MPSE Wavelength

Fall 2020

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34 I M PS E . O R G visual confirmation that the pic and sound are running in sync by checking the Edge Codes on the film and mag tracks. After daily screening, a paper log is created of information compiled from each take's Scene and Take numbers, feet and frame count in and out, Edge Codes, and keycodes. Camera logs and production recording sound logs are also included. Copies are shared with me of continuity's marked-up script showing the line coverage and shot description of each camera's setups. This information comprises the analog "Metadata" of that particular edited shot. This information is shared with the dialogue editors and the Transfer Room. The sound recording logs are an essential source of information for the transfer person to make mag reprints of the selected production tracks. The dialogue editors use these reprints for replacing the mag work tracks. KEYCODE NUMBERS: Kodak embedded a latent image of keycode numbers into every unexposed roll of film. The code numbers advance every 20 frames, so each code number is unique. Once the exposed negative is processed, these codes are copied to every workprint struck from that negative. When the film editing is complete, the keycode numbers on the final workprint cut and refer to the keycode numbers on the negative. They are used when the negative or the inner positive is conformed to the cut workprint. The following describes my week as a supervising sound editor and dialogue/ADR supervisor-editor on the series, L.A. Law ('89-'93), a filmed produced and posted TV series in 1993. This Steven Bochco-David E. Kelley series was in its last year of linear analog film/mag post- production. The series continued for one more year as a hybrid film/digital production. The series was shot in super 16mm and immediately transferred to Panasonic D-5 tape with the digital sound and timecode. A ¾" U-Matic cassette is struck and loaded into an Avid Media Composer and Sonic Solutions systems for digital editing. I did not work on the 1994 L.A. Law season as, at the time, I was strictly a film-based editor. As my craft had become outdated, I was lucky to be able to train myself on USC Cinema's Avid and Pro Tools systems when I joined the faculty in 1994. While mixing on the final day of the mix, the next week's episode is screened for me on the Fox lot. The entire show was screened with the associate producer to highlight specific effects to include in the EFX editing and where the dialogue was to be programmed for the principal and group ADR sessions. I took notes with footages and brief descriptions of sound effects and ADR required. As a backup, I always took a small voice recorder to get the full version of what the associate producer said. Since the sound on the edited work track was limited to a single-mag track, all clipped dialogue was up to me to spot and alert the dialogue editors about what sound edits to fix. After the spotting session on Friday, this series' sound post-production had a seven-day turnaround that ran from Saturday to the last day of mixing, the following Friday. Left top to bottom: Slate clapper board on set. Analog post work flow; editor pulling pic & sound through sync block; Edge Codes, Key Edge numbers.

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