Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1335010
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I W I N T E R 2 0 2 1 23 noise and digital error can happen when tracks come in heavily distorted as well. Sometimes filmmakers will identify the audible distortion as performance. I have had it described as a "quiver" in the voice that seems missing when the distortion is repaired. They hear more clarity but wonder, "Where is the 'quiver.'" I have even been asked to address Quality Control notes after a mix that question a piece of dialogue that was included by specific client request and insistence due to a noise they were used to hearing in the temp. It is easy to "listen past" an aspect of something you hear very often. But to the fresh ear, that same aspect of the recording is found distracting and identified correctly as error. Is on-set noise reduction justified and, if so, in what situation(s)? ST: Live-to-air and a noisy FX heavy set. I do think the mixer should record the dry signal and label it well for post- production. I wonder about how this technology will affect the choosing of locations. On Modern Family, we used Bristol Farms in Westwood as a regular location. It was the worst location because it had a ton of refrigeration that is noisy and would intermittently kick on and off. Just to get something usable (I never liked how it sounded), I had to ask the actors to speak up, which helped our cause. Dean Okrand CAS, our re-recording mixer, did a great job using CEDAR to clean up the dialogue. So, will the producer who's on set (and may or may not be on the dub stage) say, "That location didn't sound that bad to me," when asked if we should go there again? [If so], what that producer didn't realize was that he or she was listening to a noise-reduced signal over a cheap pair of headsets. DM: In today's [unscripted] run-and-gun environments, it should be a prerequisite. I love being able to optimize my mix track that I'm printing on SD card and transmitting to the cameras with noise reduction as I see fit in the moment, while preserving the ISO tracks for post to make their decisions on later. CM: The most important thing is to use it in a non- destructive manner. So, I will always create a noise- reduced mix and a raw mix or NR ISO's and raw ISO's. I never do anything that cannot be undone. It is important for the editor to have the best cutting [version of] sound even though it will be remixed in sound post. KU: When the noise floor is too high for audibility or live-to- tape, perhaps. Can you share an experience or two of on-set noise reduction use and what you feel may be pros and cons? ST: I use noise reduction in post all day long. One thing I've learned is that dialogue sounds better with a little reduction used by multiple processors in multiple passes. You can easily take the life out of the dialogue hitting the noise reduction too hard. I was re-recording an independent feature called Baby Money last summer. Baby Money is a robbery-gone-wrong movie taking place in and around one house where the robbers are hiding. On certain angles there were loud crickets, but clean on other angles. In iZotope, it's really easy to see the crickets and remove them. In other scenes of this movie, the generator was a little too close so I had to use CEDAR and reduce the generator sound to mask it with other backgrounds and sound FX. DM: Two really effective uses of noise reduction this year for me were on Ellen's Design Challenge in a very noisy, high SPL workshop and another was on a film I mixed in Thermal, California, that required air conditioning during the first week of September due to 120°F ambient temperatures. In both cases, NoiseAssist was active on my 833, varying between -4 dB and -8 dB, to remove air conditioning and compressor and fan noises from the dialogue tracks mixed. CM: I have used noise reduction on every film I have worked on since John Carter, [including] Snow White and the Huntsman, Captain Phillips, Gravity, Wonder Woman, Ready Player One and three films in the Mission: Impossible franchise. [I recall the] first time that I incorporated a CEDAR permanently into my rig. I was working on John Carter of Mars and, as we moved to a new set, I was surprised to see that MAC 2000 moving lights had been installed on the set. The director was very concerned, Audionamix IDC CEDAR DNS1500 CEDAR DNS 2