Question regarding volume levels for feature length movies

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 3:03 am

i just finished mixing my movie......
it was a long process but i'm happy with the results. the mix was done a little at a time starting with the dialog, then the sfx then the music then a once through to make sure nothing was stepping on anything else and levels were consistent throughout. it's only my second movie but what a great experience. i've been doing music for 25 years and this is all new to me. i did the project in pro tools and created all the seperate stems. luckily we only adr'd 5 lines total for the movie. the production sound was fine and the dia edits for the most part are seamless. the ones that weren't were masked by the sfx and music so it's still clean.

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 3:07 am

just wanted to share that Smile

LOL and yes......mixing is truely an artform. no machine or plug-in will ever do it better than a talented human being.

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:17 am

Mixing for a film has to do with the relative
volume levels, from very quiet to very loud,
between all the separate elements of dialogue and
sound, to create an illusion of reality, something a
machine cannot possibly handle. The considerations
going into it are as complex as culture. Most
seemingly unsolvable problems in mixing the original
recorded dialogue can be worked out by calculating
which music or sound to add to it. The problem can
suddenly become unnoticable.

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:09 pm

aracu wrote:

Mixing for a film has to do with the relative
volume levels, from very quiet to very loud,
between all the separate elements of dialogue and
sound, to create an illusion of reality, something a
machine cannot possibly handle. The considerations
going into it are as complex as culture. Most
seemingly unsolvable problems in mixing the original
recorded dialogue can be worked out by calculating
which music or sound to add to it. The problem can
suddenly become unnoticable.

very true

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 4:38 pm

aracu wrote:

Mixing for a film has to do with the relative
volume levels, from very quiet to very loud,
between all the separate elements of dialogue and
sound, to create an illusion of reality, something a
machine cannot possibly handle. The considerations
going into it are as complex as culture. Most
seemingly unsolvable problems in mixing the original
recorded dialogue can be worked out by calculating
which music or sound to add to it. The problem can
suddenly become unnoticable.

True - and unfortunately movie studios are now using the shock-value of sudden volume changes to make up for lame/boring scripts, especially in action movies.

So, some times the sound keeps the viewers attention far more than the script Smile

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:12 am

The biggest obstacle in getting a good mix
can be... the director.

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:57 pm

that is so f'n true......LOL

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:19 pm

>>The biggest obstacle in getting a good mix
can be... the director.<<

AH! Smile

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