Dialogue Editing

Glossary 341
Layback The last step in a videotape-based project for which the fi nal mixed audio
is recorded onto the online, color-corrected master tape to replace the old offl ine
tracks. After the layback comes the party.
LCRS (left, center, right, and [mono] surround) The four decoded channels of
Dolby SR.
Leader, Academy A leader placed at the head of and tail of each reel. From the
start mark on the head leader to FFOA is 12 feet, and there’s a countdown ending
3 feet from FFOA. Each countdown number represents 1 foot (16 frames), and
the fi nal “beep” frame reads “3,” meaning 3 feet.
Leader, SMPTE Universal Similar to the Academy leader: From the start mark on
the head leader to FFOA is 12 feet, and there’s a countdown ending 3 feet from
FFOA. Each countdown number represents 1 second (24 frames) and the fi nal
“beep” frame reads “2,” meaning 2 seconds. Remember, 2 seconds equals 3 feet
at 24 fps.
LFOA (last frame of action) The last frame of picture before cutting to the tail
leader. When you’re working on videotape or with a nonlinear editing system,
LFOA is measured while looking at the fi rst frame of leader rather than at the
last frame of picture because a video EDL “out” is the same number as the next
“in.”
Liaison The fusion of sounds across word boundaries, making it diffi cult to
perform clean dialogue edits. (More accurately called sandhi.)
Lip fl ap Any movement of the lips not supported by sound. It could be the result
of the picture editor using a shot without sound or an actor miming speech
during a shot. Lip fl ap can also be completely natural in its origin—maybe an
actor moved his lips and no sound came out. Whatever its source, this inconsistency
is usually disconcerting in fi lms, so dialogue editors often add appropriate
“lip fi ll” to cover the fl ap.
Lined script The shooting script of a fi lm on which the script supervisor has indicated
the coverage of each scene. Setups and actions/events during the shoot are
indicated as vertical lines drawn over the text, hence the name.
Load spacing During auto-assembly of original sound, the term refers to the
minimum separation between two sources before the two events are loaded as
a single soundfi le. When two source events in an EDL are closer than the load
spacing setting (including handles), they are digitized as a single fi le on disk
because (1) it’s faster and (2) it causes less wear on the load deck because the
machine doesn’t have to stop, rewind, and cue up again. See handle.
Locked picture A fi nished, fi nal, “ain’t gonna change” picture edit. Just kidding.
Lt/Rt (left total/right total) An encoded 2-channel track that contains four channels
of fi lm channel information (LCRS). When the mixer completes the fi nal surround
mix for a fi lm to be distributed in Dolby SR, he processes the fi lm through
a Dolby DS4 processor (usually in the presence of a Dolby consultant). The result
is a 2-channel print master ready to be converted into an optical soundtrack. In
Europe, this 2-track encoding is called SVA (stereo variable area). See also LCRS.