As my look at the sound of Episode III continues, I think it is time to address the voice and overall sound design of one of my favorite characters in the Prequels, General Grievous. First off, I think Supervising Sound Editor Matthew Wood did a fantastic job! I know this wasn't his first time putting his voice into the films (In Episode I he did a line for one of the podracers Ody Mandrell, and in Episode II he voiced one of the aliens in a speeder during the chase on Coruscant...with a few more lines in the Special Edition Original Trilogy.)

The performance Grievous gives was a highlight for me. I was curious how it was going to play, but was pleasantly entertained during all of his scenes. I especially like Matt's Eastern European Accent that he gave the character. He creates such an interesting sound that you wouldn't typically look for in a character who is a droid. The modifications used on the voice for the " electronic droid" sound gives a very unique touch. It's not your typical "droid vocabulator" technique. Grievous sounds like an organic mouth is really producing the speech, but is being processed through a "chamber-like" vocabulator. It' gives it a feel that Grievous is speaking from behind his artificial skull mask. It works quite well. I also like very much the coughing which is a very cool thing to see on screen. It really shows that Grievous is an organinc creature inside a droids body. It's also cool to see that there is a back story to it when you watch the final episode of the Clone Wars series. That's what is great about the sound of General Grievous. A simple noise can produce a lot of depth to a character. It's the sound design and editing which gives any CGI or animated image some credibility. If the sound is done well enough, then the image has some truth to it.

He's done a terrific job with the overall picture sound editing. I think he truly is the next Ben Burtt. We are only beginning to see what he's capable of. As somone once said, "We will watch your career with great interest."