Mosman High old girl Naomi Watts in Oscar red carpet school reunion with rising young star
AS if attending her first Oscars wasn’t exciting enough, young Sydney actress Scout Silbersher has returned to tell fellow students how the name of their school stopped Naomi Watts in her tracks.
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ALL it took to get the attention of Hollywood actress Naomi Watts on the red carpet at this year’s Oscars was to say the magic words “Mosman High”.
Immediately Watts heard the words, she was happy to pose on the red carpet at the Oscars with current Mosman High School student Scout Silbersher, 15.
Watts herself is a former pupil of Mosman High School.
Scout’s mother Ricky Silbersher revealed the celebrity encounter after the family recently returned from America.
Ms Silbersher and partner David White, along with Scout, attended the lavish Oscars ceremony.
White won the Oscar for best sound editing for Mad Max: Fury Road with fellow sound editor Mark Mangini
Ms Silbersher explained she spotted Naomi Watts on the red carpet.
“I just pointed at Naomi and said ‘Mosman High’ and then I pointed at Scout and said ‘Mosman High’ and that was enough — Naomi smiled and stopped for a photo with Scout.”
Watts then apologised to Scout for being unable to stay and chat.
Scout, who wants to be an actor, said she was “gobsmacked’ by the Oscars.
A talented singer, she is currently paying off her $500 Oscars’ ticket by busking.
The family had only just settled back into their home at McMahons Point before White leaves this week for LA.
He’s now in demand in Hollywood but plans on enticing film studios to use tax incentives and bring post-production projects to Australia.
“Australia has incredible talent, really creative people,’’ says White.
White said he was “exuberant, excited and exhilarated” by his Oscars win.
In his Oscars speech (and he only had eight seconds to deliver it), White raised his arms in a triumphant “Yeh! Aussies! Yeh!
He told the audience he was “proud to work on this loud, loud, loud film which actually has some silence in it”.
White said he worked 24/7 for 15 months on the Mad Max film which called for “very gritty and very macho” sound effects.
He explains even four seconds of a car crash can call for a whole palette of “sliding, scraping and tearing sounds”.
“A film without good sound is like a bad school play,’’ he said.
White wanted to create unique sounds for the Mad Max films and even used a couple of car wrecks on a rural property at Bathurst, experimenting with bashing and crashing.
He says director George Miller was a highly intelligent and articulate man but working with him involved “finding a way into George Miller’s head” to understand his vision.
There was no initial script for the film just 3000 storyboards illustrating the action.
Designing sound for films was not all about technical expertise, according to White.
“The access point for sound design is an emotional understanding of the story and the characters’ journey,’’ he said.
“Put simply if a character goes through a door, does the door squeak or slam or close properly?
You can’t get the sound of the door right unless you understand the character.”
Ms Silbersher and her daughter are originally from Pound Ridge in New York State and she met White at a barbecue in Neutral Bay eight years ago.
Scout, who is named after the girl in To Kill A Mockingbird starred in the show 13 — A New Musical at the Bryan Brown Theatre last year.
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