White Noise (2005)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Geoffrey Sax

Writer:

Niall Johnson (written by)

Release Date:

7 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The dead are trying to get a hold of you.

Plot:

An architect's desire to speak with his wife from beyond the grave, becomes an obsession with supernatural repercussions.

Plot Keywords:

Architect | Voice | Death | Widower | Electronic Voice Phenomena

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Michael Keaton	...	Jonathan Rivers
Chandra West	...	Anna Rivers
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Sarah Tate
Ian McNeice	...	Raymond Price
Sarah Strange	...	Jane
Nicholas Elia	...	Mike Rivers
Mike Dopud	...	Detective Smits
Marsha Regis	...	Police Woman
Brad Sihvon	...	Minister
Mitchell Kosterman	...	Work Man
L. Harvey Gold	...	Business Man
Amber Rothwell	...	Susie Tomlinson
Suzanne Ristic	...	Mary Freeman
Keegan Connor Tracy	...	Mirabelle Keegan
Miranda Frigon	...	Carol Black - Car Crash Woman
Aaron Douglas	...	Frank Black - Young Father
Anthony Harrison	...	Doctor
Bruce Dawson	...	Mark
Benita Ha	...	TV Reporter
Anastasia Corbett	...	EVP - Young Girl
Micki Maunsell	...	Edith Tomlinson (as Miki Maunsell)
Ross Birchall	...	EVP - Young Boy
Peter Bryant	...	EVP - Man
Bill Tarling	...	Presence #1
Chuck Walkinshaw	...	Presence #2
Colin Chapin	...	Presence #3
April Telek	...	John's Secretary
Michale Ascher	...	Woman

Directed by
Geoffrey Sax

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Niall Johnson		written by

Produced by
Paul Brooks	....	producer
Simon Brooks	....	executive producer
Stephen Hegyes	....	executive producer
Scott Niemeyer	....	executive producer
Jonathan Shore	....	associate producer
Norm Waitt	....	executive producer
Shawn Williamson	....	producer

Original Music by
Claude Foisy

Cinematography by
Chris Seager

Film Editing by
Nick Arthurs

Casting by
Maureen Webb

Production Design by
Michael S. Bolton

Art Direction by
Greg Venturi

Set Decoration by
Penny A. Chalmers

Costume Design by
Karen L. Matthews

Makeup Department
Howard Lau	....	fabricator
Keith Lau	....	fabricator
Mary L. Mastro	....	hair stylist: Michael Keaton (as Mary Mastro)
Gene McCormick	....	makeup artist
Julio Pallares	....	makeup assistant: special effects
Robert Ryan	....	makeup artist: Michael Keaton
Adina Shore	....	key hair stylist
Deborah Slonowski	....	first assistant makeup artist
Margaret Solomon	....	key makeup artist
Bill Terezakis	....	special makeup effects coordinator
Maureen Terezakis	....	special effects makeup coordinator
Barbara J. Wozniak	....	assistant hair stylist (as Barb Wozniak)
Vince Yoshida	....	makeup assistant: special effects (as Vincent Akira Yoshida)
Emanuela Daus	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Nicola Instone	....	post-production supervisor
Lisa Sweet	....	post-production supervisor: Pepper Post
Pascal Verschooris	....	production manager
Emma Zee	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Karin Behrenz	....	third assistant director
Glenn Bottomley	....	second assistant director
Graham Cairns	....	trainee assistant director
Eunice Choi	....	assistant director
Richard Coleman	....	first assistant director

Art Department
David Allcock	....	storyboard artist
Tony Beck	....	set dresser
Doris Deutschmann	....	graphic designer
Roy Obermann	....	lead carpenter
Kimberley Regent	....	property master
Ling Yang	....	storyboard artist
Don Yanko	....	scenic carpenter

