Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1487730
M OT I O N P I CTU R E S O U N D E D I TO R S I 67 SSS: Do you cue in Nuendo? KW: The ADR panel for cueing is inside Nuendo. SSS: So when you're cueing, can you use the same session you cued in to record in? Or is it just a list? Like a grocery list? KW: Absolutely, yes. You use the same session with the cues to record in. BH: One of the things that it does that's really cool is when you record using the ADR panel that she's talking about in Nuendo, it automatically names the clips. We try to organize things for the re-recording mixers of similar things in similar tracks when they're mixing, but with this, they can look at the name of those clips, and know what it is and which character it's for. For instance, it'll be FS_CLAIRE_CONCRETE. They'll know exactly what it is by looking at the name. It automatically does the naming for you, which is pretty handy. SSS: The cueing and labeling that we do in Los Angeles, for footsteps is always the same, FS_CHARACTER_ SURFACE. And then the props are based on what is it? What are you doing? Or what are you doing and what is it? So footsteps and props are two totally different ways of labeling. Okay, so Katie, pertaining to the prop labeling in cueing, here's a test for you. Are you ready? [Laughter] Bryen, you're next. Katie, what's the difference between a squeak and a creak? KW: I would say a squeak would be more wet. And a creak would be more dry. And also, a creak might have more breaks in it. If that makes sense? SSS: Only a sound person would understand that. [Laughter] Is that your guess? Is that good? KW: Yeah, that's my guess. I'm bad at quizzes. SSS: Okay, Bryen, your turn. Same question. What's the difference between a squeak and a creak? BH: Hmm, well, my brain immediately went to whatever it is that's making those sounds. A creak is more wood; a door creaks, a boat creaks, a floor creaks, most of the time those are kind of wood things, whereas a squeak could be more of a metallic, a balloon, plastic, those kinds of things. So that's where my brain went to, was more of the material. Did we both fail? SSS: Oh, you both failed. [Laughter] This is the test you want to ask your audio people … and here is the answer to this question: Creaks are one element. Squeaks are two elements. And the way it works is if I'm walking on a wood floor, the floor is creaking from my weight distribution, which makes the floor creak. I don't creak. I know I'm old but I don't creak. The floor is creaking. So it's one element. Something is making that element move, but it's only the one element that you're hearing, which in this case is wood, whether it's a boat, a dock, or a floor, the wood is creaking. One element. Two elements cause a squeak. The most common is hinges. When a door opens and closes the hinges are going to squeak, not creak. This is a big one because there was a time when I was challenged on the Foley stage when my cueing was labeled creak when it should have been squeak and I didn't know there was a difference, and there is. If you are on a basketball court, when your shoe hits the floor, is that a squeak or a creak? It's a squeak because your foot slides across the floor. Two elements, the shoe, and the floor creates the squeak. The floor doesn't squeak, the shoe doesn't squeak, but together they make a squeak. BH: At the studio in the producer's office, we have a painted whiteboard, and we have one section every day that is for questions and pop culture and whatever we want to put up there. I'm putting that question up there tomorrow to see what kind of answers we get. SSS: Great! And tell them it's from 'Solange of Hollywood.' In 1985, I got a sign on my door for my birthday. It said, 'Solange of Hollywood, Queen of Foley,' and it has haunted me since 1985. I am still known as 'Hollywood.' [Laughter] Squeaks and creaks. Does that make sense? BH: It makes perfect sense. KW: It does make sense. Thank you! SSS: So it's very important to know how to properly label your props. BH: I love that. One thing I wanted to add about footstep performance that I think is one of the hardest things for any artist is when you're walking for somebody. Like I was saying earlier, everybody walks differently. If you just sit on a park bench and watch people, you'll see they all move differently. You can have a 110-pound woman step heavier than a 250-pound guy, but I think in the challenge as Foley artists is that you have to figure out how to walk. You could be a petite woman but walking as a 270-pound man, that's hard to do. It's hard to get that weight and that whatever. And vice versa. It's hard if you're a 250-pound guy like I am to walk like a smaller person, and learn how to move and be light on your feet or heavier on your feet. I think that's the really cool part of the art of it. And then having the right shoes and the right surfaces. SSS: Yes, the right shoes and the right surface is a big one. We do have Foley artists that are 250 pounds and are doing petite women. And we had a Foley team of two women doing Rambo. So it is possible. Katie, how do you record children? KW: Hmm. I feel like I need to get up and do it. When I've