People and their Pets: Martin and Ella

Since he was a kid, playing guitar and singing in a band, Martin has been captivated by sound.

This interest led him into the world of recording, where he spent five years of his early working life in television, mixing sound for a big company called "Colorfilm", then located in Camperdown Sydney.

After honing his skills with that company, Martin decided to take the plunge and go freelance. The risk paid off and he was rewarded with an interesting life.

Martin's 'solo' career has taken him travelling around Australia - to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane - and overseas to Seoul in South Korea, and onto New Zealand and the USA, working with film directors and sound crews of note.

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If you check out the credits at the end of movies, you will find Martin's name listed on around 150 productions. "The Piano", "Truman Show", "Little Women" and "The Russian House" are just a few.

Not familiar with those? How about "The Lord of the Rings"!

Martin worked on the 'Foley' sound effects for these three blockbuster movies, with his studio Redline Sound Studios. Even with the use of computers to support their work, Martin estimates the last of the three films took him and his five colleagues close to 1000 hours to complete.

Altogether their contribution to the sound elements of the trilogy spanned more than three years.

Technology has dramatically changed the face of the film industry, which functions very differently now to the pre- computer days when splice and sprocket work dominated the three elements of sound in film production - dialogue, music and effects.

Martin retired from the film industry in 2017 and now spends his days working on the 40 acre property he and partner Marion own.

In his 'spare time' Martin enjoys taking his gorgeous black Labrador Ella on long walks.

They spend three mornings a week at Nata Oval, so Ella can have a safe off-leash run.

Nata Oval is also the location for their weekly dog training sessions. At nearly two years of age and full of energy, Ella is learning to interact well with other dogs and lots of friendly people.

If you think you and your dog would like to join in Saturday training sessions, please contact Carol on 0458 953 281. Booking is essential.