The Sound Department
There’s no such thing as a “typical” small feature film, so it’s difficult to describe a typical sound team. You may be working with a team of 15 or more people, but more than likely it will be less than 6.
The Players
The following sections describe the important players who should be working on any sound team.
Supervising Sound Editor
The boss. Commonly the only member of the sound team hired directly by the production and usually selected by either the director or the picture editor. The rest of the sound team is often employed by the audio postproduction studio where the work is performed or is subcontracted by the supervising sound editor. (As with all aspects of sound postproduction, the details of employment and chain of command depend on the film as well as the local film culture.)
The supervising sound editor has the enviable task of bringing the film’s sound to life, enhancing the narrative, developing characters, focusing the viewer’s attention, and boosting emotions. He has the unenviable job of finishing the sound within budget, on time, and balancing the needs of the sound crew (who must remain loyal to him), the director (with whom all film birthing pains are shared), and the producer (who pays the bills and is often unimpressed with excuses for cost overruns or delays). Since so much of the job is administrative, the supervising sound editor must be as nimble with Excel as with Pro Tools.
Sound Designer
This one is tricky. Not long ago, in the days before hair designers, lifestyle designers, and food designers, this term was used to describe specialists subordinate to the supervising sound editor who were called in to make the sound for extraordinary scenes or to create specific moods—like the mood of a spaceship passing a black hole—beyond the scope of the normal sound team. These days, there is a blurring between sound designers and supervising sound editors. For some reason, the term “designer” carries a swagger lacking in the clerklike “supervisor.”
Assistant Sound Editor
Essential in the sprocketed world, the first assistant sound editor is increasingly hard to find in budget sound cutting rooms. Her role, far less defined than in the past, ranges from obtaining and preparing all necessary material from the picture department (a hugely important task) to setting up and managing the cutting room, locating alternate takes, and fending off the world. A good assistant is worth her weight in gold, but it’s ever harder to convince an independent producer to spring for the extra salary. Fight to have an assistant, even if only part time.
Apprentice
In nonunion work you’ll almost certainly have to do without an apprentice—nowadays often called “intern,” perhaps to avoid payment. Apprentices are there to learn—cutting room techniques, protocol, and discipline—and to erase lots of fantasies about sound postproduction. They help the sound editors by loading and archiving sound materials, transcribing scenes, and performing similar tasks.
Sound Effects Editors
On action films it’s easy to understand what the sound effects (SFX) editors do. A helicopter crash, or a motorcycle chase, or the USS Enterprise zooming away from an exploding star are obvious examples of sound effects editing, and are usually the kind that win awards. But most of the miracles performed by SFX editors go unnoticed by the public. Every scene, even the quietest middle-of-the-night conversation between two people, will be populated with small “background” sound effects that aid the dialogue, influence the mood, create a rhythm, and motivate characters’ actions. Sound effects editors often specialize in certain types of action (cars, fights, gunfire, etc.) and may be called to a project for specific scenes. On smaller films, it’s common for the supervising sound editor or sound designer to do at least some of the sound effects editing. On miniscule films, the supervising sound editor is the sound effects editor.
Dialogue Supervisor or Dialogue Editor
The dialogue supervisor (big films) or dialogue editor (small films) is responsible for all production sound editing (i.e., if it was recorded during the shoot, it’s the dialogue editor’s responsibility). Whether removing noises, replacing bits of dialogue from alternate takes, organizing and smoothing tracks, or preparing the track for ADR editing, the dialogue editor must create a seamless track in preparation for the dialogue premix. On large projects, a dialogue supervisor oversees a team of editors.
ADR Supervisor or ADR Editor
Inevitably, certain lines will need to be rerecorded after the shoot. Technical problems, impossible recording conditions, new lines for story enhancement, and a director’s yearning to “improve” an actor’s lines are but a few of the reasons for bringing the talent into a studio to rerecord lines. The ADR supervisor works with the director and picture editor, as well as the dialogue editor and supervising sound editor, to create a list of lines in need of rerecording. The ADR supervisor directs the actors in the recording session and creates a plan for the ADR editor. It’s the ADR editor who matches the thousands of takes of loop lines to the dialogue track, finessing for sync, delivery, pitch, and attitude. On smaller films, one person will usually be both supervisor and editor. On microscopic films, the dialogue editor wears all of these hats.
ADR Engineer
ADR, or “postsync,” is recorded in a studio, but must perfectly match dialogue that was recorded in a limitless number of locations. The ADR engineer selects and places the microphones, manipulates the electronics, and positions the actors for the best match to the original recording. He’s usually an employee of the recording studio where the postsynchronization recordings are made, but “ringers” are not unheard of.
Foley Supervisor
Every film needs some help from Foley, which at the very least is used to cover holes caused by ADR and fix a few disastrous omissions of action. As budgets increase, Foley can take on an ever escalating narrative role, adding color, texture, and character. Any film destined to be dubbed into foreign languages requires Foley wall to wall. The Foley supervisor collects requests from all of the sound editors as well as the supervising sound editor and the director and picture editor, and then compiles the complex list of sounds and props needed. He supervises the Foley recording sessions as well as the editing, often carried out by an army of Foley editors.
Foley Walker and Foley Recording Engineer
Together these Foley artists bring you the actual sounds that liven up the track, enhance the drama, and cover gaps. The Foley walker must figure out which prop or shoe/surface combination will produce the right sound, and the Foley engineer is responsible from all technical considerations, from microphone placement to track layout.
Foley Editors
Whether footsteps or key jangles, most Foley has to be edited after the recording session. Foley editors must, of course, get everything into sync, but that’s the most superficial aspect of their work. Rearranging a series of footsteps for maximum dramatic effect or structuring the elements of a body fall to suggest more than meets the eye is their job. Dedicated Foley editors won’t be found on smaller films. Instead, other editors will handle this responsibility.
Music Editor
Few people understand the music department. For one thing, the music editor often reports directly to the director, not to the supervising sound editor, and so usually is a bit of an outsider. She must work closely with the film’s composer to “fit” the score onto the film and seduce acquired music into the film’s structure.
Rerecording Mixer
Sooner or later the film gets mixed. The mixer has to make sense of the scores of tracks generated by the sound guys. Somehow, it usually works. The rerecording mixer almost always works for the studio that mixes the film. He’s the ultimate source of answers to the question: Can you fix this in the mix?
In many ways a sound postproduction crew is hierarchical. There are apprentices, assistants, editors, and a supervisor. This may ruffle some egalitarian feathers, but the system is designed to constantly train the next wave of editors. Study all you want, but editing is still largely learned on the job, and nothing beats working under an experienced craftsperson.