.png)
Welcome to part 2 of Audio Post Production Demystified. Our goal with this series is to help educate Filmmakers and like minded creatives about the mysteries of Audio Post Production. Last week we covered Job Roles and Technology. In this week’s post we will take you through the Workflow journey from Pre Production to Deliverables.
The Workflow
In today's fast paced media world, workflow is everything. The following is an ideal scenario, spending the time and budget to make your film both creatively and artistically brilliant with sound.
Pre Production
The Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Supervisor and Sound Team should be involved with the project during pre-production, to assist with the following tasks:
Script Analysis
Reading and annotating the script to form a basis of ideas that the Director can critique and build upon.
Building a Sound Team
The Sound Supervisor may get involved with building the team for both Location Sound and Post Production. It is also important to build relationships between the team here.
Location Visits
Sound Supervisors and/or Location Sound Recordists will want to be present during location visits to troubleshoot sound issues and to look for opportunities for recording sound effects.
Spotting Session
The Sound Supervisor/Supervising Sound Editor will have a meeting with the Director, to perform a thorough creative analysis of the film and it's required sound assets.
Custom Sound Effects Recording
The Sound Effects Recordist will capture sounds that add authenticity and character to the film. These recordings can be taken from a variety of places, both at the location of the production, and during specific field recording trips.
Pre Production Sound Design
Some sounds may need to be created before production begins, to be played on set for actor's cues or to meet the Director's approval in time for Post Production to start.
Production
The Post Production Sound Team will take a step back at this stage, allowing the Location Sound Team to take care of the sound recording on set.
Post Production
The Post Production Sound Team will be heavily involved in the film here, from both a technical and artistic standpoint. They will complete the following tasks:
1. Session Preparation
The Supervising Sound Editor and Re-recording Mixer will start by building a DAW master template that is suitable for the given project. This will likely house more than enough audio tracks to cover the whole films dialogue, sound effects and foley ready for mixing. They will then begin importing the necessary files: Video File with guidance audio track (used for checking synchronisation between sound and picture and OMF/AAF files (used for delivery of the production tracks synced by the Picture Editor). *Further guidance on how to deliver files to your Sound Team can be requested via email at: alex@344audio.com*
2. Dialogue Editing
The Dialogue Editor will either take sections from the master template above or use his own smaller DAW template to edit the dialogues. They will be using the OMF/AAF files delivered by the Picture Editor which contain the raw Dialogue and Location Sound recordings correctly synced to the picture. Dialogue Editing involves trimming and extending clips, adding fades, copy and pasting, swapping out takes and rendering audio repair effects onto clips. Removing any inconsistent and uncomfortable sounds a