Dialogue Editing

How We Got Where We Are 11
rates, pullups, pulldowns, transfer speeds, and timecode types may lead you
to believe that digital audio postproduction is a hopeless maze of variables,
any of which are poised to trip you up and wreck your health.
Not so. Despite all the options, it all comes down to two variables:
How was it shot?
How and where will postproduction take place?
Break down the production into logical categories, like these two fundamental
questions, and there will be no doubt as to how to proceed with your
postproduction. Master that and the process is no longer cryptic.
Next, we’ll look briefl y at several ways of shooting and posting fi lms. These
examples are simplifi ed, but ought to give you an idea of where moviemaking
workfl ows are similar and where they differ. Don’t get frustrated by the
details. Study the work models that affect you and glimpse at the others.
Audio postproduction details are discussed in Chapters 5, 9, and 10. What’s
important at this point is that you have a good understanding of the fi lmmaking
process, since what goes on before and after dialogue editing greatly affects your work.
All of the illustrations presented here are based on the fi lm model (fi lmprint
and mag sound), so it’s worth your while to read this section even though
you’re almost certainly working electronically.
The Film Model Since the advent of magnetic recording in the late 1950s and
industry acceptance of magnetic sound fi lm a short time later, the workfl ow
shown in Figure 2.1 has been the model for making movie sound. There are
still fi lms produced in this manner or that use big chunks of the model in
their production.
The Film Shoot During the shoot, the camera uses synchronous motors to
maintain an exact speed of 24 frames per second (fps). 9 On the sound side,
the mono Nagra recorder (or stereo Nagra with FM pilot or stereo Nagra with
timecode) records a 50 Hz or 60 Hz pilot tone onto the tape along with the
audio. When it’s time to shoot, you’ll hear “Roll sound!” from the assistant
director. The sound always starts fi rst because (1) it takes longer for a Nagra
than a camera to get up to speed, and (2) tape is much cheaper than fi lm so
no one complains about a little bit of it being wasted. Once the Nagra is locked
9 Actually, most cameras can run at several fi xed speeds, such at 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, and
30 fps. Many can be adjusted to run at a number of “non-sync” speeds to give the effect of
speeding up or slowing down the action. You can’t record sync sound at such “unreal”
speeds, however.