Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1491103
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 51 Scoring mixer Shawn Murphy Workflow: Mic to Mix This year's Sounding Board began with the "Workflow: Mic to Mix" panel, moderated by Bob Bronow CAS. The esteemed panel gave a glimpse into its day-to-day responsibilities, experiences, and best practices. As a bonus, the panel also discussed ways to improve communication between departments. The first speaker was production sound mixer Devendra Cleary CAS. The production sound mixer builds a line of communication between their team and key members of the other departments. According to Devendra, it's important to "build a good team that you gel with." The on-set sound team generally consists of a boom operator and a sound utility person. "When you have those two key players in place, you have a gel with these people, and you try to have a setup that's really efficient, so you're ready to roll really quickly." When on set, Devendra explains, "First you watch a rehearsal and see what the actors are doing. I trust in my boom operator to come up with a plan rather than micromanaging. I generally go, 'You're the one that's out there … you're making the calls here; I'll mix it all together.' The utility puts all the wires on the actors. It's my job to make sure all the frequencies are coordinated and then we do our best and try to record the scene and have it be as usable as possible." Supervising sound editor Andrew Dawson discussed his role in the process next. The supervising sound editor is responsible for coordinating and delegating all the sound editorial tasks outside of music. Andrew has an assistant assembling the dialogue while he attends client meetings and spotting sessions. He analyzes every line in the dialogue assembly to build an ADR list and sends along notes to the dialogue and effects editors, ADR, and the Foley Department. Andrew explains, "These days, it's expected that the dialogue editor will cut the boom track, scrutinize all the isos, phase align the isos, and have all of it available on the stage. I'm a supervisor who also edits, so I know how time-consuming that can be. But there is a payoff; I don't think dialogue has ever sounded better. Between all the tracks and tools we have, it's incredible what we can save." Another vital link in the chain is the ADR mixer. ADR mixer Judah Getz CAS explains, "ADR is interesting because there is a lot of anticipation before the session because everyone wants to make sure it goes right. Everyone has had terrible ADR sessions—and they don't want another one! So, there's a lot of emails back-and- forth, and a lot of preparation. I reach out to the supervisor to find out which mics the production team used so I'm as prepared as possible. Before the session, I load in the picture and the guides, cue up what I've been sent, and listen to the scenes to try and understand how it's been miked. On a lot of playbacks, I'll do my own blend to get it to match. A lot of it is location and what your room sounds like. Every ADR stage has its own character. The biggest thing I can do is to be prepared from a technical standpoint, and to make the actors feel comfortable on a basic human level." Music editor Johnny Caruso has the task of coordinating with almost everyone, including the showrunner, composer, picture editor, supervising sound editor, and re-recording mixer. Johnny explained how he starts with the temp tracks and improves them. "People fall in love b y C A S A s s o c i a t e S a m C a s a s Andrew Dawson Devendra Cleary CAS Jonathan Greasley CAS Johnny Caruso Judah Getz CAS Event photos courtesy of Chris Schmitt Photography