What does a Supervising Sound Designer/Editor do?
After the editor locks the picture, the post-production supervisor has the picture files sent to the supervising sound designer. The sound designer, then works closely with the director to establish the film's style and tonal vibe. From there, they conduct a spotting session to mark the points in the movie where the sound could have a meaningful impact on the storyline. They must understand the psychology and affects that sound brings to the drama.
The supervising sound editor is primarily responsible for the final sound we hear in a movie or television show-- this includes dialogue, additional dialogue recording (ADR), walla (crowd noises), sound effects, ambient sounds, and foley (fabricated sounds).
The supervising sound editor manages a team of sound effect editors, music editors, and dialogue editors. On lower budget films, you may find the sound editor completing all of those duties. They are responsible for the budget of the sound department and organizing the workflow of the team. They coordinate ADR sessions, foley recordings, sound and dialogue editorial, premix, and final mix. After the final mix, the supervising sound editors create the dialogue and music and effects tracks' deliverables.
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Job Profiles
What does a Dialogue Editor do?
The dialogue editor works in tangent with the sound design team. They can be hired as a freelancer or an employee for a post-production audio house. When the on-set recordings arrive, the dialogue editor checks the audio tracks and note any technical problems.
Their responsibilities also include:
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Uploading and organizing the audio tracks in an audio software program
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Synching the visual and audio footage
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Balancing and equalizing the sound for clear and crisp audio
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Replaces wide-shot sounds from the boom mic with cleaner close-up takes
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Wades through hours of audio footage to find better articulations and quieter backgrounds
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Cleans up and eliminates unflattering sounds, such as obnoxious lip smacks, bell sounds, dentures clattering, slurred speech, and unpleasant breathing noises
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Removes production noises from the film, such as the director's cues, dolly squeaks, light buzzing, and crew movement
Lastly, when the field recordings are unusable, the dialogue editor is involved in the automated dialogue recording (ADR) process, the re-recording of voices in a studio, to replace the poor audio tracks.
