Indiana Jones IMAX Interview: Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren

In anticipation of Raiders of the Lost Ark returning to select IMAX theaters, we sat down with two legends of the franchise. Sound designer Ben Burtt and visual effects director Dennis Muren shared behind-the-scenes secrets at Skywalker Ranch. Their insights arrive just ahead of the Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Blu-ray release.

ShowBizCafe: When you see the films, are there any memories that come to mind from when you made them?

Dennis Muren: The Temple of Doom has some really memorable moments, like the mine car chase. We couldn’t get the shots for real, so we used miniature sets and Nikon still cameras that could fit through the tunnels. This saved money, which was vital because we always worked within very tight budgets.

I also got to act in Raiders of the Lost Ark as the spy on the airplane reading Life magazine in front of Harrison Ford. It was a strange experience going from behind the scenes to being in front of the camera with Steven Spielberg. Being on set with Harrison while shifting roles was a pretty neat experience.

Ben Burtt: We often went on expeditions to gather unique sounds. For the mine car chase, we went to Disneyland at night to record the roller coasters. We turned the lights on in Space Mountain, turned the music off, and recorded the cars squealing around corners to get that authentic clattering sound.

For Raiders of the Lost Ark, we used the canyon right here at Skywalker Ranch for gunshots because the acoustics provided a wonderful slap-back echo. Gary Summers recorded the whip cracks on the road nearby. Everything in these movies is exaggerated, so we used high-power rifles to get that larger-than-life sound.

SBC: During the restoration, was there ever a talk about bringing in new sound?

BB: There was never a talk about changing the effects at all. It is very difficult to modernize a movie with effects that wouldn’t have existed at the time. However, we did expand the use of the surround tracks because that technology is available to us now.

I fortunately saved the original stereo recordings from 1981 and matched them to the original release. I did add some content, like missing body hits in a fight scene, but I took them from the same original library. I wanted to ensure the new audio stayed within the same fabric as the original mix.

SBC: How do you think the images of the past hold up to today’s standards?

DM: I think the old images hold up very well. There is a reality in them that overcomes any technical problems we had in those days. It gives the film a “hand-feel” look that fits the material and the rest of the movie perfectly.

The effects supplement the hyper-adventure that George Lucas and Spielberg wanted to create. We aimed for an experience that went beyond the reality of the James Bond movies of that era. The effects only came in when we needed to do things that simply couldn’t be done for real.

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Fans of the series can also check out our look at Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures or see if Indiana Jones 5 is finally on the way.