Rose - Producing great sound for film and video: expert tips from preproduction to final mix

Producing Great Sound for Film and Video

Producing Great Sound for Film and Video

Expert Tips from Preproduction to Final Mix

Fourth Edition

Jay Rose

First published 1999 by Miller Freeman Books

This edition published 2015
by Focal Press
70 Blanchard Road, Suite 402, Burlington, MA 01803

and by Focal Press
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Focal Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2015 Jay Rose

Cover image: Production Mixer G. John Garrett, Cinematographer Peter Hoving, and Director John Angier interview biologist John H. Hobbie near Toolik Lake, Alaska, for an episode of Scientific American Frontiers. Photo courtesy G. John Garrett, CAS.

The right of Jay Rose to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Rose, Jay.

Producing great sound for film and video: expert tips from preproduction to final mix/Jay Rose. Fourth edition.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-415-72207-0 (paperback)

1. SoundRecording and reproducingDigital techniques. 2. Digital video. 3. Television soundtracks. 4. Film soundtracks. I. Title.

TK7881.4.R67 2014

777.53dc23

2013050015

ISBN: 978-0-415-72207-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-85850-0 (ebk)

Typeset in Palatino and Frutiger
by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, EX16 9PN

To CR, who taught me whimsy,
and to GT, who keeps me sane.

Section introduction

Section introduction

Section introduction

is on the companion website: www.greatsound.info

Keep your copy of this book handy when you log in; youll need it for authorization

The voice-over

Engineering a voice recording

Directing the voice-over

Recording sound effects

Section introduction

This book is now in its fourth edition. It wouldnt have gotten anywhere without a lot of help. Im particularly grateful for the interviews, deep technical advice and in-the-field tips supplied by production mixer G. John Garrett, boom operator Chris ODonnell, re-recording mixer Marti Humphrey, PBS narrators Wendie Sakakeeny and Don Wescott, custom and library composers Doug Wood and David Grimes, producer/director Steve Stockman, processing expert Denis Goekdag, late and much-missed editing consultant Bob Turner, audio guru Richard Pierce, and Grammy-nominated engineer and educator Dave Moulton. Many thanks to sound designer Randy Thom for the phone conversations weve had about feature film tracks, and his letting me include parts from some of his essays. And Im in debt to the more than 100 other working professionals who let me bother them with specific questions. Thanks to all of you.

Engineer/educators Vic Costello, Christopher Anderson, John Hodges, Mike Michaels, and Justin Davis went through my initial proposals for this edition, and offered suggestions to make them more useful. Mike Duca at Talamas Broadcast Equipment and John Rule at Rule Boston Camera provided the cameras I tested in .

While all these fine people made valuable technical contributions, any mistakes in the text are my own fault. If you find one, please let me know.

I owe a lot to the professionals at Focal Press who turned my jottings into a usable book: acquisitions editor Emily McCloskey, project manager Peter Linsley, production editor Denise Power, and e-book manager Gareth Jarrett. And a deep note of thanks to freelance copy-editor Victoria Chow, who not only fixed my typos and grammatical errors, but also let me know when technical explanations needed simplification.

This book was also shaped by readers of my old column at DV magazine and the current tutorials on my website, members of the online forums at jwsoundgroup.net and gearslutz.com , email correspondents, and all the Amazon customers who posted comments of the first three editions. Your suggestions and complaints helped make this a better work.

While I created the accompanying audio and video files in my own studio, some of them use content graciously supplied by Bluestar Media, Jetpak Productions, Captains of Industry, Don Wescott, and the Omnimusic library. This material is protected by copyright, but you may copy it to your computer for the books tutorial exercises.

And lastly: its customary for authors to thank their families. Ive been very lucky with mine. My late wife Carla, who wrote some 32 successful books about computer graphics during her career, taught me the practical realities of getting a manuscript out the door. My son Dan, a patent attorney and former broadcast engineer, remains my anchor to all things technical and legal.