Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1401019
18 I m ps e . o rg Here is a question asked on my Dialogue Detective Facebook page with some answers from real editors around the world! MHARI M. ASKS: Dear Dialogue Detective, I'm going to be starting my fi rst job as a freelance dialogue editor on a TV show drama in the UK for BBC (my background is as a general sound editor for TV ). What would be your top tips for a fi rst-timer doing a big production? What is something you'd wished somebody told you on your fi rst job? Any words of wisdom welcome! ANSWERING MHARI'S QUESTION From Gillian D. Get paid weekly rather than per episode. With the amount of re-cuts allowed these days, you could end up earning very little if you are not on a weekly deal. Ask for the re-recording mixers' proposed schedule early— they often ask for the dialogues way in advance of the fi nal mix—where they often do four episodes in a row— so you are expected to turn over way quicker than anyone else. Find out how they are planning on shooting the ADR. Or is someone else covering ADR? On TV shows, it is a massive undertaking with you having to jump around on episodes so the production doesn't call an actor in more than once—this eats into your dialogue edit like crazy so hopefully, you have a separate team on that. Working on television is way harder than doing a fi lm so, ask for help if you need it. Good luck and remember, it's supposed to be fun rather than super stressful! From Daniel W. I also feel like that due to the superb content of the streaming services, the expectations of the clients rise, even though they neither have the budget nor the time for us editors/ mixers to deliver the same quality. At least that's what I feel like is the case here in Germany. From Ryan C. Be in SUPER SUPER SUPER good coordination with the sound supervisor you're working for because there are many ways to cut dialogue and even if what you're doing is technically "correct," it may not be what is needed and wanted for the dub stage, so continuously fi nd out if what you are providing is working and how to do it better. If it's a show that has been going on for a while, then you're stepping into an already humming machine, so fi nd out what was successfully being done before you came on and continue doing that. One instance of this is some mix stages, ESPECIALLY on an episodic drama with many episodes, will have templates and set standards for how things are laid out that are the same for each episode. A show I cut dialogue for had a limit of eight dialogue tracks because that's how it fi t on the mix board so I had to make the dialogue edit work within eight tracks and no more. Ask the sound supervisor if there is a template they'd like you to use. Ask about noise reduction and how far they'd like you to take it. Rule of thumb is you handle anything vertical (clicks, periodic transient noises) and the mixing handles anything horizontal (hums, buzzes, rizzes, etc.). When you're just starting out with a new team, I suggest you do not change ANYTHING from what is in the guide track, including adding alt takes. Usually alt (alternate) takes need to be approved all the way up so if it's in the guide track, it stays in your edit and you can provide alts and changes you want to make on separate tracks but even if that one tiny breath seems so insignifi cant to you and you delete it without muting it or keeping it available for the mix stage, that's the one the director, editor and/or producer will say, "STOP! WHERE'S THAT BREATH I HAD IN THERE???" and that's a big no-no. The guide track is KING. FROM DIALOGUE DETECTIVE I think the main thing is that you want to listen as if you are the audience. Do you hear things clearly enough the fi rst time through? Flag places in your mind that seem to be a problem. Investigate alternate takes or even words before assigning it to ADR if you can. Remove and fi ll sound that shouldn't be there: clicks, pops, off -stage noises. These sounds subconsciously aff ect the audience's suspension of disbelief. The main thing is to keep the same noise floor sounds on the same tracks. Usually the same noise floor (behind the words) will be consistent from angle to angle in the same take. Find out who the mixer will be and ask how far you would need to go with plug-ins and clip gain and volume graphing. Many mixers throw out volume graphing but will keep clip gain. Don't bake anything in. If you need to take out noise floor hum, etc., fi rst edit it raw, editing the piece as if that's what they have to use (i.e., take out clicks, pops, etc.), then make a copy of it and put it in the DIAL X tracks, then do the de-noise, de-hum, etc. Editing dialogue is all about smoothing out any change your ears hear. You're really editing the noise floor. And you have to create fi ll for angles that have the heaviest sound so that the noise floor is the same. Listen to takes over and over to train your ears to hear for things you can remove. Also, make sure you receive all the mics that were used! Sometimes they don't get ingested properly into the fi lm editor's session or they used a combine track. You must be a dialogue detective! Don't just get two second handles. Ask for ten or ask for all the takes separately. You may have to fi nd solutions in a part of the take that aren't in the handle. Make sure your track layout is laid out well. When in doubt, ask the mixer. Always follow the guide track. It is your road map. BY VICKIE SAMPSON MPSE DEAR DIALOGUE DETECTIVE