Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1335892
24 I M PS E . O R G remember! We laid out the session to make it easy for the mixer to mix. We put similar takes on the same tracks to make EQing easier. We checkerboard ambiences or carry the "heaviest" ambience under the least heavy ambience. Mixers' time on a dub stage is way more costly than what editors are paid. Use your time to make it go like butter on the dub stage. Your producer will thank you. The mixers will appreciate you. Now, a lot of us are doing both—I do a little mixing when I edit (depending on if I'm also the mixer!) and mixers do a bit of editing when they need to. The lines have become blurred between who does what. In all of this, it's important to remember that the story dictates what you do to it. I think having separate jobs ultimately makes the fi lm better. That's why there are so many people involved in making a fi lm. It's good to have other eyes and ears seeing and listening as the movie is coming together, both on set and off. My struggles as a dialogue editor really come from badly recorded production sound. The worse it is, the more problems there are and the more time it will take to fi x it. As I've witnessed production sound techniques deteriorating, the more the quality of the sound suffers and unfortunately is more accepted. It's almost as if no one remembers what good sound sounds like. Listen to some of the fi lms from the '80s. Mostly recorded with good boom mics. Full, rich sound. Today's fi lms sound squished—too much lav. I can't blame the production mixers. They are dealing with lots of problems too. What do you all think!? Drop me your comments! I'm going to consult some production mixers on this one. The more time spent "fi xing" badly recorded production sound, the less time you get to be creative. But as we always say, "Problems in production sound are our job security!" Struggles and obstacles and fi guring out how to overcome and fi x them is what makes you a more valuable editor. And that's the fun part for me as a dialogue editor. What is the problem? How is the best way to fi x it? It's like a big puzzle to solve and that's how you become a great DIALOGUE DETECTIVE! HELLO DIALOGUE DETECTIVES! I'd like to pose some questions: Since COVID, have you invested in your own equipment? Have you installed your own home mix stage? Your own Foley stage? Your own ADR booth? Where do you see the future of sound editing going? If you've been editing from home, what are your likes and dislikes? For those editors who used to work at a studio, do you miss being there? Do you think there has been more independent work for you during COVID? If so, what kind of work? How will editing from home a‡ ect your taxes? Will you be spoiled by working from home? How have you divided your work time and home time and do you like editing from home? Here's one answer from editor and mixer TOM BOYKIN in Oregon: "I partnered with a local theater to mix in. After some room tuning and calibration, I have my own dub stage and also help keep a small independently owned theater in business at a time when the cinema industry is really struggling. "I also have a small 5.1 mix room at home, but my clients and I prefer the theater. It's bigger and has great popcorn! I would have to spend $100,000 to $200,000 to build a similar room so it's a win-win." VICKIE: What a great, thinking- outside-of-the-box solution this is! Small independent theaters might be very open to an offer like this. Editing (and living) is all about fi nding ways to improve your situation, just like dialogue editing. Find what's wrong. Figure out a way to best fi x it. It's all discovery. Please answer or ask any questions by dropping me a line in time for the next issue! Visit Vickie Sampson: Dialogue Detective on Facebook or contact me through Wavelength magazine. The Rio Theatre in Sweet Home, Oregon (population 9,619). Shuttered by the pandemic, mixer Tom Boykin rented it out to predub and fi nish several feature fi lms in 2020. The two room venue features a Christie projection system and front array from a former IMAX array in Texas. Up to 8 channels of audio and 1080p video were sent from Pro Tools via HDMI, allowing both 5.1 and 7.1 mixes.