Dialogue Editing

316 THE MIX
Table 18-1 Dialogue Premix Record Track Design
Record Record Track
Track Name Description
1 Dialogue 1 The primary record tracks. Some mixers use Dialogues 1
2 Dialogue 2 and 2 for the bulk of the work, saving Dialogue 3 for
3 Dialogue 3 off-screen or “weird” sounds that may cause trouble
4 Dialogue 4 in the fi nal mix. Track 4 might be saved for the odd
“to-be-panned” dialogue event.
5 PFX 1 The production effects tracks, which the mixer may
6 PFX 2 choose to separate at this point to facilitate the
international (M&E) mix.
7 ADR 1 Postmixed ADR, which whenever possible is recorded
8 ADR 2 onto separate tracks. Two ADR characters talking to
9 ADR 3 each other shouldn’t be recorded onto the same
10 ADR 4 premix track so as not to diminish the fi nal mix
options.
11 ADR reverb return 1 The ADR’s reverb return, often not mixed with the ADR
12 ADR reverb return 2 but recorded separately. Splitting ADR reverb return
13 ADR reverb return 3 onto several tracks provides more options in the fi nal
mix for changing or deleting loop lines.
14 Dialogue reverb Mono reverb return, used to match dialogue shots to
return each other, isn’t mixed into the dialogue track but kept
separate.
• Scene by scene. At the very least, checkerboard one scene against the
next. It’s entirely possible to mix a whole scene onto one record track,
and it makes sense as long as the scene is straightforward, with no
great uncertainties, perspective changes, or production effects. But
don’t put the next scene’s mix onto that track. Doing so will rob the
mixer of the fi nal mix fl exibility he needs to adjust the level, EQ, or
other processing of two adjacent scenes.
• Foreground from background. Say you’re working on a movie about a
garage band. In one scene, there’s foreground conversation between
two band members while the drummer is banging away in the
background. If you received separate tracks of the background drumming
and the foreground conversation, keep them separate until the
fi nal mix. Naturally, there’ll be drum sound on the boom covering the
foreground chat, but if you keep the drum set’s dedicated microphone
out of the dialogue until the last minute, the mixer will have greater
control.
Consider another example: Back in Chapter 11 we saw Hamlet and
his mother arguing in her room with Polonius listening behind the
curtain. Here you would print Hamlet and Gertrude onto two