Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/713016
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y S U M M E R 2 0 1 6 33 RX plug-in on their screen and I'll hear them make a few passes until they are happy with the shaping and cleaning. I just watch, listen, and learn. Sometimes you are hanging around long enough to join the mixers, sound editors, and post supervisors for lunch. This can be a much more relaxed atmosphere to ask questions. I guarantee they will ask you questions as well, for example, "Is that apartment set near the stage door?", "Is that air conditioning chiller for you guys or for another stage?" This can result in some informa- tive feedback such as what they can notch out, what scenes sounded really great, and when and why they may need isos in a scene even if they always try to use the mix and boom tracks. PLAY-BY-PLAY A few years back, I was on hiatus from a one-hour series. I had time to visit the mix sessions every single week for the remainder of the episodes. These sessions were taking place at Todd-AO/Soundelux in Santa Monica at the Lantana facility (RIP). I have to say as a side note, even with my limited post-sound knowledge, I could tell this facility was something special. A vast amount of magical filmmaking had taken place right there and I could certainly feel that vibe in the air. It is heartbreaking that it has since closed its doors. I invited my boom operator, Chris Walmer, to sit in on this particular mix session. The dialogue mixer was work- ing on a specific scene that starts out with quiet dialogue between our two main actors sitting at a bar. In production, I had mixed with the lavaliere mics—even though we had a boom over their heads. This was because of their very low-level speech. Even without the challenge of shooting wide-and-tight frames, this speech was so low that this was the preferred way to pull the dialogue out. The scene then transitioned to a karaoke host announcing the next singer—and his dialogue was captured with a practical, dynamic, handheld mic, as well as a lavaliere. No boom was over the host, due to a hard spotlight preventing a pole and mic from being there without an egregious shadow in the camera's frame. Same for our other cast member who next took the stage to sing. This actor was ear wigged and singing live to the track in his ear. This was also captured primarily with the practical handheld mic, though this actor was also wearing a lavaliere. Next, one of our main cast members from the earlier part of the scene is called to the stage and sings a song as well. Same thing, he was ear wigged and sang to the track in his ear. This vocal performance seemed intentionally unusable because the actor (by choice) wanted to re-record the song in post as ADR or ASR (automated singing replacement—Ha!). b y D e v e n d r a C l e a r y C A S This was a fairly challenging dialogue scene for the re- recording mixer. As my boom operator and I were watching and listening to this on the dub stage, we were remember- ing the challenges of the day, yet we also knew that we had captured the scene to the best of our abilities. We listened as the dialogue mixer went through every line from the beginning of the scene with the quiet dialogue over and over again, making similar choices as I did on the day of produc- tion. Now, they had the opportunity to make it even cleaner, crisper, and better balanced. We watched with great mystery as the dialogue mixer was cleaning up some dialogue. Chris asked what he was doing exactly and I did not have a precise answer for him. We wished he could have given us a play-by- play of the steps he was taking—but it was day one of the mix and I knew that we couldn't slow the process. In the end, the scene sounded great and with no ADR (other than the preplanned redo of the second vocal per- formance)—even though there was concern after hearing it rough and unfinished only 15 minutes earlier. So, this is when I realized that, sometimes, it's important to accept the fact that we have to watch and learn and be a fly-on-the-wall. But if you keep attending week after week, you may encoun- ter more relaxed moments where the re-recording mixers can share with you their play-by-play. EXECUTIVE COMPANY Attending the mix on a "day two" and during the afternoon playback can often involve executive producer attendance. This gets interesting. I have experienced a variety of sce- narios while attending the mix alongside this power pres- ence. On one hand, it can be very simple when they are very low maintenance with almost zero notes for the entire episode. It can also be very craft-oriented and they want your feedback to be included along with anyone else's. This always surprises me because I feel that, on the dub stage, I am outside my expertise zone and I ask myself, "What can I contribute?" But then I realize I am another set of ears who deeply cares about this project and that makes me thank my lucky stars that this situation is in front of me. I pay close attention and I take notes alongside the associate producer and executive producers. Sometimes my notes are actually implemented! Though my goal is to not derail anything. Now, on the other hand, it can be very business-oriented and a schmooze fest. This may sound disingenuous but, to be honest, sometimes, we production sound mixers need to hustle and get the next job! I have been to very serendipitous mix sessions where I'm not sure I would have been invited to this executive producer's next pilot if not for bonding with them on a personal level after the mix, when we all (and I mean ALL: associate producer, sound supervisor,