Into the Deep End

I just wrapped up an intense sound post schedule for a dramatic TV series' first season. I addition to the stress of having to walk on eggshells with an unknown production company, to get a feel of what they really want and how hard to push for my own opinions, I had to supervise a team that didn't have a lot of experience with a show like this. This is a little story about how people choose to face challenges.

Dramatic TV is essentially a bunch of short films. Each episode is treated as a movie, with all the trimmings that come with it: Foley specifics, cloth and footfall tracks, microscopic-detail dialogue editing, plenty of ADR, and ambience tracks up the wazoo. I've had the opportunity to work on a few features, both as a mixer and sound supervisor, so I know what compromises can be made based on budget limitations, and what is non negotiable. The compromise to work with inexperienced personnel is a tough one to evaluate, as different people react differently to high stress situations. Some rise to the challenge and take the bull by the horns, and others just don't realise that they are blowing it. This particular project had both sides well represented.

I had two sound editors preparing their tracks to be mixed by me. One of them was a sound effects editor, who I had worked with before (let's call him Editor #1). He is a cool, positive guy with a great attitude, but he was put in charge of dialogue editing on this occasion (which he hadn't really done before), a critical and, in my opinion, the hardest task in sound post to get done just right. The other guy (Editor #2) was totally new to the world of sound post and was referred, based on his field recording skills, to handle sound effects editing. This is also a hard area of sound post to pull off convincingly, but it is a bit more forgiving and it relies a lot on common sense.

The first couple of episodes were shaky, to say the least. I was mixing and doing Foley work, as well as recording ADR. The material I was receiving from the two sound editors was all over the place, and I was having to correct and re-edit many things myself at the mix. Both guys had set up shop in the room next door, which was the most efficient way of working, as that would let them ask questions get feedback quickly. Editor #1 was showering me with questions and asking for tips all the time. Editor #2 started to work from home more and more until there were weeks without me hearing from him. He would deliver his work through FTP and not request any feedback. Editor #1 had offered to help supervise Editor #2's work because he had experience with sound effects, but he also had his plate pretty full (by now he was also recording the ADR), and couldn't catch many mistakes because of it.

By about Episode 8 or so, Editor #1 had significantly improved his dialogue editing skills, while Editor #2 was still making the same mistakes, even after having a lengthy sit-down with me to discuss his edits. You're probably thinking, "why hadn't he been fired at that point?" and you would be right to do so. The thing is, the "factory" was going full tilt, and trying to find a replacement would grind things to a halt for at least a couple of days, and that was downtime we couldn't afford. So, I then sent a detailed, long email to Editor #2, describing a calmly as possible all the things he was doing wrong, with screen captures and everything, in the hope that he would react quickly and get his butt up to speed before we all got burned out.

A few days later I received the edit for the next episode, and I started by checking the first 60 seconds of the sound effects tracks. I almost hit the ceiling when I saw that short snippet of the show contained most of the mistakes I had pointed out in my email. I walked outside to cool off for a few minutes and then headed back in to talk to the sound post producer, who had hired all of us, and tell him that I couldn't do another series with this editor. The sound post producer is a great guy and was very understanding and appreciative of the whole mess, thankfully, and I agreed to grin and bear it until the season was done.

In the end, everything came out all right. The show's producers are happy, the network is happy and we are relieved to be done, but at a heavy stress cost. Editor #1 has now a whole season of a dramatic series under his belt as a dialogue editor, and he passed the test with flying colours, going above and beyond the call of duty. I wouldn't hesitate to hand over to him the same responsibilities any time. Editor #2 will not work with me again, even though on a personal level he is an agreeable person, but he just didn't seem to want the job badly enough.

The industry is full of aspiring sound people, and if a person doesn't give their all and really prove that he or she can contribute to a project rather than detract from it, there will always be someone standing in line right behind them ready to replace them at the first chance. And many of them may not be as technically adept or experienced, but some will do whatever it takes to catch up and do a great job.