Video: How Peter Jackson is bringing sound and color to World War 1:

For a new documentary, LOTR director Peter Jackson is restoring old footage from World War 1 in full color, and with added sound as well. This interesting behind-the-scenes video shows the work that went into restoring the visuals, and at 3:55 into the video, sound designer Dave Whitehead shares some insights on how the sound was re-created:

Highlighting the moment in sound when the guns fell silent as World War 1 ended:

The Smithsonian highlights a powerful sound re-creation from the Imperial War Museum in London – done by audio production company Coda – highlighting the moment the guns fell silent as World War 1 ended:

How sound was recorded during WW1:

“Magnetic tape didn’t exist yet and recording technology was in its infancy, requiring sound to be mechanically produced using a needle and soft wax or metal. Taking such machines into the field was not practical. Still, there were people on the front recording.

Special units used a technique called “sound ranging” to try and determine where enemy gunfire was coming from. To do so, technicians set up strings of microphones—actually barrels of oil dug into the ground—a certain distance apart, then used a piece of photographic film to visually record noise intensity. The effect is similar to the way a seismometer records an earthquake. Using that data and the time between when a shot was fired and when it hit, they could then triangulate where enemy artillery was located—and adjust their own guns accordingly.

At least one bit of that “sound ranging” film survived the War—the film recording the last few minutes of World War I when the guns finally fell silent at the River Moselle on the American Front.”

Read more on the sound over at the Smithsonian here.

(thanks to Alejandro Yllarramendy for spotting the Peter Jackson video)