Audio production and post-production /

Table Of Contents:
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xvii

Chapter 1 Plan for Sound 1(16)

What is So Important about Sound Anyway? 1(6)

Sound Creates Place 3(2)

Sound Creates Mood 5(1)

Dialogue Moves Stories 6(1)

Sound Enhances Picture 6(1)

Why Do So Many Low-Budget Movies Sound So Bad? 7(6)

Planning for Sound 8(1)

Tips for Great Audio 9(3)

Working with Directors, Actors, and Other Crew 12(1)

Summary 13(1)

Review Questions 14(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 14(1)

Applying What You've Learned 14(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 14(1)

Resources 15(2)

Chapter 2 Tools for Recording 17(28)

Microphones for Location Audio 17(8)

Microphone Types and Polar Patterns 18(1)

Lavaliere Microphones and Their Use 19(1)

Shotgun Microphones and Boom Poles 20(2)

Phantom Power 22(1)

Wired Microphones or Wireless? 23(2)

Mixing Boards, Cables, Meters, and Levels 25(7)

Mix to a Recorder or Mix in the Camera? 27(1)

Signal Flow 27(1)

Channels: Splitting, Isolating, Combining, and Track Allocation 28(1)

Cables and Connections 29(1)

Understanding Meters and Levels 30(2)

Recorders, Tracks, Media, and Tone 32(4)

How Many Tracks? 33(1)

Tone and Slating 33(2)

Media---Tape, Disks, Drives 35(1)

Backing Up 35(1)

Important Concepts for Great Audio 36(5)

Recording Levels---Know Your Performance 37(1)

Microphone Placement---Know Your Shot 37(2)

Sample Rates and Bit Depths: The Technicalities 39(1)

Frame Rates and Post Considerations 40(1)

Summary 41(1)

Review Questions 41(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 42(1)

Applying What You've Learned 42(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 42(1)

Resources 42(3)

Chapter 3 Recording Audio and Working On-Set 45(18)

The Location Sound Crew 45(3)

The Mixer, the Boom Operator, and the Utility Person 46(1)

Going It Alone 47(1)

Making Friends with the Other Crewmembers 48(1)

Strategies for Recording Location Sound 48(8)

Hiding Wireless Microphones 49(1)

Working with a Boom Microphone 50(2)

Planting Microphones 52(2)

Deadening Reverberant Spaces 54(1)

Listening---Hums, Fans, Airplanes, and More 55(1)

Keeping Logs 56(4)

Writing the Sound Logs 56(1)

Slating, Timecode, Metadata 57(2)

Penmanship and Labels 59(1)

Staying Organized 59(1)

Summary 60(1)

Review Questions 61(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 61(1)

Applying What You've Learned 61(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 61(1)

Resources 62(1)

Chapter 4 Don't Just Get the Shot 63(20)

Room Tone 63(5)

Why is Room Tone Important? 64(2)

Proper Recording of Room Tone 66(1)

Logging the Room Tone 67(1)

B-Roll Audio---Every Set is Unique 68(4)

Capturing Sounds Unique to Your Production 68(2)

Field Sound Effects Recording 70(1)

Recording Hard Effects 71(1)

On-Set Dialogue Replacement 72(3)

Keep Track of Bad Takes 72(1)

Replacing Dialogue Scenes with Audio Only 73(1)

Capturing Wild Audio 74(1)

On-Set Foley Recording 75(4)

Understanding the Story and the Edit Possibilities 75(2)

Unique Props Make Unique Sounds 77(1)

Unique Locations Make Unique Sounds 78(1)

Crowd Sounds---Don't Just Get the Dialogue 78(1)

Summary 79(1)

Review Questions 80(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 80(1)

Applying What You've Learned 81(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 81(1)

Resources 81(2)

Chapter 5 Preparing Audio for Editing 83(18)

Capturing the Set Recordings for Editing 83(8)

Digitizing the Audio into the System 84(3)

Cataloging the Sound Recordings 87(1)

Signal Flow and Gain Staging 88(2)

Levels, Levels, Levels! 90(1)

Prepping for the Final Output 91(8)

Converting Audio for the Edit 91(2)

Frame Rates and Sample Rates 93(1)

Understanding the Final Master Format 94(1)

Stay Organized with All of the Raw Elements 95(2)

Communication with the Picture Editor (If It's Not You) 97(2)

Summary 99(1)

Review Questions 99(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 100(1)

Applying What You've Learned 100(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 100(1)

