Post Production: Track Stackin’: Electric Boogaloo
Have you ever been to a movie theater where the projectionist didn’t have the sound up loud enough?
Or have you ever tried to watch a movie that you really wanted to see with a talkative group of friends?
What about those times when you’ve sat in an airport terminal watching some news show on a television that was muted?
It can be pretty hard to keep the attention of a viewer when your video has audio problems. When audio is cut correctly in post production, no one notices. When audio is incorrectly cut, no one will notice anything else.
So what can be done in the editing room to create audio that enforces and enhances your story? In our last article we discussed the importance of recording excellent audio on location. So let’s assume we have hours of award winning audio to accompany our video into the edit suite. What happens now?
First we need to take a look at the primary audio that was captured on set. After stitching the footage together the audio may not sound fluid at first listen. This is because most videos are usually comprised of multiple takes and reads from your talent and interviewees. In order for them to sound natural, the audio will need to be massaged and balanced to achieve the consistency to keep the focus where it belongs: on your story.
The next major step usually involves adding all the necessary sound effects and audio transitions. If a sound effect wasn’t (or in some cases couldn’t be) recorded on location, then it’s either off to the studio to record it, or over to the sound effects library to locate it.
Next we move on to the music for your project. Music will often reinforce or dictate the emotions of the viewer. It needs to be just perfect enough to match the pace and tone of your video while also invoking the correct emotional response to help ease your viewer into the story.
Finally, we take all of our elements and smooth them all out on a timeline. There really is no limit to the amount of audio tracks involved in any given project (although they typically range between four to twenty tracks in smaller scale projects). The music needs to lay under the dialogue, not overpower it. The sound effects need to sound natural to the dialogue and the atmosphere. All the audio ingredients need to be in perfect balance in order for your video to stand out from your competitors.
The next time you work on a video project, ask to sit in on the audio editing. You may be amazed by what you hear.
