Ian Edwards
Film Sound

What's the Story?

I am a sound recordist / editor / mixer based near Birmingham in the West Midlands.  I trained in Film and TV technical operations at Ravensbourne in the early 70's and started in studios when four track analogue was all there was. I have worked as a sound engineer in broadcast radio for most of my long career, working for Radio Luxembourg (London), Beacon Radio in Wolverhampton, BRMB Radio in Birmingham, and the Capital Radio Group. My roles included producing commercials, recording and editing all genres of music, documentaries, quiz programs and live event broadcasts. 

In the mid 90's my career diverted into IT, rising to Head of Infrastructure for the Capital Radio Group. I was based in Birmingham but covering the whole UK. In 2005 I left to form my own IT business. My love for recording sound never left me though and, in 2016, after working on a couple of short films, I used the location sound recording course at the NFTS to adapt my skills to recording sound for film, and so a new chapter began.  Since then I have worked as sound recordist and sound designer on independent short and feature films, corporate, live broadcast and documentary.

If you need an experienced set of ears, an easy going but professional attitude, with good technical skills and some great kit on your next project I'd love to talk. Interested in recording drama, documentary, reality and corporate.         

Credits

Documentary / Factual

It was a pleasure to be involved as sound recordist on this mini doc​umentary from Format Factory for CBBC, recording sequences shot in locations around Birmingham. Hopefully I'll have more documentary projects to list here soon!

Ian Edwards Film sound documentary

My Life: Leading the Dance (2019) Format Factory for CBBC

Watch on iplayer here

sound recording documentary Top Gear Gaming Show Weston Park Staffordshire, West Midlands

Top Gear Gaming Show Ep4 (2021)
for BBC online

Watch on facebook here

The Top Gear Gaming Show contrasts video games with real life experiences. I was sound recordist for the location audio in  this episode featuring drone racing filmed at Weston Park in Staffordshire.

sound recording documentary Top Gear Gaming Show Weston Park Staffordshire, West Midlands

Jay Blades: Learning to read as an adult (2021)
for BBC One

I recorded the master interviews for a documentary looking at Jay Blade's struggle to read as an adult. Recorded at his workshop in Telford, Shropshire. Due to be broadcast early 2022.

Corporate

A few of the corporate jobs I have worked as sound recordist on which at the time of posting are available to view online.
Click the image to view.

Sound recordist Birmingham iCase awards

BAe Systems: iCase Awards (2021)

I recorded Jithin Kannanthara from  the University of Birmingham explaining his entry into  the BAe Systems iCase Awards.

Sound recordist Stoke-on-Trent campaign video

Labour Party: Ready for Life (2021)

Labour Party campaign film. I was sound recordist for interviews and a group discussion between students from Stoke-on-Trent and Labour leader Keir Starmer.

Sound recordist Oxfordshire Golf Marathon Cotswolds

Big Property Services Golf Marathon (2021)

A dawn to dusk golf marathon raising money for prostate cancer. Location sound was recorded "on the run" at the Cotswolds Golf Club in Oxfordshire.

Sound recordist Coventry Windston's Wish

Winston's Wish: Liam's Story (2019)

A touching story made by Azara Media for Winston's Wish, a charity that supports children bereaved by suicide. Filmed at a school near Coventry.

Sound recordist Edinburgh Nova Innovations

Nova Innovation: Investment Opportunities (2019)

A promotional film for Nova Innovation based in Edinburgh aimed at potential investors. The sequences I recorded  are intercut with archive material, you can hear the difference ( hint: my audio is better ).

Sound recordist Stourbridge West Midlands

Crafting Futures: Jahday Ford (2019)

Part of the "Why I Make" film series for the British Council. Made by DGS Media profiling glass blower Jahday Ford, recorded at The Red House Glass Cone in Stourbridge, West Midlands.

Sound recordist Birmingham NEC

Neolith at KBB (2018)

Neolith is an Italian company importing granite surfaces to the UK. this was filmed on their stand at the Kitchen Bathroom and Bedroom show at the Birmingham NEC in 2018.

Sound recordist Hereford and Worcester

It's Kushti to Rokker: Hard Road to Travel (2019)

One of a series made by the Rural Media Company in Hereford for Travellers Times Films to promote mental health awareness amongst the traveller community.

Sound recordist Worcester music video

Meme Detroit: Will You Be My Lie (2019)

This is a music video directed by Dwane Perks for Meme Detroit with an opening dialogue sequence I recorded in a car park in Worcester. 

