A COLLABORATIVE POST WITH INTRODUCTION BY JACOB COOK
ASSISTANT EDITOR, BOOM BOX POST
Last week we introduced the first of our fantastic new interns: Ian Howard. This week we check in with the other: Ruben Infante. Ruben attended Full Sail University, and recently worked as a Lead Stage Manager for NASA. We're thrilled to have him with us, and excited to hear about his unique perspective on sound and learning.
WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND IN SOUND, PRIOR TO JOINING BBP AS AN INTERN?
I started in my parent’s basement, recording music. That's when I discovered my passion for audio editing. I concentrated on what people were saying in lyrics and I became obsessed with making the vocals sound good, though people like me because I just had louder equipment than everyone else. The kids in the neighborhood came to my house because I “had the sound.” I went to school to learn more and that's where I learned about post-production and became obsessed with its depth. It gave me more opportunities to be creative. I wanted to challenge myself.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WHACKY, HILARIOUS OR EXCITING SOUND, HEARD HERE AT BOOM BOX OR ELSEWHERE, AND WHY?
You can’t go wrong with Fart sounds! I was recording grunt sounds for a character for a game I was helping out on and I had my nephew volunteer and do grunts. He got so excited and let a little fart leak out, and of course I recorded it. So we had the idea to take a video of him and match it up to the fart. He was so excited and kept showing everyone, and now we have great relationship talking about sound and animation. He tells everyone and shows them that video!
What is your absolute favorite animated television program or film?
I think it started with Shrek. I enjoyed how Eddie Murphy was able to interpret the donkey; it gave me a whole different perspective of voice acting! I really like him as an actor and the line “Pick me! Pick me!” became sort of an inside joke for me. Besides that, anything Dreamworks is awesome.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ARCTIC ANIMAL?
Dolphins. They’re likeable, easy to approach, and people aren’t afraid of them. Dolphins are fearless, in a smooth and easygoing way.