Dialogue Editing

184 IMAGE, DEPTH, AND PERSPECTIVE
Figure 11-4 The history of a perspective cut. On Dial A is the original region,
crossing a perspective cut marker; the cut is seen on Dials C and D. The faded
perspective cut is on Dials F and G. Note the very steep fadeout on Dial F. This
provides a 6 dB midpoint attenuation, suffi cient to compensate for the “bump”
normally caused by playing two phase-coherent sounds simultaneously.
perspective cut, you fi rst begin with one continuous region. You perform an
edit, likely at a picture-motivated location, and then split the region on to two
tracks.
Once split onto two tracks, the regions are overlapped and then crossfaded.
The amount of overlap depends on the “rules” of the fi lm you’re working on
and the transition softness or harshness you’re trying to achieve. Now begins
the problem. Use the same −3 dB crossfade that you normally use and you’ll
hear a rise during the crossfade.
Because the material being played during the crossfade is precisely the same
on both tracks, it plays together twice as loudly as a during a “normal” crossfade.
Whereas 3 dB was enough attenuation to quell a rise in our fi rst example
(refer to Figure 11-2), during a perspective crossfade we need 6 dB of midpoint
attenuation to achieve unity. (See Figure 11.5.)