Narrative

Some of the narrative titles I've been involved with as sound recordist, boom op, sound designer, or all three. Most of these films have been nominated for or won awards including Best Film at the Birmingham Film Festival 2019 for "Hello Darlin".
Tap or hover the posters for more info.

Hello Darlin' (2019)

Hello Darlin' (2019)

Feature crime drama from Sutopia Films directed by Gary Delaney.

Roles: Location Sound Recordist and Sound Designer.

Off-Grid (2018)

Off-Grid (2018)

A horror short from Dark Matter Films directed by Carl Timms and starring James Cosmos and Alison Steadman.

roles: Location Sound Recordist and Sound Designer.

Wild Hunt (2019)

Wild Hunt (2019)

A spooky Halloween short from Harmsway Studios directed by Hendrik Harms.

role: Location Sound Recordist

Tooth Fairy (2018)

Tooth Fairy (2018)

A straight to DVD feature length horror from Champdog films directed by Louisa Warren.

role: Location sound Recordist

Jungleland (2018)

Jungleland (2018)

An urban drama from Dead in the City directed by Waheed Iqbal.

role: Location Sound Recordist (daily)

Bride of Scarecrow (2018)

Bride of Scarecrow (2018)

Another feature length horror DVD from Champdog Films

role: Location Sound Recordist

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away (2019)

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away (2019)

A tense adaptation of the Steven King story written and directed by Hendrik Harms.

role: Location Sound Recordist

The Battle of Worcester (2017)

The Battle of Worcester (2017)

A short Groundhog Day inspired film directed by Joe Gaffney set during the Battle of Worcester.

role: Location Sound Recordist, Re-recording Mixer.

Cell (2017)

Cell (2017)

A super natural short from Shunk Films directed by Paul Holbrook

role: Boom Op

White Feather (2020)

White Feather (2020)

A short period drama from Middle Realm Productions written and directed by Daniel Arbon. Set in the aftermath of WW1

roles: Sound Designer, Music Producer

Testimonials

Some nice things people have said about me and my work after very little persuasion.

Gallery

Some behind the scenes shots showing some of what I do.

Ian Edwards film sound on set Mudlark

Mudlark (2021)

Preparing for a take of the tavern scene. I'm checking settings ready to boom "Tavern goer 1" played by Vern Griffiths, who has dialogue as he walks into the scene and sits, while I have a plant mic on the seated "Story teller" played by Lynn Hunter. Photo credit: Andy Peters-Halligan

Ian Edwards Film Sound car rig

Hello Darlin' (2019) Sutopia Films

Simple car rig for the feature film Hello Darlin' with actors Doug Allen and Daisy Badger.

Ian Edwards Film Sound court room scene

Outwitting The Devil (2018)

Ready for the set piece courtroom scene employing three lavs, boom and two plant mics with my trusty Zoom F8. This setup has been superceded by my Zaxcom rig. Photo Credit: Caroline Hajny

BAe Systems: Training videos (2019) Chardhouse Media

Rigging a corporate interview setup for a training video for BAe Systems in Glasgow.

Ian Edwards Film Sound sound effects

Battle of Worcester (2017)

Recording battle sound effects with The Sealed Knot. Photo credit: Andrea Edwards

Ian Edwards film sound plant mic

Tethered (2021) Harmsway Studios

Actor Ariya Larker cornered by my plant mic in this short horror from Henrick Harms.

Off-Grid (2018) Dark Matter Films

Off-Grid (2018) Dark Matter Films

Micing up actor James Cosmos for a night scene. Photo credit: Gary Moore

Ian Edwards film sound interview

My Life: Im Leading the Dance! (2019) Format Factory

Setting up to record an interview sequence for this mini documentary for CBBC. Photo credit: Ash Connaughton

Ian Edwards Film sound music recording

White Feather (2019) Middle Realm Productions

Recording the music for "White Feather" with Highley Colliery Band. Seen here with the band, musical director Roy Osborne and the film's director Daniel Arbon. Photo Credit: Middle Realm Productions.

Ian Edwards film sound BFF 2019 winner

Hello Darlin' (2019) Sutopia Films

A highlight has to be Hello Darlin' winning Best Film at the Birmingham Film Festival 2019. An ambitious project to work on but a great cast and crew nailed it.

Hello Darlin' (2019) Sutopia Films

I do like it when actors are seated! A scene from Hello Darlin' featuring Douglas Allen and Nimmi Harasgama.

