"Sounds," a movie partially shot in Grass Valley, is truly a winner, having recently received three awards at a prestigious film festival in Texas. One of the awards was for its use of a special technology, super-resolution enhanced technology dubbed SRT, which until recently had only been used in spy satellites and high-tech forensic labs.

"We are the first movie to ever utilize it in a full length feature film," says the executive producer Robert Lenney.

Said Humphries of the festival, "An amazing experience. This particular WorldFest had 4,500 entries from 37 countries and only 60 features ("Sounds" being one) were selected to screen. It was an unbelievable honor to be included.

"So many local people were dedicated to this project for so long that it's nice to see some major recognition come of it."

In the past 41 years, WorldFest helped launch the film careers of such as Ang Lee and the Coen brothers.

To actually see what SRT can do, see a before-and-after demonstration at www.soundsthemovie.com.

The new, super-resolution software is expected to become available to the film industry this summer (2008).

For more information on SRT, visit www.topazlabs.com.



- The Union staff

Editor's note: This Q&A was conducted Via e-mail with Ryan Humphries Production, so some of it is from him and some from his company.

Prospector: What is "Sounds" about?

Ryan Humphries Production: It's a fictional sci-fi thriller-comedy that pokes fun at cinematic drama. A relaxing weekend in a peaceful country setting is all four friends seek, when suddenly something smashes into earth from the far reaches of space. Can two governmental agents from Washington D.C. uncover the truth behind the mysterious sounds coming from the woods? This spoof about FBI agents on their biggest case ever combines sci-fi eeriness and comedic timing.

P: What does SRT do in the film?

RHP: SRT makes the image sharper by carefully extracting image information from multiple adjacent video frames and combining it to re-synthesize the video signal at a much higher resolution. The image went from 480P to 1080P, a little more than two times better (meaning bigger, sharper).

P: Where was the film shot?

RHP: The movie was shot primarily at the home of Jim and Linda Humphries (Ryan's parents) off Dog Bar Road, Grass Valley. There were a few scenes shot in Auburn, Sacramento and Washington DC. Opening scenes were shot on the streets of Nevada City, approved by City Manager, Mark Miller.

P: How/when may we see "Sounds"?

RHP: Viewers can visit the "Sounds" website, www.soundsthemovie.com, and see the movie trailer, screen shots, cast and crew bios. There they also can sign up for the Sounds Newsletter and learn about release dates as soon as we know them, which we are keeping our fingers crossed is very soon!

P: Tell us more about the Remi Award, how big is it?

RHP: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Spike Lee all received Remi's at WorldFest back as new emerging filmmakers 30 years ago. A Remi does not guarantee a successful film career, of course, but it indicates great accomplishment and is a valuable tool for new filmmakers to take the next step into mainstream filmmaking. Ryan Humphries received three golds and a silver.