Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/100015
we���ve never heard television series and films on television sound as bad as some of them are sounding now. ���In some cases, regardless of whether the print master meets the specification detailed by the film studio and network, engineering departments may still be engaging a ���sausage box��� on the program as it is transferred to the master as a hedge against a QC rejection. In some cases, a downstream QC department may be making that change before the network receives it and in some cases the network may be doing it in addition to all of the above. The result is background sound in quiet scenes being increased as loud as dialogue, and dialogue louder than action sequences, and action sequences that have absolutely no dynamic impact at all.��� OUTLOOK FOR 2013: ���2013 could be an interesting year as a result of the strategic adjustments made to some businesses during the later part of 2012.��� MARSHALL GRUPP COO/Managing Partner/Sound Designer Sound Lounge www.soundlounge.com New York City David Raines and the mix team for Hell on Wheels work out of Larson Studios in Hollywood. DAVID RAINES Re-recording Mixer Los Angeles This Australian-born re-recording mixer has worked on TV series such as Bent, Burn Notice and White Collar, as well as on films, like Minority Report, Deep Impact and The Chronicles of Riddick. His most recent series, Hell on Wheels, is mixed at Larson Studios. STRENGTHS: ���Our strength as an industry is our creative use of sound in the storytelling process, no matter how technology or business structures may change.��� WEAKNESSES: ���It���s going to take a tremendous effort from supervisors, mixers, producers and studios to correct the path that television seems to have started down with regards to the CALM Act. Remember, CALM stands for Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act. These perceived problems with loudness in television did not start on the film or series mix stage.��� OPPORTUNITIES: ���This is also one of our biggest opportunities: the technology that we have these days to deliver sound and picture masters from the mixing stage to the audience is amazing. If implemented well, the benefit to the dynamic way in which we tell dramatic stories can be incredibly satisfying for the audience, and for distributor���s returns, as a result.��� THREATS: ���The most recent threat to our clients��� stories being delivered to the television audience in terms of sound is the way the CALM Act is being interpreted and implemented by various networks and some upstream QC departments who see it as their responsibility to deliver masters ���in spec.��� Unfortunately, we���re hearing a lot of substandard series and film broadcasts now due to the misinterpretation and subsequent mishandling of program Dial Norm (LKFS). Of the many re-recording mixers I���ve spoken to about this, most agree that Sound Lounge specializes in audio for commercials and offers three Dolby-certified studios for 5.1 mixing. Recent work includes spots for Cadillac ATS, Fiat and Google Play. STRENGTHS: ���The more 5.1 surround becomes an important piece ��� in terms of home systems ��� and eventually with 3D as well, the more you have to maintain audio quality. You have to treat it the same as if you were sitting in a movie theater. There is an opportunity here to make audio not be the stepchild of the process. Audio is always considered the last little bit to do, but it is as critical to the story telling as shooting it, or directing it, or writing it.��� WEAKNESSES: ���There are a lot of little shops being created, because it���s easy to buy equipment, and it���s easy to set up a little room ��� I think that quality is being sacrificed for pricing. Yeah, you can do it cheaper in a little tiny room, but how much experience is there? There are a lot of elements that go into good audio post. I���m most concerned about the quality that���s out there.��� OPPORTUNITIES: ���There are so many places now where commercials are being sent. It���s not just a TV box anymore. It���s YouTube, it���s www.postmagazine.com Sound Lounge designed and mixed this Cadillac ATS vs. The World commercial. Post���������December���2012��� 43