Sound Department
Gianluca Buttari	....	foley editor
Gianluca Buttari	....	foley recordist
Jose R. Castellon	....	adr recordist
Mike Grimes	....	sound effects editor
Tirso Guinon	....	sound effects editor
Stewart Henderson	....	dialogue editor
Hugh Johnson	....	sound designer
Hugh Johnson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Deni King	....	adr supervisor
Patrick Knup	....	voice recordist: French version
Melissa Lake	....	foley artist
Ben Meechan	....	sound effects editor
Mark Noda	....	boom operator
Bernard O'Reilly	....	sound designer
Bernard O'Reilly	....	supervising sound editor
Adam Sharpe	....	adr mixer
William Skinner	....	sound mixer
Jack Stew	....	foley artist
Andrew Stirk	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Turner	....	sound technical coordinator
Michele Woods	....	dialogue editor
Hilary Wyatt	....	supervising dialogue editor
Miha Jaramaz	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Mark Kenna	....	consultant: Dolby film sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
James Kozier	....	special effects supervisor
Tim Storvick	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Sean Afshar	....	co-visual effects sequence coordinator
Simon Allmark	....	visual effects editor
George Barbour	....	digital artist
Louis Bravo	....	visual effects editor
Gavain Browne	....	compositor
Sarah Cloutier	....	visual effects coordinator
Tom Collier	....	digital compositor
Graham Cristie	....	digital effects supervisor
Darren Frankel	....	head of post production: Stargate Digital
Simon Giles	....	visual effects supervisor
Pawel Grochola	....	digital artist
Martin Halle	....	visual effects: pre-vis
Kyle J. Healey	....	visual effects
Christian Jelen	....	lead cgi artist
Jared Jones	....	previs artist
Sharon Lark	....	visual effects producer
David Margolis	....	digital compositor
Jennifer McEachern	....	on-set supervisor
Pablo Renedo	....	digital compositor
Brendan Taylor	....	visual effects coordinator
Paul Vorsman	....	title sequence designer
Kenneth Bailey	....	visual effects: Stargate Digital (uncredited)
Chad Schott	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Ed Anders	....	stunt driver
Garvin Cross	....	lead stunt double
Randy Lee	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Sandes Ashe	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Scott Cozens	....	second assistant camera
Ken Decker	....	generator operator
John Dekker	....	gaffer
Glen A. Dickson	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Chris Helcermanas-Benge	....	still photographer
Simon Jori	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Richard M. Lobb	....	grip
Wayne McAuley	....	grip
Marty McInally	....	Steadicam operator
Marty McInally	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Paul T. Murakami	....	grip
Rod Newby	....	rigging gaffer
Jesse Olver	....	grip
Jos Oman	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Darren Plester	....	grip
Greg Rideout	....	lamp operator
Derek Saari	....	lamp operator
Jesse Sannerud	....	camera trainee
Igor Shtenz	....	grip
Richard Sinclair	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Julie Tanas	....	lamp operator
Michael Taschereau	....	key grip
Max Torroba	....	playback operator

Casting Department
Abigail Barbier	....	adr voice casting
Louis Elman	....	adr voice casting
James Forsyth	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Linda Leduc	....	assistant costume designer
Glenna Owen	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Jill Allanson	....	telecine assistant
Chris Andrews	....	negative cutter
Rhonda Blewett	....	telecine assistant
Sarah Carefoot	....	dailies colorist
Simon Giblin	....	digital on-line editor
Lalit Goyal	....	first assistant editor
Nicola Instone	....	post-production coordinator
Gary Lam	....	assistant editor
Veronica Marcano	....	negative cutter
Jet Omoshebi	....	digital intermediate colorist
Shane Warden	....	on-line editor

Music Department
Scott Cochran	....	score mixer
Lee Kerr	....	music editor
Brian Leff	....	music coordinator
Randy Gerston	....	music supervisor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
James Wayne Spencer	....	driver: van
Jason Wayne Spencer	....	driver: van

Other crew
Natalie Allan	....	script coordinator
Lawren Bancroft-Wilson	....	office production assistant
Michael Barnes	....	financial legal services
Dale Bhagwagar	....	publicist
Vitomir Bogdanovic	....	production assistant
Leon Thomas Braun	....	production assistant
Trevor Brokop	....	production assistant
Raimey Casiro	....	key production assistant
Hsun-Wei David Chang	....	assistant: Mr. Shore (as David Chang)
Jessica Clothier	....	script supervisor
Chris Doss	....	executive in charge of finance
Byron Drinkle	....	playback coordinator
Shalia Edl	....	first assistant production coordinator
Karyn Edwards	....	legal counsel
Brad Erickson	....	key production assistant
Alexander Glua	....	production assistant
Suraj Gohill	....	production lender
Jonathan Heine	....	production financing
Joel Hurley	....	location scout
Greg Jackson	....	location manager
Anne Jacobsen	....	production accountant
Krista Johnston	....	clearance
Micah Kelpin	....	assistant: Mr. Williamson
Steve Lee	....	digital online assistant
Shane Lennox	....	assistant location manager
Alan Martin	....	production executive
Jarod McCullough	....	security officer
Cameron Morris	....	production assistant
Samantha Morris	....	assistant: Mr. Williamson
Elizabeth Mueller	....	post-production accountant
Alexander Nicolas	....	marketing
Michele O'Flanagan	....	production coordinator
Mary Quinn	....	assistant: Mr. Hegyes
Iain Read	....	digital online assistant
Karina Sax	....	assistant to director
Tracy D. Smith	....	assistant to producers
Jason Wayne Spencer	....	production assistant
David Tamkin	....	trainee assistant location manager
Stephen Tibbetts	....	stand-in
Dan Lee West	....	assistant to producers
Annie Wilkinson	....	set tutor

