Hi,
I am cutting a documentary to be entered in film festivals. I was wondering if anyone had any experience or opinion regarding the kind of audio mix and mastering required for a festival/big screen release. I have done stuff for TV but never for theater. The ideal situation would be to have someone take care of it but as many of you know $$$ is SHORT, and I have to do it.
Any suggestions, links, tutorials etc.?
Re: documentary audio question by Harry Pallenberg on Jun 1, 2008 at 10:21:13 pm
My advice is to not underestimate the power of audio. Don't think that just because there are not 10 boards on the cow with people lusting after RED, or EX-1, or Panny this or JVC that - that means you can just sorta wing it on audio.
Asking for suggestions, tutorials and so on... well my advice is GET A PRO. If you spend as much time getting a pro as you do learning it all yourself - you should be able to talk someone into helping you - deferred payment and so on.
When you say theatrical... well that really depends - on FILM? Or digitally projected? You say you've doen stuff for TV, surely someone from your past can help, or offer up an assistant audio mix-master-guru in the making?
Thanks,
Harry.
Forum Cowmunity Leader: Indie & Doc
Forum Cowmunity Leader: HDV
Re: documentary audio question by Noah Kadner on Jun 2, 2008 at 8:49:16 pm
I'm with Harry- picture is ruined by bad sound. That's a tricky one. A good sound mix is not free but often you can cut a great deal on one when times are slow, especially if it's a prestige project that's going to big festivals. If you're in a big city like L.A. or NYC you're in luck. Lots of little project studios too that have the potential to give you a great mix. You can also do it yourself with ProTools or FCP but nothing beats someone who actually knows what they're doing.
Re: documentary audio question by Arnie Schlissel on Jun 2, 2008 at 11:01:54 pm
Many freelance sound designers will offer a break if they can do a good portion of the work on their home system. Also, many audio post houses may offer a break if you use a less experienced person to do the work at a nights/weekend schedule, when the more senior people are not working with the better funded clients.
Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
http://www.arniepix.com/
