Dialogue Editing

314 THE MIX
You will have several days together with the mixer to fi gure out how to get
what you need from this high-octane situation. It’s vital that you apply the
same skill and creativity that went into your editing to get the most out of
the dialogue premix. There’s a magic within all rerecording mixers waiting
for you to discover and make use of.
The rerecording mixer has the skill, the experience, and (hopefully) the taste
that your dialogue tracks need to make the project work. In addition, it’s a
very complicated room to run, without which you cannot fi nish your job. It’s
vital that you apply the same skill and creativity that went into your editing
to get the most from the studio and the most from the mixer and the mix
room assistant. Unless you are very unlucky, you’ll fi nd that you can benefi t
from all their skills.
Planning the Premix
Before you begin, spend a few minutes with the mixer to concoct a plan for
the mix. Compare what you have to accomplish with the number of hours
available, and decide what you must have in the can at the end of each day.
The fi rst reel will undoubtedly take longer than the rest, since there’ll be a
certain amount of unfi nished setup as well as some stabbing in the dark for
the best way to address the tracks. So count the fi rst reel as two reels’ worth
of work when making up a schedule.
Mix Out of Sequence
Just as I prefer to edit dialogue out of fi lm order, beginning on an interior
reel and working my way out, I like to premix the dialogue out of sequence
as well. If you don’t have a lot of time, you won’t be able to return to your
fi rst mixed reel once you’ve cracked the fi lm’s code. In that case, don’t cut
your teeth on reel 1, since it’s during the picture’s fi rst few minutes that
viewers decide if it’s worth watching.
If you start on a middle reel—but not the one where you began your dialogue
editing—you can hide some of your learning curve in a “softer,” less exposed
section. Of course, if you make a huge mixing discovery on your second or
third reel, you’ll have to go back to your fi rst fi nished reel and apply your
new wisdom. Even so, by mixing in a sequence different from the editorial
sequence, you’ll diminish the weaknesses of the “fi rst-off-the-rack” reels.
Mix Groups
Within a scene, there are processing issues that all of the elements have in
common. Overall noise reduction and sound shaping are more or less the