Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1491103
"The boom needs to stay on set [and] communicate with people who are actually on set. The mixer needs to stay at the mixing station. So, I'm the only free hand. I can be floating around. I can do anything and everything in between those things. I wire all the actors, sometimes you need a second boom on set, sometimes the mixer needs to use the restroom, so I'll mix that take. Then, it's the little things. I write laundry slips to get our straps laundered and sent to costume. I see if any background people have very loud shoes, and I'll cut foam for their shoes. Basically, I sometimes consider myself their support." Inquiring as to whether the utility was the individual who is dealing mostly with the Costume Department, Rebecca responded, "Yes, I almost always end up being good friends with the on-set costumers, and I deal with the actors a lot, too. My favorite aspect of the job, I think, has to do with my personality in that I'm important enough, but not too important. But also wiring people, it's like a challenge, I love it. I often say, 'Not all chest hairs are created the same.'" Ashley McKinney gave us a peek into the somewhat mysterious world of the picture assistant. Often first on and last off on a project, the picture assistant manages massive amounts of information and is responsible for turning over the necessary assets from editorial to sound. Karol asked Ashley, "How standard is what you need to deliver to the Sound Department in a turnover?" Ashly responded, "It's typically an EDL, AAF, and a picture reference. Everyone has their own personalized specs and the way they want the timeline organized. I have to constantly be checking to make sure I'm giving them exactly what they want." Ashley continued, "Before the edit starts, I use a dailies house to sync the footage. After I double- check their work, I'll go through and I'll group all the setups, add markers, note anything that was in the camera reports or in the sound reports. I do look at them—I swear [we] are not sending them into a void! And then give it all to the picture editor to cut. Sometimes I'll get to cut some temp stuff, including temp sound effects." Karol shared, "Every once in a while, my picture editors will pull lines from different scenes and cut them together. How does that situation manifest?" "We have to have a really intimate relationship with the footage because notes happen and you have to have creative solutions to resolve those notes. A lot of times, putting a different take in an actor's mouth comes from a performance issue. So, trying to solve that beat can [come] from a lot of different creative places. After the edit, I will be the one who sends everything to the sound supervisor, sound assistant, or the sound editor. It really just depends project to project." David Stanke is an assistant sound editor. As a liaison between the Picture Department and sound editorial, one of the biggest tasks of the sound editorial assistant is creating the dialogue assembly. During picture edit, the picture editor will often use the mix track created by the on-set production sound mixer. While a great tool for developing the picture edit, during a final mix, having multiple mics married together can limit a dialogue editor and reduce the re-recording mixer's available resources to achieve the best results. David explains, "When I start a project, I'll use the sound EDL to assemble the production dialogue. We'll name everything with our naming structure, I'll convert the AAF into a Pro Tools session for our editors, and assemble the dialogue so the dialogue editor can have access to all