Sound Decisions, Part 2

There are aspects of other departments’ jobs that encompass sound. The “practical or physical” visual effects crew is one of them

These effects are those which are done in production, not for or in post-production (which is generally the case with green or blue screens, miniatures or CGI). On-set visual effects include wind, rain, snow, fire, explosions, collapsing structures or vehicles, sets on gimbals -- those effects with which the actors or stunt persons or sets are involved, and which are captured during principal or second unit photography. Many action and science fiction movies are known for using a lot of ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement), or “looping”, due to the excessive ambient noise caused by effects fans, water, screeching, grinding, cracking, and whatever other words you choose to describe the sounds of nature, mayhem, or visual shenanigans requiring loud visual effects.

*(ADR, which amounts to replacing the production dialog in a recording studio during post-production, with actors “dubbing” over their own dialog. Usually this happens because the original recording was too noisy, the actor’s dialog was unintelligible, his or her voice was compromised for some other reason (congestion or laryngitis, for instance), or the dialog has been re-written.)

While a production sound team can try to minimize these noises in various ways, there’s only so much they can accomplish. Baffles might be able to block some noisy machinery, lavalier radio mics can minimize the clamor of crashing cars if not eliminate it, or a shouted-out performance could drown out some audio pollution. But sometimes the wind, rain, sleet snow and other pseudo elements are gonna get the best of them, overwhelm their mic elements, and prevent them from delivering a useable soundtrack.

The property department (giving props to props), for example, might utilize weapons that make definite, and almost deafening, sounds. Or they might have computers, toys, tools, appliances, answering machines, radios, TVs, and the like, some of which require live, real-time sound for the performers to interact with. Often, however, the noises these things make need to be minimized or eliminated when dialog is occurring in a scene. A knowledgeable property person can be very helpful in these situations.

When a TV or computer’s sound must be heard on the set, a video playback technician usually gets involved, and they interact with the production sound personnel to control the sound levels and cues, if necessary. For example, several actors might be watching a news item on a TV at a bar, then start a conversation when the item is over. However, the TV might still be playing in the background. In order for the actors to time their reactions and dialog to the news item, they should be able to hear it on a loudspeaker (either the TV’s or one hidden on or near the set). When the dialog is supposed to start, the loudspeaker should be “killed” (turned off), while the TV’s images continue playing. This way, the actors can be heard clearly, “clean” – their dialog unpolluted by the TV’s sound, which can be inserted in post-production at whatever levels and cues determined by the director, editor, and re-recording mixers.

This also applies to scenes with dialog (or any hard-to-replace/on-a-budget sounds) involving interactive* music, such as nightclubs, parties, concerts, or dancing. As with TVs in dialog scenes, the music can be heard “live” in order to facilitate the actors’ reactions and cues, but if there is dialog during the music, it will either have to be replaced in post-production, or killed during the dialog portions of the scene. This is not much of an issue in non-dancing scenes, since the music’s rhythm doesn’t affect the performers much, if at all.

*(The term “interactive” also applies to lighting, but that’s for another article.)

However, when dance movements are to be kept in sync with the beat of the music, there are a couple of viable options that allow for the preservation of the original, clean production dialog. One option is to establish the beat of the music by playing several bars of the chosen song, then hoping that the dancers can maintain a mental beat with the music turned off.

A more reliable -- but potentially more costly – option is to have a “thumper” linked to the music’s source (CD, DAT or .wav file, for example); a thumper is basically a huge sub-woofer, which can be adjusted to play the sub-sonic beats in the music, which are practically undetectable to the microphones picking up the dialog, and over which any piece of music with the same beat can be added. This method is also useful when the final song selection is unknown or in flux; perhaps the production hasn’t secured the rights to the song being played on the set, or they aren’t sure they what song they want to use, or they expect a composer to create a song based upon the beat.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of recording dialog in a figuratively loud environment (as in the setting is supposed to be loud, as written, or as imagined by the director -- due to high-level music, rioting mobs, a waterfall, a racetrack, explosions, or what-have-you) is getting the actors to maintain a competitively loud volume, one that matches the level they’d speak (or yell) at if they really were in such a situation. They must imagine that the atmosphere is rife with aural contagion through which their self-amplified voices must cut. On an otherwise quiet set, this can seem strange, and even humorous, to both the performers and the crew. One hopes that decorum would be maintained in the interest of supporting an ultimately more-believable performance, and thus a scene with verisimilitude. As with obviously looped lines, few things take me out of a scene, sound-wise, more than actors speaking in relatively hushed tones or Victorian conversational levels in the midst of a heavy metal concert or a war zone.* Even if they’re speaking their last words of love to their significant other’s dying ears, it rings false under the ear-ringing multi-channel digital cacophony surrounding them.

