Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538091
(production sound mixer), a boom operator (also called 1st assistant sound, or 1st AS) and a utility sound technician (or 2nd AS). On the post side, we'd have a supervising sound editor overseeing several colleagues, such as a re-recording mixer, a dialogue editor, a Foley team, and an ADR mixer. Unscripted television, which hit its stride some 20 years ago, has all but replaced horror films, music videos, and low-budget features as the training ground for young filmmakers. Consequently, producers and directors tend to concentrate on the visual element and disregard sound, especially on television, thus curtailing some of these traditional sound roles. Nowadays, a PSM on a TV show will find it hard to persuade their production manager that a second boom operator will be needed for that long eight-person scene. Younger gaffers may have never learned how to place "cutters" on the set to help the boom operator avoid casting shadows. The sound department is rarely included in location scouts—and, if they are, they're not empowered to reject a problematic location. Things aren't much better in post-production. Increasingly aware of how powerful our tools of the trade are, producers place on post the burden of fixing production issues, and the deadlines for post keep getting pushed—and reduced—to give picture editors time to finesse their cut. The independent film and nonunion domains have similar challenges. Counting on a 2nd AS during production is now a rare luxury, and a shocking number of narrative projects make do with a one-person sound department (referred to as the now outdated term "One-Man Band," or OMB), and post- production teams rely on jacks-of-all-trades who can compose, mix, and record ADR to make the budgets work. This was confirmed by Andrés Boulton (supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer for films such as Black Girl Missing and What About Love, among many others), who often finds himself chasing production sound reports, or trying to contact the PSM to inquire about alternate takes or unique location sounds. He feels that the biggest source of friction is that bridge between production and post-production. Having a voice in that crucial phase would save him tons of headaches. Echoing Mangini's refrain about being an unpaid advocate for sound, Boulton embraces the idea of a Director of Sound. He sees this role as an analog to the Director of Photography, whose job would start from the table read, recommending or approving the most suitable production sound team, helping establish workflows and, basically, guiding the process along through its final delivery. Formalizing this role would have several benefits. First and foremost, a unified aesthetic vision, but also reducing costs by fostering better communication amongst teams and departments and making the workflow more efficient. For instance, the Director of Sound would be empowered to recommend the production sound team and propose an aesthetic vision for the soundscape of the narrative, which would dictate the workflow, and have consonance through all the phases of the process. Legend Randy Thom CAS, Director of Sound Design at Skywalker Sound, found this proposal appealing. He pointed out it's common in Europe, but because of inertia and production and post-production being separate worlds, he thinks that has held us back. "That's the main reason I've always been in favor of the CAS and MPSE merging into one Mark Mangini Andrés Boulton