Ian Edwards location film sound

Hello Darlin' (2019) Sutopia Films

Checking the framing of shot in a church in Sutton Coldfield with DOP Ash Connaughton.

Ian Edwards Sound recordist Mudlark

Mudlark (2021)

I just had room to stand behind this table and behind me was a wall. Two actors in this scene and as there was little room to swing a boom they both wore wireless mics. The compact Nova mixer with built in receivers proved it's worth that day!

Cognos Strikes Back (2018)

Cognos Strikes Back (2018)

The Blues Brothers roll up for an internal corporate video for IMI produced by Best Bit productions.

Clipper Race Start (2017)

Live sound mixing tv coverage of the round the world Clipper Yacht Race start from Liverpool Docks. Mixing audio from several cameras, vt playback and two commentator positions.

Ian Edwards West Midlands film sound recordist Birmingham.

TFWM (2019) DRPG

A corporate film hopping around Birmingham's public transport system PSC style.

Ian Edwards Location Sound Wye Valley

Mudlark (2021)

I think this is what you'd call a field recording. A beautiful setting in the Wye Valley.

Ian Edwards Location Sound timecode

Bigpawz (2021)

My Tentacle Sync E feeding timecode to an audio track on this Canon C200. I also have Timecode Systems Ultrasync Ones which I prefer for cameras with a timecode input.

Ian Edwards sound for interviews

Robots (2021)

Corporate interview about robot and human interaction at Cranfield University.

Ian Edwards Sound Recordist Birmingham.

Black Butterflies (2021)

Filmed on locations in Birmingham, another nice seated actors scene where it's all about the dialogue.

Recording sound for a two camera corporate shoot in Kidderminster

Presenter led corporate shoot (2021)

In the studio at DRPG in Hartlebury near Kidderminster. Two camera shoot with timecode using Ultrasync Ones.

Sound Recordist Wolverhampton

Delicious Orie ( 2021)

Recording a profile piece with British heavyweight boxer Delicious Orie (DJ) at his home in Wolverhampton prior to departure to Japan as part of the GB boxing team at the Olympics.

Campaign film sound recording Stoke-on-Trent

Labour Party Campaign Film (2021)

Recording a discussion between Keir Starmer and a group of politics students in Stoke-On-Trent for a Labour Party campaign film. Wirelessly feeding timecode to two cameras via Timecode Systems USO's.

Gear

"The right mic in the right place at the right time"

New for 2021 I have started to re-equip with kit from US manufacturer Zaxcom who have been a major manufacturer of audio equipment for the film industry for over twenty years. 

Features I didn't want to lose through an upgrade were the small size, low weight and long battery life of ​my Zoom rig and the Zaxcom Nova meets those requirements. This mixer / recorder is a game changer and I have now  completely bough​t into the Zaxcom ecosystem. The Nova houses up to eight digital radio mic receivers internally, has sixteen record tracks and six physical outputs. It includes IFB and timecode distribution and Zaxnet remote control of radio mic receivers. No more intrusion on talent to adjust the level on the mic transmitter.  My Zaxcom bag is about the same weight as my Zoom bag was and slightly smaller as a lot of the dangly bits have been integrated.

Along with my Zaxcom kit I have a growing range of microphones, stands, boom poles and fixings for optimum location sound capture. I also carry Tentacle Sync E and Timecode Systems time code units for sync.

If that's all gobbledegook all you need to know is it sounds great, it allows me to be mobile with quite a sophisticated rig and work fast even in confined spaces on set, and carrying it all around won't break my back.
Seen here on set for Mudlark

Showreel

This showreel from 2018 shows some examples of my work both as a sound recordist and sound designer. Please check back shortly as I'm working on an updated version of this with a lot more material.

Contact Me

Location Recording

Location sound recording for narrative, factual, documentary and corporate.

Sound Design

Post production re-recording, foley, dialogue edit, audio cleanup, mixing and sound design.

 Please do get in touch to chat through your film sound requirements. I am based centrally in Shropshire and have easy access to the West Midlands and beyond.

ian.edwards@estm.co.uk

07961 295787

Location sound recording in the West Midlands serving Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, location sound mixer in Oxfordshire. Film sound recordist in Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Sound Recordist in Birmingham, Worcester, Hereford, Gloucester, Stafford, Birmingham and the Black Country. and travel UK wide. Post production sound, sound design, mixing, restoration and clean-up  operating remotely for anyone anywhere!