recognized in his field, having been nominated for two Emmy Awards (winning one) and 5 MPSE Golden Reel Awards (winning one). He was nice enough to take some time and talk to us about working with Richard and the Director's Cut of Donnie Darko. — Number_5

R-K.net: How did you first meet up with Richard and get involved with Donnie Darko? Are you from Los Angeles, and if not, how long have you been there and working in the movie industry?

David: I first met Richard at Wilshire Stages back in Dec 2000 when DARKO was being cut and mixed for Sundance.  I wasn't officially working on his film, but knew of him from his cousin Dee, whom I met while attending the University of Texas.  I ended up renting a house with Dee in Los Angeles and would run into Richard now and again.  I am originally from Northern California Bay Area, and have lived in Los Angeles and worked in the film industry for about 4 years now.

R-K.net: What exactly was your role as Sound Designer? For people that aren't in the industry, what does that encompass?

David: Sound Designer is a tricky term that can have many definitions.  To some it is the person that comes up with cool sound effects, and to others it is the person that creates and oversees the role that sound plays in the film. Whether creating new effects or using natural recorded material, the sound designer finds sounds with character that can convey the mood or impact the director would like in his/her scene or film.  Officially the person with this job most often will be credited as the Sound Supervisor.  My role as the Sound Designer for the Director's Cut entailed pretty much entailed the descriptions above.

R-K.net: Were you involved in the theatrical cut of Donnie Darko, or did you come in for the Director's Cut after the original had been released?

David: I worked on the Sundance cut in a minor way, digitizing picture and laybacks, and was uncredited.  I become better acquainted with Richard, Sam, and Sean over the next couple years.  When the Director's Cut was getting the go ahead, they asked me to be a part of it.  The original sound designer, Mike Payne (a good friend of mine), was insanely busy on Michael Mann's Collateral, so I ended up taking the driver's seat.

R-K.net: Richard has commented in several interviews that the new sound in the Director's Cut is fantastic. We are assuming you had a lot to do with that. Can you go into any specifics about what improvements were made? Were some sounds recorded again, or were they just mixed differently? Did you record some new sounds that were never part of the theatrical cut? How involved is Richard in the process?

David: We actually did quite a bit of work to the film.  There is a significant amount of new sound design and we got rid of a good amount of ADR, returning to the production dialog tracks (which are more natural and capture a better performance from the actors).  Even sound design areas that we didn't change the original effects got remixed, and sound much better and have more impact.  The mixers, Chris David and Terry Rodman, did an amazing job.  The film is now much more dynamic and adventurous.  Richard was very involved nearly every step of the way.  He really likes experimenting with all the possibilities that sound can bring to a film, but he also had a pretty good idea of where he wanted to take the film sonically.  I think it helped that he had 3 years to agonize over all the details of the first mix that he was unhappy with. The Director's Cut to me is a very different film yet it is still the Donnie Darko we know and love, and I am pleased by the work we got done (especially in the amount of time we had to do it).  Big thanks to my sound crew for really coming through.

R-K.net: Are you involved in mixing any of the new music in the Director's Cut?

David: There is a new sound design/musical pad drone motif in the Director's Cut that I created and in some places the new design plays almost like score, but other than that, I didn't have much to do with the music in the film.  I do not know who mixed the original recordings of all the tracks in the film, but Chris David mixed all the music tracks to picture.

R-K.net: We understand you know the actor who played the ticket taker in the theater scene in Donnie Darko. Have you ever been moved more by a performance? Do you think he'll be typecast as a "two dollars" guy like the kid from "Better Off Dead" ("I want my two dollars!")?

David: Yes, it is true.  I do personally know the ticket taker, but I can't get you an autograph.  He doesn't do them anymore ever since he had to start traveling incognito.  To this day, his performance is more realistic and enthralling than any ticket taker I have seen on film or in real life.  It would be typical for people to try to box him into a certain role, but I think eventually he will be a household name and the ticket taker role will become trivia fodder.  (The "I want my two dollars" paperboy rocks!)

R-K.net: Any chance you will be working with Richard in the future on some of his other projects? Are you part of some other projects that are trying to get off the ground?

David: Nothing is official yet, but I would love to work with Richard again.  The Director's Cut was a lot of fun and DARKO is such a fantastic film, and Richard takes a real interest in how the sound works in his films.  I have read a few of his other scripts as well, and all I can say is I really hope I get the opportunity to work on future Richard Kelly films.  By the time I am brought on to most films, they are already off the ground and sometimes even already shot.  There is one project that I am helping to get off the ground.  A top-secret puppet film...can't really say too much about it though now.

R-K.net: Anything else you would like to add?

David: Sound in film is often an overlooked, misunderstood, and under funded aspect of the industry.  It also happens to be one of the most important.  Sound is the glue that holds together the illusion of reality or the world of the film. Most of the time when it is done right, you don't notice it.  The sound becomes one with the image.  For anyone interested in the mysterious world of sound for film, www.filmsound.org, is a fantastic resource for the novice or even a seasoned sound designer.

R-K.net: David, thanks so much for your time and good luck with your future projects. Hopefully viewers will remember your hard work when their eardrums bleed (in a good "Spinal Tap" sort of way) while watching the Director's Cut.