Resources 100(1)

Chapter 6 Organizing and Editing Sound with Final Cut Express 101(22)

Audio with Final Cut Express 101(11)

The Timeline 104(2)

Bins and Importing 106(2)

Automation, Keyframes and the Pen Tool 108(1)

The Viewer 109(2)

Settings 111(1)

Know Your Story and Your Source Materials 112(4)

Great Picture Editors Cut Great Sound 112(1)

Using Alternate Takes of the Audio to Better Tell the Story 113(2)

Using Your Library of On-Set Additional Recordings 115(1)

Organize the Audio Tracks 116(3)

Keep Tracks Separate 116(2)

Stay Consistent with the Track Assignments 118(1)

Document the Sound Edit 118(1)

Additional Documentation 119(1)

The Script Conformed to Match the Final Edit 119(1)

The Sound Logs 120(1)

The Lined Script 120(1)

Summary 120(1)

Review Questions 121(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 121(1)

Applying What You've Learned 121(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 121(1)

Resources 122(1)

Chapter 7 Sound Editing in Digital Audio Workstations 123(20)

What is a Daw? 123(5)

Pro Tools and Other Audio Computer Workstations 124(1)

Hardware and Software Packages 125(2)

Hardware Controllers 127(1)

The OMF File 128(6)

What is an OMF? 128(2)

How to Export OMFs 130(3)

OMF Limitations 133(1)

Best Practices with OMFs 133(1)

Sync Pops and Video Files 134(3)

Head Pops and Tail Pops 134(1)

Movies with Burn-In Timecode 135(1)

OMFs and Movie Files 136(1)

The Additional Audio Files Folder 137(2)

Unedited Music Tracks 137(1)

B-Roll Audio 138(1)

On-Set Dialogue Replacement 138(1)

On-Set Foley 138(1)

Room Tones 139(1)

Summary 139(1)

Review Questions 140(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 140(1)

Applying What You've Learned 141(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 141(1)

Resources 141(2)

Chapter 8 The Dialogue Edit 143(18)

The Dialogue Editing Process 143(8)

Postproduction Sound Mixing and the Dialogue Edit 144(4)

Room Tone and Crossfades 148(1)

Assigning and Editing Tracks by Character or Recorded Perspective 149(2)

Choosing Takes 151(3)

Creating an Edit for a Mix 151(1)

The Lavaliere Track and the Boom Track 152(1)

Alternate Takes and Wild Lines 153(1)

Special Track Assignments 154(3)

The Production Effects Tracks 155(1)

The "X" Tracks 156(1)

The "Futz" Tracks 156(1)

The Narration Track 157(1)

Tell the Story 157(2)

Choosing the Best Performances 157(1)

Clarify the Storytelling 158(1)

Summary 159(1)

Review Questions 159(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 160(1)

Applying What You've Learned 160(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 160(1)

Resources 160(1)

Chapter 9 Voice-Over Recording 161(16)

Considerations about Voice-Over Recording 161(5)

The Recording Space 162(1)

Microphone Choices and Setting Levels 163(1)

Marking the Script 164(2)

Wild Lines 166(1)

Timed Narration Recordings 166(3)

The Timed Script 167(1)

Making Things Fit 168(1)

Changing Text When Needed 169(1)

Getting the Performance 169(3)

The Voice-Over Recording Session 170(1)

Working with the Voice-Over Talent 171(1)

Technical Considerations: Clicks, Pops, Breaths, and Pronunciations 171(1)

Editing the New Narration Track 172(2)

Replacing the Temporary Voice-Over 172(1)

Keeping in Time 173(1)

Cleaning Up the Recording 174(1)

Summary 174(1)

Review Questions 175(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 175(1)

Applying What You've Learned 175(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 175(1)

Resources 176(1)

Chapter 10 Recording and Editing Dialogue Replacement 177(20)

Preparing for Dialogue Replacement 177(7)

Understanding the Dynamics of Dialogue Replacement 178(2)

Beep Tracks 180(1)

Placing Beeps and Cues 181(3)

Organize for Recording Efficiency 184(1)

Keeping Track of Your Takes 184(2)

The ADR Script 185(1)

Takes Notation on the New Recordings 185(1)

Wild Lines, New Text, and Walla 186(1)

Tips for Believable Dialogue Replacement 186(5)

Microphone Proximity 187(1)

Headphones 188(1)

Getting the Right Performance 189(1)

How to Cut Sync 189(2)

