Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1353865
These are real questions from editors and student editors. ANDREW MACHT FROM MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASKS: How do you allocate your time, procedure and editing ability to people who pay less and request shorter turnarounds? Do you skip digging deep with RX or do you skip fi nding alts and work with what was presented, or do you only balance the dialogue edit? What do you do more or less of to save time in these instances? DIALOGUE DETECTIVE: These are good questions that are diffi cult to answer. If you asked 50 editors, all of us would have different answers. I was taught by my mom, Kay Rose (fi rst woman to win an Oscar for sound editing), that our reputations are our résumés. Your good work now will (hopefully) get you more work later. When Kay worked in TV, editing The Rifl eman and The Big Valley, she always stayed later than the other editors. One night, as they were leaving, they asked, "Why do you stay so late? It's just TV. No one's going to notice." She responded with, "If I don't do the best I can on TV, how will I be good enough to edit features?" She went on to do features. They stayed in TV. To answer your fi rst question, it's very personal. I know editors who edit according to budget—cut corners, slop it together, "No one will notice." I've never been and never will be one of those editors. I tend to edit the same way if I'm being paid over-scale union wages, receiving a few hundred dollars from an indie fi lmmaker or even work for free. Most indie fi lmmakers have no clue what we do as sound editors for their fi lms, which often have more sound problems because of their indie status. I try to educate them. I've had directors ask me to work for free because "Everyone else worked on the fi lm for free." I ask, "How long did they work on it?" "A day or two." I tell them that to edit their 10-minute fi lm, it will probably take me at least three or four days to edit, depending on how well (or not) the production sound was recorded; how complicated the sound effects work is; what about Foley? Do you need an M&E? Would I need to mix, as well as edit? Some fi lmmakers don't know what I'm even asking. This is where education comes in. Sound editors are often on the low end of the fi lm totem pole. "We get no respect!" This is why the MPSE started in 1953—to give sound editors recognition for all of our hard work. Here's a recent example from my own work life. A friend of mine, a director of photography, shot a short documentary (20 minutes) and did her own sound work (due to budget and against her own recommendation). She wanted me to work on it because she knew I could fi x some bad sound problems. I edited a sample scene to show the director what could be done to help the interviewee's distortion. My friend thought the director only had $1,000 for the edit/mix and that she would pay me more, out of her own pocket. I sent the director my usual questions before committing to it. (Posted below) Via emails, he didn't tell me what his budget was. He asked what my rate was. In my quest to be more particular and specifi c before taking on low- budget projects, I told him what my usual, professional rate was. I thought my 40 years of experience would show him what a bargain he was getting! I thought we would then have a discussion. I didn't expect him to pay me my usual rate. But I wanted him to know what I am worth, professionally. He wrote back, without answering any of my questions or having any other discussion and said, "I can't afford you and I've gotten someone else." That hurt. I was looking forward to helping my friend because she was embarrassed by the bad sound and knew I could make her look good. She felt bad that he dismissed me and told me that this was his fi rst fi lm and didn't know how to communicate with me. My thoughts are: I'm sad not to help my friend but maybe I saved myself a big hassle of working on yet another project for little money. I imagine he went with someone less experienced. There's a saying: "If you don't have enough money to get it done right the fi rst time, you won't have enough money to fi x it later." I've been passed over for being "out of their league" money-wise only for them to come back to me later to fi x it. These are issues I wrestle with in the indie world. For me personally, I cannot not do my best to fi x whatever issues I fi nd. It's like seeing trash on the fl oor and not picking it up. I guess that's called "sound consciousness!" If I hear something bad, I want to fi x it. I have to fi x it. I can't pretend I didn't hear it. I must decide if it's worth it to me to work on something that I won't get paid properly for. But I'm retired. I don't need to build my résumé or get higher paying jobs. I can afford to do it or not. For working editors, there are a few reasons to take on a lower paying project. 1. To build your résumé of work and gain more experience. 2. To establish relationships with fi lmmakers in hopes of doing future work with them (i.e., better paid jobs) as long as you clearly state that you are giving them a "discount" in the hopes of future work. 3. You like the project or the people and you want to be a part of it. It's something you would be proud to have your name in the credits. There are a few negotiating points for taking on lower budget, short turnaround projects for less money. 1. Ask for an upfront credit. Especially if you're doing both sound editing and mixing. 2. Give them an invoice with what you normally would charge for the hours you put in. And then put a column for "indie discount" rate. This way, they can see what you would charge them BY VICKIE SAMPSON MPSE DEAR DIALOGUE DETECTIVE