Mark Berger (born May 14, 1943) is an American

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

. He has won four

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Sound. He holds the Academy Award record for "perfect score" with 4 nominations and 4 wins. He is best known for his work on ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

'' (1974), '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975) and ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph ...

'' (1979). He has worked on more than 170 films since 1973.

Background

Berger studied experimental psychology at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He took part in the recording of some

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

for radio about the opposition to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Through this work, he got a job in the South focused on the civil rights of workers. He spent nine months in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

making the film. When he returned to Berkeley, he started to realize that his filming experience was more interesting than his studies and he found a job recording sound for a documentary on the programs of the

U.S. Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 ...

SAID He visited 11 countries in the course of 7 days.

Career beginnings

After Berger worked on the documentary ''The Place for No Story'',

Walter Murch Walter Scott Murch (born July 12, 1943) is an American film editor, director, writer and sound designer. With a career stretching back to 1969, including work on '' THX 1138'', ''Apocalypse Now'', '' The Godfather I'', '' II'', and '' III'', ''Am ...

noticed him. Murch was an editor and sound mixer who had been working with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. He tried to recruit Berger for Coppola’s new film – ''The Conversation'' – but Berger was committed to a trip to Cuba to interview Fidel Castro. When Berger returned and got in touch with Murch he was offered the job of working on ''The Godfather, Part II''. This was his first job in feature film.

Personal life

Berger created, and has been teaching the “Film 140: The Sound of Film” course at UC Berkeley in their undergraduate program since the year 2000. Berger is married to Berkeley City Council member Susan Wengraf.

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1979) * '' The Right Stuff'' (1983) * ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...

'' (1984) * ''

The English Patient ''The English Patient'' is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main characters are: an unrecognisably burn ...

'' (1996)

References

External links

* *http://news.berkeley.edu/2013/02/19/poi-mark-berger/ *http://progresoweekly.us/mark-berger-history-sound/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Mark 1943 births Living people American audio engineers Best Sound BAFTA Award winners Best Sound Mixing Academy Award winners People from San Francisco Engineers from California University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni