sound that is relevant. If the original production timecode is not preserved this can make the search for the correct piece of sound time consuming and ultimately not viable within some post production schedules. Dialogue editors on film generally start later than we would all like. This means that he/she is having to judge ADR before being able to investigate properly the quality of the production sound. In some instances I have been aware of quality being judged on a play out from the Avid, where there is so much hiss it is difficult to hear the dialogue, let alone judge the quality of the sound, that has probably been input to the Avid from a Beta analogue tape that has originating from speed adjusted Sadie play out! The dialogue editor has no choice but to play safe and suggest ADR wherever he is unsure.The actor is then called in and asks why the scenes have to be redone and does his best to recreate his performance. A good re-recording mixer will often be able to use the original production sound ~f he has the time. But if during that actor’s next film he is asked to give more voice or generally to help the sound crew, his reaction may well be “What’s the point your going to post sync everything anyway”. There are of course arguments against direct | digitisation, the main one being that it requires the production to rent an additional Avid for the assistant for syncing purposes. Apart from the fact that Avid hire rates have fallen dramatically recently, it must be taken in to account that there is a major cost saving over magnetic transfer or sound syncing in telecine. It is also important as I have mentioned earlier to return responsibility for sync back to the cutting rooms in addition to the fact that assistants need to be able to gain hands on Avid experience. Postscript: Following on from these experiences with the Bond movies, I am now working on 102 Dalmations (Yes, it’s the sequel!) and we have further improved the process. We are now Emailing that .ale from the Palmpilot to the cutting rooms from a mobile phone on location so that they can see the list before they receive the DAT. It will also save me having to make a floppy disc from my PC. We are also viewing sync rushes on location using the same set up with an Am LokPro portable projector. The Palmpilot logging software will soon be available commercially from a company called PLAY, who will market it as Pocket Producer. If anyone is interested I have a few logging kits available at a reduced price. |
