What is a Hollywood sound stage?

Our 13 sound stages, including four cycloramas, are state of the art. They come in all sizes, from 3,200 to 16,320 square feet. Plus, expansive ceilings offer up to 40-foot clear heights with catwalks. Power is abundant. And fiber internet and WIFI are high capacity. In short, we can accommodate virtually any production, from television shows to feature films, no matter the scope.

A tram drives down a section of the New York Backlot at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)

FilmL.A. released its first-ever report on sound stage and adjacent backlot production activity in the Southern California region Thursday.

Long known for its reports on location shooting, FilmL.A. provides the permits for doing so in much of the Greater L.A. area. Consequently, that data is easy for the not-for-profit film office to track and has become the best barometer of local production activity available.

How much work is being done making movies, TV shows, commercials and the like on studio lots and at independently owned production facilities is harder to pin down, but for its first Sound Stage Production Report, FilmL.A. partnered with all six of the area’s major studios (Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros.) and six other operators.

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The results of the study are, well, incomplete. But it marks a step toward a fuller picture of how many jobs and how much spending producers are generating in the traditional hometown of the filmed entertainment industry.

Here are some things to know about the first sound stage study:

It covers activity throughout the year 2016, and found that the 12 operators reported an average 96 percent occupancy rate for their stages during that period. That includes both active filming and non-film use.

FilmL.A. figures that it got reports from about 70 percent of the facilities in the region, 232 certified sound stages and their lots out of an estimated 334 such purpose-built facilities here.

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Nevertheless, that 70 percent represents over 3.3 million square feet of space, which the report claims far surpasses what’s available in jurisdictions such as Atlanta, London and Vancouver that have been luring production away from L.A. for years.

The impressive activity in the report – 9,610 stage shoot days and 2,241 backlot shoot days in 2016 – complements the uptick in location shooting FilmL.A. recorded in 2016. At 39,605 location shoot days, last year was the busiest one on record.

Much of that increased business is credited to California’s improved, more generous production tax credit program. It’s reflected in the sound stage study by the fact that close to half of the 2016 shoot days – 4,983 – were for hourlong television series, which were more-or-less ineligible for incentives under the state’s previous program.

“These findings are significant, in that they reveal a portion of the Los Angeles production picture that has until now gone unviewed,” FilmL.A. President Paul Audley said in a summary of the Sound Stage Report. “We hope that the availability of this data, and our plans to expand it through new studio partnerships, will be an asset to business leaders and policymakers, and further public understanding of L.A.’s signature industry and the wide employment and economic benefits it brings.”

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There’s a reason why filmmakers cite Murphy’s Law -- whatever can go wrong, will go wrong -- as a maxim of film production; because it’s true. Shooting a film or TV show on location can present a nightmare due to travel costs, bad weather, bad lighting, lack of power, etc. -- but what if there was a way to avoid all of these challenges? Well, there is -- it’s called a soundstage. But what is a soundstage? For a quick guided tour of one of the largest sound stages in the U.S., check out the video below.

A soundstage is a place where you can negate many of the most difficult aspects of film production. So without further ado, let’s dive into a soundstage definition.

A soundstage is a building that’s used primarily for shooting films. Soundstages are typically large, warehouse-like buildings. They were conceived in response to the advent of sound in film in the late 1920’s-early 30’s to allow for live recording. Today, soundstages are used in conjunction with greenscreens to mix practical and computer generated effects.

• Large (Studio Soundstages)
• Small (Sets and Schools)

Soundstages were created in response to the advent of sound in film. During the early years of cinema, the onus was on the filmmaker to make sure shots were clear and the filmstock was maintained. But as technology progressed, filmmakers took on new responsibilities. One of the most important breakthroughs in filmmaking was sound. For more on why sound is so important, check out the video below.

There’s no doubt about it: soundstages offer enormous acoustic benefits to filmmakers for recording live sound. The convenience of not having to worry about an ambulance driving by or somebody with a boombox is enough to make most filmmakers never want to shoot on location again. But audio isn’t the only reason why soundstages are used by filmmakers. They also make life easier for production designers and actors. Think about it: when everything is in one place, AKA a studio lot, you have everything you need to make movie magic.

Inside a Soundstage Examples

What happens inside a soundstage?

Soundstages play an integral role in the “movie magic” of studio filmmaking. If you’ve ever asked, “how did they film that?” chances are they shot it in a soundstage. One of the most famous examples of a fully built set inside a soundstage was Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic set in Rear Window. This next video compiles a timelapse of the whole film, and gives us the vantage of watching the whole set.

Hitchock tasked designers Hal Pereira and Joseph MacMillan Johnson with building the set for Rear Window, which was based on a Greenwich Village courtyard. The set was so elaborate that it included a fully-functioning drainage system! For a perfectionist filmmaker like Hithcock, a soundstage was the perfect place to shoot a film like Rear Window. It gave him complete control over every facet of production, from visual design to sound design to camera placement. 

Modern Movie Studio Sound Stages

How are soundstages used today?

Due to the rise of computer generated imagery and visual special effects, soundstages have somewhat changed in function. Although soundstages still exist at studios like Paramount, Warner Bros. and Universal, the massive space of their interiors aren’t always needed.

Take Disney’s The Mandalorian for example: showrunner Jon Favreau opted to shoot most of the scenes inside a small set, surrounded by LED screens. For more on this breakthrough filmmaking process, check out the video below.

So instead of having to physically build the sets, digital artists are able to use Epic’s Unreal Engine to design the spaces virtually. Those spaces are then transposed onto LED screens. It’s a brilliant strategy for filmmakers to toy around with if they’re presented with the opportunity to use the technology.

Today, some studios have retrofitted soundstages to record late-night talk shows, others use them for live performances. For example, the Emmy Award winning Grease: Live was filmed on the Warner Bros. backlot in 2016.

Two soundstages were used for the film’s interior sets and various parts of the backlot were used for exterior shots.

Paramount Studios has 30 soundstages ranging from 5,500 sq. ft. to 18,775 sq. ft. The smaller soundstages are mostly used for TV productions while the bigger soundstages are usually reserved for large scale sets. You don’t have to be contracted by a studio to use a soundstage. If you’re a filmmaker who just so happens to have a lot of money, you can always rent a soundstage; just like Tommy Wiseau did when he made The Room.

Up Next

A Filmmaker’s Guide to Movie Sound

Remember, soundstages were conceived in response to the advent of sound in film. It’s one thing to know why a soundstage is great for recording sound, it’s another to know how to use it. In this next article, we break down movie sound effects to find out the best strategies for incorporating diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. By the end, you’ll be ready to apply innovative sound techniques in your own movies.

Up Next: Movie Sound Effects →