Dialogue Editing

Recording the Premix 317
tracks—one with their close perspective and one with Polonius’s
POV—and put Polonius’s breathing, mumbling, and production rustle
on a third track.
• Strange, loud, or otherwise troublesome sounds, such as screams, shouts,
and crying. If the track might need further processing or control in the
fi nal mix, split it.
• PFX. You went to the trouble of separating the production effects from
the dialogue. If these elements are recorded to a dedicated set of
record tracks, the M&E mix (for the international version) will be
greatly simplifi ed.
• Anything else for which fl exibility is prudent.
As always, ask the mixer how to plan the recordings. Even if he decides to
take care of the routing and track-arming plan, your input on how to effi -
ciently record the dialogue premix will prove helpful because you know the
fi lm and probably have some pretty strong ideas about the focus and depth
of its scenes. You also likely know the director better than the mixer does, so
you have a better idea of where to cover your bases. Write your premix plan
directly onto the cue sheets, as discussed in Chapter 17.
Forgoing the Premix
Newer, bigger, and more glorious digital consoles allow mixers to automate
every fader move and every EQ and dynamics setting. That’s because the
outboard kit linked to the console via MIDI, MADI, or Ethernet can be
included in an automation session. With this power of recall, some mixers
forgo premixes altogether, instead stringing up all the fi lm’s tracks and interactively
mixing one section with another. They argue that because all fi lm
sounds are interrelated, any change in one section of the mix necessarily
affects all others.
This is undoubtedly true, but I’m still a holdout when it comes to diving
headlong into the fi nal mix. For me, the dialogue premix is about focusing
on the details. It’s when you can really dwell on the tiniest of matters, without
the burden of the rest of the fi lm weighing on you. This is your chance
to fi nd those sublime moments that are rarely directly heard in the fi nal
but that collectively make up a masterpiece. During the fi nal mix, everyone
is more concerned with balance than with detail, with telling a story than
with minutiae. And during the print master stage, there’s a further step back,
to fl ow and the overall subtle changes that give the fi lm its polish and
integrity.