Who Is Ron Bartlett? Wiki, Sound Mixer, Net Worth, 'Blade Runner 2049' & Facts To Know

A movie is nothing without some special effects. You wouldn’t want to sit and watch a movie where the actors are just speaking, fighting and moving as if it’s a play at the theatre. That’s where a sound mixer comes in. One of the most known sound mixers is Ron Bartlett. Bartlett was nominated for an Oscar for the film, “Life of Pi” in 2013. This year, Bartlett was nominated for the Oscar 2018 for the movie, “Blade Runner 2049.” Other projects that Bartlett has worked on are “Hard Four,” “Muzzle Brake,” and “Gunsmith.” Ron has made most of his net worth from being a sound mixer. He should perhaps open an Instagram account to showcase his skill. Ron Bartlett was signed by the sound postproduction company, Formosa Group, alongside Doug Hemphill. They have been working together since the 80s, have been nominated severally and won numerous awards. Bartlett began working at the company as a sound editorial and climbed her to his current status, sound mixer. He is now one of the most recognized mixers in Hollywood. Apart from sound mixing, Bartlett is a musician and composer. It seems he has a lot of channels for trapping his net worth. Art pays that’s for sure.

The musical burring of the sound in “Blade Runner 2049,” carries both emotional and atmospheric weight, courtesy of the sound mixer, Ron Bartlett. The whole motive is to bring out the ‘more human than human’ narrative. The sound works well to immerse the viewers in war and dystopia. In the end, though, it makes no sense if you can’t differentiate sound from music as they all bring the same feeling. If you do, what you have heard is an aspect of sound mixing. Bartlett and Hemphill were the ones deciding where there would be an acoustic recording or none and other effects. It was a matter of either sound or score. Bartlett stated that if sound effects scored, they would lay off the music. If it was vice versa, they would balance the sound effects. They blended sound effects with music in the entire film. The mixers intended to use the sonic Easter Eggs from “Blade Runner,” but some legal issues arose. They settled with Vangelis’ dramatic drum hit. Bartlett stated that he was a drummer and a percussionist since he was five and so he went home and worked at his studio. He recorded all the drums, layered them up and made some fantastic bass drum hits. He started to replace them all on the entire film.

For Bartlett sound is more important than the picture and he deals with emotion a lot. His goal is to summon the emotion without calling attention. For instance, he said that there was time he felt like getting into someone’s head to understand what they were thinking and understand their feeling. So he takes away lots of sounds because he wants to invoke the emotion and strip out a lot of things very stealthily. Bartlett recalled being told by a director that the more he put into the big sequence in a film, the smaller it sounded. He reminded him that he was making an impression and it didn’t necessarily have to contain detail. It only had to contain a ball of energy. Bartlett thinks of mixing like a composition. While Hemphill handles sound effects, Bartlett is responsible for music and dialogue effects.

Bartlett said that people first should know what he does. Just like the, he is an audience of the films, and the only ability they have is to bring the audience sensibilities in them to the mix. He also said that the only difference between the movies was the crews. They varied in personalities and skillsets. The crew was a great group of guys that got together and made “Blade Runner 2049” a great movie. The crew in “Hard Four,” “Muzzle Brake,” and “Gunsmith” were different, but for him, it was still the same work as usual.

Some people wonder how Bartlett prioritizes sound in this environment. He stated that some sounds are ambient in their feel while others are more pointed. He gets the focus from them because they are vital to the plot. He usually racks focus on things so that he moves through a movie scene to feel the sounds come closer and clearer while others become an ambient feel in the back while it pans out. It’s tapestry, and there are choices to propel the story.

He believes the sound is a vital part of the film that helps to tell a story. It is not different from telling stories around a campfire with wood burning and making sounds. He must bring the film with emotional content. Bartlett goal is to make the audience feel the character as well.

Ron Bartlett has a net worth of $1.1 million according to Biography Net Worth. He has made his net worth from being a sound mixer and a musician.

We hope that Bartlett will win the Oscar 2018. You can also show support by following him on Twitter. He is not on Instagram though.