Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1314367
14 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Fall 2020 so that when the Director arrives in the cutting room to catch up after the day's shooting, they can watch a cut and be completely immersed in a scene that has added score and sound effects. Increasingly, I am seeing Picture Editors cutting in 5.1. Ten years ago, this was rare but the phenomenon has become more and more the norm over that time. In my opinion, this attention to audio detail in picture editorial is great for production sound. Hearing the sonically polished Avid cut from the very beginning of the project promotes confidence in the performances we capture on the set. When Directors are hearing a really great burgeoning soundtrack in the cutting room from day one, they are more likely to be supportive of production sound rather than feeling ADR is the answer. A pessimistic view of the quality of the production soundtrack from Directors means the production sound crew is less likely to get that all-important directorial support, which could lead to more collaboration and respect from our colleagues in other departments. Another positive for our production sound mix as the Avid cut has started sounding better and better is that Directors and studios are more likely to use it for early test screenings of carefully chosen audiences to gauge opinion while still editing. There was a time when it was rare for the Avid cut to get shown without a proper temp mix by the sound editing team closer to the end of picture editing. Nowadays, using the Avid audio mix, the test screening process can begin far earlier. The ability for the Director to be able to show the Avid cut at almost any stage is incredibly positive for the production sound mix. The temp mix is still vitally important when the test screenings audience gets bigger as the movie is closer to picture lock. Every time the production sound mix is screened the Director and Picture Editor become more confident in the mix and its ability to support the performance and narrative, and less likely for the Director needing to use ADR for technical purposes. I am fully supportive of the use of ADR for performance or storytelling reasons, but I personally feel it is a shame when performances are re-recorded for technical reasons, unless absolutely necessary due to poor location sound. The time from picture wrap to theatrical release is often growing and the production sound mix remains within the Avid for many months (sometimes over a year!), due to a number of reasons, the main one being VFX delivery. Since this is the only reference the Director has to the performances, our production sound mix has to be great, and instil confidence, not just in the technical aspect of the recording but in the creative realm as well. So why is it necessary for the Dialog Editor to rebuild our production sound mix from the ISO's? I always look at it from the Dialog Editors' perspective. They understand that often we are shooting rehearsals; dealing with ad-libs, watching a monitor as we mix, assessing if we could get more carpet in for the next take to reduce footfalls, giving our boom ops edges of frame through comms as we shoot with two or three cameras, particularly if the cameras are using zooms. With the additional ISO tracks we record, there is so much more we are having to cope with. Along with the critical part of our jobs, adjusting input gains on mic pre-amps as we record. We are having to react to so many more variables during a take than purely mixing our faders. I feel it is more important to get the input gains on my mic pre- amps absolutely dialled in to provide technically excellent ISO tracks, rather than making sure the modulation on my mix track is perfect to nearest 1db. I am confident that the Dialog Editor will read my sound reports to find out which ISO components I used in my mix track, and work through my ISO's to decide whether my instinctive and fast-paced decision to use a boom for a line of dialog was misplaced, and the track would have benefitted from the actor's lavalier. We are able to provide choices for the Dialog Editor and it would be arrogant to assume that we always make the right choices between the lavs and booms when we are in the moment, during the creative process of a take. For that reason, I carefully write the elements of my mix on the sound reports, going into detail if need be. I am confident that I am delivering the best mix possible for what I perceive to be the Director's vision. " When Directors are hearing a really great burgeoning soundtrack in the cutting room from day one, they are more likely to be supportive of production sound rather than feeling ADR is the answer."