Tools of the Trade 191(2)

Equalizers 191(1)

Reverb 192(1)

Summary 193(1)

Review Questions 194(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 194(1)

Applying What You've Learned 194(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 194(1)

Resources 195(2)

Chapter 11 Sound Design 197(20)

Charting the Course 197(4)

Understanding All of the Pieces 198(1)

Spotting the Sound Design 198(1)

Layers of Sound 199(2)

Creating Time and Space 201(4)

Ambiences Create the Place and the Time 201(1)

Creating Moods---Drones, Beds, and Room Tones 202(1)

Real Spaces 203(1)

Imagined Spaces 204(1)

Sound Design and Timing 205(2)

Using the Sound Design to Enrich the Scenes 205(1)

Using Dialogue Elements for Sound Design 206(1)

Sound Effects Libraries 207(4)

Hard Effects and Ambiences 207(1)

Processing the Library Sounds with Effects 208(2)

Time-Stretching Audio Files 210(1)

Building the Timeline 211(2)

Track Assignments and Preparing for the Final Output 211(1)

Preparing for the Mix and the Final Outputs 212(1)

Summary 213(1)

Review Questions 214(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 214(1)

Applying What You've Learned 214(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 214(1)

Resources 215(2)

Chapter 12 The Foley Process 217(18)

Understanding the Foley Process 217(4)

Jack Foley 218(1)

Location Recordings and Foley 219(1)

A Performer Acting in Sync with the Picture Edit 219(1)

A Recording Session That Mirnics the Production Quality 220(1)

The Foley Session 221(7)

How to Record a Foley Session 221(3)

What Do You Record 224(3)

Acting "Human Sounds" in Sync to Picture 227(1)

Additional Foley Considerations 228(4)

Microphone Placement 228(2)

The Cloth Pass 230(1)

Editing Foley Recordings 231(1)

Mixing 232(1)

Summary 232(1)

Review Questions 233(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 233(1)

Applying What You've Learned 233(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 233(1)

Resources 234(1)

Chapter 13 The Music Score 235(20)

Creating a Temporary Music Score 235(4)

A Template for the Final Musical Soundtrack 236(2)

Pacing the Picture Edit 238(1)

Working with Composers 239(4)

The Temporary Score 239(1)

Choosing Instrumentation 240(1)

Tempos and Key Signatures 241(1)

Composer's Agreements 242(1)

Working with Library and Contemporary Music 243(3)

Music Libraries---Understanding Your Rights 243(2)

Contemporary Music 245(1)

Music Supervisors and Licenses 246(1)

Scoring Software 246(6)

Garageband 247(2)

Loop Disks and Software Instruments 249(2)

Sonicfire Pro 251(1)

Summary 252(1)

Review Questions 253(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 253(1)

Applying What You've Learned 254(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 254(1)

Resources 254(1)

Chapter 14 Mixing, Filters, and Effects 255(22)

Putting It All Together 255(4)

Overview of Mixing 256(1)

So Many Tracks---What Now? 256(1)

Understand the Delivery Requirements 257(2)

Effective Track Layouts 259(3)

The Organization of Tracks and Audio Files 259(1)

Auxiliary Sends and Bus Sends 260(2)

Using Filters 262(7)

Equalization 262(5)

Noise Reduction 267(2)

Special Effects 269(1)

Basic Concepts of Mixing 269(5)

Listening 270(1)

Mixing Tips 271(1)

Other Important Considerations 271(1)

Levels, Levels, Levels 272(1)

Notes and Changes 273(1)

Summary 274(1)

Review Questions 275(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 275(1)

Applying What You've Learned 275(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 275(1)

Resources 275(2)

Chapter 15 Outputting Sound and Backing Up 277(14)

Delivering the Mix 277(4)

Outputs, Splits, and Stems 277(1)

Syncing the Mix to the Edited Picture Master 278(1)

Laying the Mix Back to Tape 279(2)

Surround Sound 281(5)

What is Surround Sound? 282(1)

Outputting Surround Sound 283(1)

Sound Encoding and Decoding 284(2)

Backing Up 286(1)

Backing Up the Stems 286(1)

Backing Up the Final Sound Edit 286(1)

Final Thoughts 287(1)

Summary 288(1)

Review Questions 289(1)

Discussion/Essay Questions 289(1)

Applying What You've Learned 289(1)

Research/Lab/Fieldwork Projects 289(1)

Resources 289(2)
Glossary 291(16)
Index 307