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures
• Gold Circle Films
• White Noise UK Ltd.
• Brightlight Pictures
• Endgame Entertainment (in association with)

Distributors

• Senator International (2005) (worldwide) (all media) (world sales)
• Entertainment Film Distributors (2005) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Bioscop (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International Finland (2005) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Gulf Film (2005) (United Arab Emirates) (theatrical)
• Independent Films (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Panasia Films (2005) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• TVA International (2005) (Canada) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Vértigo Films (2005) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Entertainment in Video (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• TVA Films (2005) (Canada) (all media)
• Tien (2007) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2005) (Finland) (DVD) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Stargate Digital London (digital visual effects)

Other Companies

• Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)  financing
• Film Incentive B.C.  financing
• Gold Circle Films  cofinancing
• London Editing Machines Ltd.  editing equipment
• Pepper Post Production  digital intermediate post-production
• Senator International  cofinancing
• UK Computamatch  negative cutting
• Videosonics Cinema Sound  sound post-production
• Videosonics Cinema Sound  sound re-recording

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and language.

Runtime:

101 min | Sweden:94 min

Country:

Canada | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Malaysia:18SG | Portugal:M/16 | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Czech Republic:15 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40685)

Filming Locations:

Burnaby Hospital, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The EVP recording from the trailer ("I will see you no more.") that is attributed to a woman named Ruth Baxter who died in 1987, is supposedly a recording from Point Lookout, a "haunted" lighthouse in Maryland, made by an EVP researcher named Sarah Estep. The lighthouse was used as a hospital during the Civil War and some interpretations of the recording believe it to say, "I was seeing the war," or "I was seeing the water." While the recording is said to be authentic by the AAEVP, the Ruth Baxter story is fiction.

Goofs:

Continuity: When John is at Carol Black's funeral, he stops to Carol Black's husband. A bald man with dark rimmed glasses walks past them to exit the church, and takes an obvious look at Carol Black's husband. The camera then focuses on John for a couple seconds. When the camera again focuses on Carol Black's husband, the same bald man with dark rimmed glasses walks past them to exit the church.

Quotes:

Mirabelle Keegan: Listen to me. It is one thing to contact the dead, it is another thing to meddle, and you are meddling.

Movie Connections:

References The Salton Sea (2002)

Soundtrack:

In My Nursery

Chilling and effective.

White Noise is a film that takes a true scientific phenomenon, and makes a film out of it. The phenomenon is one which involves electronic recording/broadcast equipment. In amongst white-noise (that crackle and hiss you get on a blank recording) and static on untuned TV reception there are voices and images discernible. Sometimes these voices have been clear enough to work out, and many people believe they are the voices and images of those who have died, trying to contact the living.

In the film, Michael Keaton plays Jonathan Rivers, an estate agent who loses his wife. When he is approached by Raymond, a man who lost his son years ago and claims he has heard from Jonathan's wife, it draws him into the phenomenon, and pretty soon he becomes obsessed, recording his own tapes and viewing/listening to them for messages. Then, suddenly, the messages become clear, and seem to be premonitions. Can he decipher the meaning of the messages, or will he disturb something best left alone? I was uncertain going into the film what to expect. Too many times the film world have come up with a great concept, but failed to deliver anything more than mediocre when it is a horror subject. Expecting another Godsend, I was pleasantly surprised to find a pretty good film, with some nice touches, and chills. Admittedly the story wouldn't look out of place on X-Files, but unlike the recent The Forgotten, it manages to feel complete, and doesn't seem to take the easy option at the end.

The direction by Sax (best know for his TV work such as Tipping the Velvet, Dr Who, Clocking Off, and Spitting Image to name a few) is more than sufficient, and he uses the white-noise to great effect. A little buzz here, and flicker there all serve to unnerve, and you could be forgiven for thinking you are watching another Japanese adaptation. There are a lot of similarities to eastern horror throughout, the use of silence the unnerve, the distorted images in the TV sets, and so on. Only the occasion "music to let you know you should jump" lets down the tone.

Nevertheless, with a well woven script which doesn't pander to the lowest denominator, and a sterling performance from Michael Keaton, who hasn't really had a presence on the screen since 1998s Jack Frost, make this an enjoyable little movie which deserves a viewing or two.