Dialogue Editing

14 NO ONE WORKS IN A VACUUM
For quite a while now, the picture team has been handling the mag stripe
that contains the production sound, coating it with perspiration, dirt, and
Reuben sandwich detritus. That’s why it’s common to log the shots used in
the fi nal picture edit and retransfer the takes from the original ¼″ tapes to a
fresh mag. These pristine tracks will be the raw material of the dialogue edit.
The dialogue team splits the tracks into many units and works on Moviolas
or fl atbed editors to add tone, replace problem words, or remove noises. Their
fi nished product will be many (perhaps 20 or more tracks per reel) 1000-ft
rolls of mag stripe.
Sound Effects and ADR Meanwhile, the rest of the sound department has
been busy. The ADR supervisor spots where new lines must be recorded
and prepares the volumes of paperwork necessary to manage the ADR. These
lines are recorded in a studio and then edited by the ADR editor. Sound
effects and background editors add texture, excitement, space, and emotion
to the fi lm. Foley, the “live” sound effects (for example, footsteps, body motion,
cloth rustle, and the sounds of objects like plates, locks, and keys), are recorded
and edited. Finally, the music—scored as well as acquired and practical—is
edited by the music department. Like the dialogue units, these elements
arrive at the mix as 1000-ft rolls of mag.
Negative Cutting While the fi lm’s sound is becoming beautiful, the picture
is having its own adventure. Negative cutters use key numbers embedded
in the edge of the workprint and negative to conform the original camera
negative to the picture edits made by the editor. This glued-together negative
is printed to create the fi rst real version of the fi lm, the silent fi rst answer
print. The director and director of photography use the fi rst answer print to
make decisions about the brightness and color of each shot. This process,
called color timing or grading, may require several grading sessions and
prints before the fi lm has the desired look.
The Mix The sound elements are fi nished and there’s a print to project, so the
fi lm is ready to mix. Rarely does a mixer string up all of the elements of a fi lm
and mix everything at the same time. Instead, the fi lm undergoes a series of
premixes (predubs) in which one group of elements is mixed in isolation.
Usually the fi rst premix is the dialogue, since production sound serves as the
foundation on which all other sounds are built. The timbre, noise level, and
attitude of the dialogue premix will determine how subtle, loud, wide, or
aggressive the rest of the tracks can play. In the premixes, the editor’s tracks
are playing from the 1000-ft rolls of mag stripe and are recorded to 1000-ft
loads of multitrack fullcoat, onto which up to six tracks can be recorded.