Dialogue Editing

134 NOW, THE ACTUAL EDITING
Figure 10-4 As you begin to split a scene, the most sensible place to start is by
shot. In this example, scene 71, all of the regions from shot (or “slate”) 206 go to
Dial A, regions from shot 209 go to Dial B, and so forth. The sequence is a matter
of taste, but many editors place the fi rst shot to appear in a scene onto the fi rst
track used in that scene.
Additional Splits
At times you’ll want to split your tracks beyond the basic shot-of-origin mode.
Perspective cuts, telephone conversations, problematic noises, or places where
you want extra focus are just a few of the reasons to do this. If, for example,
the picture editor used three different takes of Edmund’s close-up, two of
which have the same room tone and another that suffers from a lowfrequency
rumble, you should split the rumble-infested take onto its own
track. After all, it will unquestionably need special processing because of the
noise, and it will likely benefi t from longer room tone transitions.
Don’t be shy about splitting; tracks are cheap. In general, splitting is better
than not splitting, but thoughtless or unnecessary splitting creates more
problems than it solves. Talk to your rerecording mixer about how many
tracks you can use, and how detailed he wants the splits to be.
Unnecessary Inserts
Just because the picture editor gives you a shot, you don’t have to use it. If,
while talking to Fanny, Edmund (32B) takes a thoughtful pause and the