Dialogue Editing

Beeps, Tones, and Leaders 119
you expect, you’ll know to look for problems. This is especially true when
you’re sharing a studio with other people rather than working in your own
basement. There’s no telling what goes on when you’re not there.
If there’s a minor inconsistency between the two stereo channels, trim your
monitor console accordingly. But if you notice a disparity of 3 or 6 dB, there’s
a problem in the chain. Talk to the studio tech rather than compensate with
the trim pots.
The Sync Pop
The importance of the sync pop (which is also called “plop” or “beep”
depending on where you live) can’t be overstated when you’re working on a
fi lm project. Even if the “fi lm” was shot on video or HD to be blown-up to
35 mm, sync pops are vital. Filmmaking is technically a very sophisticated
industry, fi lled with extraordinary computers at every turn, and timecode is
used to synchronize each step of the postproduction process. Until the very
end, that is. When the fi nal fi lm negative is joined with the fi nished soundtrack,
the visible sync pop on the optical negative is manually aligned with
a known location on the fi lm. This hasn’t changed in 75 years.
But why bother placing sync pops on the session from the very beginning of
the job? Why not wait until you’re packaging the job for the dialogue
premix?
If you knock your session out of sync, you can use the pops (head or
tail) to resync it.
You’ll periodically make guide track “bounces” for the other editors. If
one of these editors isn’t working with a fi le format that includes
timecode (say, regular WAVE fi les), she has to use the pop for sync
reference.
Everyone assumes that the dialogue editor is on top of issues like
sync, paperwork, and fi lm versions. People trust your pops, so get
them right.
It’s just the way it is. Reels must have reference tones plus head and
tail pops. If you don’t do them, you’ll come across as a video/MIDI
geek and the fi lm people won’t take you seriously.
The head sync pop is one frame long and it begins 2 seconds before the start
of each reel. So if your fi rst frame of action (FFOA) on reel 2 is 2:00:00:00,
the sync pop will fall at 1:59:58:00. Many fi lm editors place the “hour mark”
(1:00:00:00, 2:00:00:00, etc.) at the picture start of the leader (see section
on page 121 for more about leaders). The picture start is 12 feet, or 8 seconds