*(Some visual elements of a movie that take me out of the scene include lens flares and herky-jerky handheld shots, which make me all too aware of the presence of a camera.)

TO BE CONTINUED

Sound Decisions

"In a world..."

...where movies emphasize the essential elements of a scene, the minimization of unnecessary or distracting elements is crucial to the mix. The elements of story, character, framing, movement, design, light and sound are all selected and blended to the tastes of the movie’s makers, under the influence of the practicalities of reality (budget, schedule, time, weather, mood, talent [or lack thereof], insert-your-own-variable-here: ___). When it comes to the sound mix, what is not heard could be as important as what is not seen.

No matter its size or complexity, a typical movie’s emphasis during pre-production and shooting is on the visual. Think about it: camera, lighting, grip, props, production design, costumes, hair & make-up, and still photography are generally all about “the look” – not “the sound”. However, production sound is the vital first step of the sound recording process, before it is further manipulated in post-production, until it’s finally heard by an audience of one-to-many, either at home, in a theatre, on a plane, in a vehicle., via a projector, an iPhone, a TV, a computer, or any number of current and upcoming electronic media devices, with or without headphones. That’s a lot of delivery system variables in a lot of environments, each subject to its own quirks. But ultimately, unless you're watching a silent movie, if the dialog isn’t comprehensible (or sub-titled), you’ll have a dissatisfied audience. They might be dissatisfied for other reasons (bored by the story, annoyed by the actors, distracted by the visual effects), but if they can’t understand the words uttered by the performers (or the “real” people in a documentary), even the most clichéd movie will lose something.

Perhaps the writer(s) and director want the dialog to be bland or meaningless, but if one doesn’t hear it or understand it, one wonders “what did I miss?” Unless, of course, there are some key lines or words that are purposely obscured for obvious creative reasons, such as a bad cell phone signal in a thriller wherein a clue or identity is missed, audio feedback in a comedy about a performer’s debut at Carnegie Hall, or muffled voices heard when a kid covers her ears during a family squabble in a drama.

There are only a handful of people on a set who are primarily concerned with what is heard during shooting. This handful of people starts with the Production Sound Department (post-production sound is another matter, conversely involving more people than those involved post-production picture -- unless visual effects are involved). During shooting, the assistant directors are the sound department’s primary support team. They ensure that the set is “locked up” while rolling, keeping everyone who isn’t saying lines or giving cues quiet. Besides the A.D.s, sound’s best friends are (fingers crossed) the director, producers, and actors, all of whom have varying degrees of interest in getting a good, clean production soundtrack. For the director, it could be a matter of aesthetics, wanting the real sound from the real environment, preferring to use the dialog that is captured during the original shooting performance, as opposed to the artificial recreation that post-production “looping” (replacing dialog in post-production) entails. For the producers, it’s a matter of saving money; get it now and you won’t have to pay for it later. For the actors, it’s a matter of performance and time; they have the character and the scene fresh in their heads while shooting, and they might not want to spend the time trying to recreate it months later, especially if they’re committed to another project.

When you see (and hear)* a scene, the make-up, hair, wardrobe, art and lighting departments have eliminated the distracting-if-commonplace detritus of shiny sweat on skin, of food fragments amidst follicles, of sordid stains on shirts, of warped windows and welted walls. This is all artfully illuminated in a way that equally defies reality’s often-random and unflattering lighting. Meanwhile, the sound department has tried to minimize the equally natural but unwelcome noise of honking horns, blaring boom boxes, passing planes, hovering helicopters and revving refrigerators.

*[There should be a term encompassing both of the movie senses (sight and hearing). “‘Experience”, “witness”, “observe”, “view” don’t do it for me. Let’s coin a new term! Any suggestions?]

Sometimes these efforts are to no avail, and they are always performed with varying degrees of support and comprehension from non-sound (unsound?) personnel. Due to the sometimes-incompatible needs of various factions within a production -- and because of the usual personality differences found in any group situation -- rivalry between departments might develop. These rifts and conflicts are generally on a far-pettier level than those within the story being shot (I’ve never heard of a sound mixer having a light saber duel with a cinematographer), but they can compromise a production nonetheless. Not only that, they just make the many hours spent on a shoot more miserable than necessary. One of the prime factors in job satisfaction is compatibility with one’s colleagues. Sometimes the worst conflicts can be within one’s own department. Familiarity breeding contempt, or garden-variety differences of opinion and technique play into this. Sounds like a typical family and their neighbors...

TO BE CONTINUED

QUIET named one of the 10 best short films of the year

Film Threat magazine has named SoCal Film Group's QUIET as one of the 10 best short films of the year.

Yay, us!