Dialogue Editing

Beeps, Tones, and Leaders 121
SMPTE Leader versus Academy Leader
There are two kinds of head leader: SMPTE and Academy. Both allow the
sound and picture to remain synchronous throughout the postproduction
process. Each has a “picture start” mark 12 feet before the FFOA and is used
by projectionists to crossover from one projector to the other as the reels
change. 6 The head leader is also used to line up a fi lm projector with mag
recorders and players for mixing, and you’ll need it if you ever want to look
at your mix on a Steenbeck or other fi lm editing table.
So, what’s the difference between the two leaders? Nothing, except that the
SMPTE counts in seconds whereas the Academy counts in feet. The Academy
will pop on the number 3; the SMPTE will pop on 2. As long as you placed
your sync pop 2 seconds before the FFOA (48 fi lm frames, 50 PAL frames, 60
NTSC frames), it will fall at the right place no matter which leader your
picture editor used; that is because at 24 fps, 35 mm fi lm travels 90 ft/min and
90 ft/min equals 1.5 ft/sec, so 3 feet equals 2 seconds.
When you work on a “normal” fi lm—shot at 24 fps, transferred to video (PAL
or NTSC), and edited with Avid Film Composer or FCP’s Cinema Tools—the
effective fi lm speed on videotape will remain 24 fps (23.976 fps in NTSC). A
scene that was 100 seconds long when shot will be 100 seconds when you
watch it in the Avid 7 and 100 seconds long when shown in a theater. Hence,
the start mark will always be 12 feet, or 8 seconds, before LFOA on a reel.
When you get a reel, whether a digital dump from the picture editor or a
telecine of the answer print, measure how many seconds lie between picture
start and FFOA. If it’s not 8 seconds, there’s a speed problem or the fi lm was
shot at 25 fps. Talk to the supervising sound editor or picture editor. Just don’t
ignore the problem.
6 Modern theaters rarely screen fi lms from two crossover projectors. Instead, when a
fi lm arrives at the cinema, the projectionist strips the fi lm of its leaders and splices toget -
her the reels. The reels are combined onto one huge horizontal platter for continuous
projection, so the projectionist needn’t babysit the projector so closely and instead can
control several room’s screenings simultaneously. This is much more cost effective for the
cinema owners. The bad news is that there’s no longer a skilled projectionist keeping close
tabs on focus, framing, and sound.
7 Actually, when the 100-second clip is viewed in an NTSC video environment (whether
on videotape or on a picture workstation), the scene will run 0.1 percent slower than 100
seconds because of NTSC’s 29.97 fps frame rate. However, back in a fi lm environment, the
clip will again be 100 seconds long.