Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535880
78 M PS E . O R G the previous take in the 3-second pre-roll beep time and adjusting my pre-amp knob for each take. After the cloth is done, I quickly edit my cloth track and fix the noisy areas and the scene ends, so nothing goes beyond the commercial black cuts or hard scene cuts, while the Foley artist is preparing the shoes to start with the first main character's footsteps. In reality, when I record the cloth movement, I'm constantly aware of the production, noises in cloth, ticks, and pops that need removal, and most importantly, it's the best time for me to study the show. You want to intake as much information as possible about the show, the surfaces, special props that need building and prepping for, and any wet/water scenes that require us to fill the water pit or splash pit. If it's the first episode of a show, we start with testing certain shoes and decide which one suits each character the best as each shoe can help the performance of that character's acting. A killer's boots for example, will have to sound a lot different than another person with the same type of boots, so we have to pick and choose the important characters and give them the best options first. The order in which we record the footsteps (FS): So now we have to record all the main characters and then move on to non-mains, then background (BG) and foreground (FG) people going by. After that, it's time for a Group FS pass, which is 2 Foley artists walking at the same time with different shoes on each foot, so they can replicate 4 or more people walking as a group in one take. When we have more than 2 people walking at the same time and speed, Ok, now, it's time to start recording. Normally, Foley artists like to start by doing the cloth movement pass for the entire project first. (There are others who don't do it first, which is fine, but I personally prefer to do it first.) I like to move my Dialogue track right above the cloth track that I'm about to record. I normally make it wide so it helps me see all the waves in the dialogue and notice when I hear footsteps or certain props in production, and I mark them as we record the cloth without stopping. I also have to make sure that there are no stomach noises or growls recorded in the cloth movement. I carefully watch the cues go by, and make sure I'm not missing any important ones, and adjust the accuracy of their starting points and placements in real-time as the cloth is being recorded… If I hear any stomach noise during the record time, I just drop a marker and let it continue recording unless the artist stops the movement or we both stop to catch something we missed on a cut. I usually have shortcut macros assigned for my "Fix it" markers to drop with a few asterisks(****) so that it doesn't get mixed up with my regular markers for other purposes. Example: *****STMK or *****CUT CLOTH That way, when I drop in regular location markers, I can clearly distinguish my "Fix it" markers from other ones. It is only by frame-accurate cues that I'm able to record 500 to 700 sounds in a day with a professional Foley artist. The rest is techniques and speed that I acquired during years that allows me to record and edit at the same time and as the next cue is about to be recorded I'm nudging and adding fades to in the same direction, we can group them together. I never group main characters together, no matter what. GRP FS is only for backgrounds and non-main characters. When someone goes from left to right in the foreground or background I have to make sure the perspective in the mix is done right and the far/ close relation is respected during recording. If it's an interior shot, then I have to use our room mic with the close mic and mix it with more room mic (and sometimes reverb). And less close mic when the person is on the far left/right, then as they come closer, add more of the close mic and less of the room/reverb to bring them close to the camera and then again the opposite for when they leave the scene. My Brain Process for each cue that gets recorded: It's all about the mastery of those 3 faders in relation to what's happening in the scene, watching the sync, the volume, the emotion, the feel and the dynamic of the performance, and using your words to guide the artist to the right direction in order to achieve the best possible result for the sole purpose of making the project sound better and making the re-recording mixer's day easier. When I label my recordings, I always take into consideration how the re-recording mixer would like it. If a person is walking from L-R in the scene, my recorded audio's name starts like this: L-R BG MAN BOOTS CONCRETE FS, this way, even when it's zoomed out in the session by just looking at the name, they'll know to pan it from left to right without even playing it back. And on top of that, this audio will be in a track named L-R BG FS, and anyone who