Dialogue Editing

92 MANAGING YOUR TIME
• What are the unusual problems?
• Ballpark, how much ADR is necessary?
That’s all. But that’s a lot.
Use an Evaluation Form and Past Project Timesheets
When I screen a fi lm for the fi rst time, I bring a form for evaluating it (refer
to Figure 7-1). I use it to remind me to ask the right questions and to make it
as easy as possible to compare this fi lm with past projects. This helps me
come up with a schedule and a budget, and it’s also handy for recording my
impressions of what to expect from the director and picture editor.
After the screening, I use my report to see how the fi lm stacks up against
previous projects. Of course, this only works because of another piece of data:
my project timesheets, where I record my working hours and what I do each
day on a project. I use them to make sure I’m on target with my hours and
that I’m being paid fairly, and as an archive to use in budgeting future
projects. (See Figure 8-1.)
When I see a fi lm for the fi rst time, I ask myself which of my former projects
it reminds me of. Once I can limit it to a few choices, I check the timesheets
and have a pretty good idea where I stand. Of course, it often matters little
what I think about the needs of the dialogue. What ultimately sets the rules
is the (often seemingly arbitrary) budget the producer has assembled. If a
producer has etched into his mind what your budget will be—your fee and
your allotted hours—then there isn’t much you can do about it. If you think
it’s doable, take the gig. If not, walk away.
Set Daily Goals
You’ve negotiated the number of studio hours available to you and settled on
a schedule. You know the deadline, and you know when the fi lm will arrive.
Aside from a screening here and there, no one cares how you organize yourself.
Still, to make sure you fi nish on time and that the project doesn’t turn
into the fi lm from hell, you must plan your days.
Because dialogue editing is a predictable, methodical operation, it’s relatively
easy to break it into parts and develop a plan. I normally organize dialogue
work into three passes, with the fi rst one being the most demanding and each
successive pass more general and fl owing. A typical plan breakdown is shown
in Table 8-1.