Projection engineering (Jan 1932-Mar 1933)

MAY, 1932 Page 15 Before a preview is held, however, there is a considerable amount of mechanical work that the picture must go through. First, there is the work of embellishing and refining the various cuts. Then the matter of adding sound effects and music and also the injection of certain photographic effects in the shape of lap dissolves and other effects to which the picture may lend itself. Today, with the perfection of what is called the "optical printer," these effects, such as lap dissolves, etc., which ordinarily were made on the sets by the director and which proved very costly because of the loss of time involved, are made on these optical printers after the picture has been completed. Some studios have a special department which handles the injection of sound effects and music into the picture. At this studio, we find it more desirable to have the editor himself supervise this phase of the work, for the reason that he is thoroughly familiar with the film and also with the particular desires of the director and the manner in which they are to be placed. Our sound department concentrates on the making of the effects desired and, also in the handling of the necessary music. There is also a close cooperation between the sound department and the sound library. When the editor is in need of certain sound effects or music for his picture, this particular track is ordered through the sound department. This department first refers to their files in the sound library and if the track is not already in the library, one is made. However, when a picture calls for considerable music or some special type of music, the sound department of course places this in the hands of a specially assigned musical director. Dubbing After both sound effects and music have been supplied the editor he supervises the lining up of these particular sound tracks and both the effect tracks and the dialog tracks go through the process of what is called "'dubbing," which is also handled through the sound department by special operators for this purpose. The work of dubbing presents quite an interesting phase of motion picture production today. Dubbing has simplified to a great extent the making of sound pictures. Where originally sound effects were recorded at the time the scenes were taken, today all sound effects are placed in the picture after the scenes are taken — in fact, after the picture has been otherwise completely edited. The disadvantage of trying to shoot a scene which carries a decided musical background is that the cutting of this particular sequence is confined to the continuity of the muscial score and eliminations cannot be made without causing a noticeable break in the music. The disadvantage of recording sound effects at the same time dialog is being recorded is twofold ; it interferes at times with the coherence of the dialog and results in a changing volume of the various effects when the scenes which comprise the sequence are placed together. In fact, each cut is noticeable by the change in volume of this background noise. Once a scene has been recorded with sound effects in the background there is nothing which can be done mechanically to change the balance of sound effect and dialog should the dialog be crowded out by the effect. F 'ai amount picture by Don English Marion Shilling, Paramount player, watches a film editor at work. When dialog and sound effects are recorded on separate tracks the prominence of the dialog may be emphasized to whatever degree desired in the dubbing. The balance between the two may be varied at will, making the sound absolutely flexible in the hands of the dubber, and enabling him to at all times keep the dialog intelligible above the general noise level. Preparation in Advance It might not be amiss at this point to emphasize the importance of preparation before actual production of the picture. With the advent of recorded sound to the motion picture the latitude of the editorial department has been minimized to the extent that where originally the possibilities of realigning and recutting silent scenes were unlimited, we are now confined within the limits of the dialog. Today a script before it is put into production should be letter perfect because once the dialog has been put upon the film there is no other recourse than to make retakes should this dialog show up poorly on the screen. The question of preparation also applies to the timing of scenes. In the "silent" days, all a director had to watch for was the position of the actors when changing from one angle to another. He had to make certain that he picked up the actors in the same position when changing the camera angle. Today, he must not only watch the positions of his actors but also the dialog that is being spoken while the actor is in a certain particular position. One of the editor's greatest trials is the carelessness of some directors who overlook this very vital point. To illustrate more clearly ; assume that the director is shooting a scene where an actor is seated at a desk, and the actor during the scene arises and crosses the room. During this business the actor has spoken certain definite lines while he was arising, and certain others while he was walking across the room. Let us further assume that this scene is a long shot. The director then wishes to shoot the same scene from a closer angle. Quite often, we will find that in shooting this closer angle, the actor did not repeat the lines simultaneously with the action in the long shot. We will probably find that he did not say the first line as he arose from the desk, but as he walks across the room, with the result that the editor is compelled to play the scene in one angle and, even though there may be a decided advantage in going to a closer angle, this cannot be done without showing a break in either the action or the dialog. This of course would be bad from an editorial standpoint and could not be allowed. Limitations of Cutting The practical director today is one who appreciates thoroughly the limitations of cutting. Directors, however, differ considerably in their methods of footing. Some directors safeguard themselves by overshooting the picture. That is, they will shoot a scene from many different angles for protection purposes. Other directors, being perhaps more familiar with the cutting of pictures, cut most of their scenes in the camera. Both have advantages and disadvantages. From the producer's standpoint, overshooting a picture is very expensive— and from the editor's standpoint undershooting a picture involves untold grief. A great many obstacles arise as a result of a director trying to cut his picture in the camera. In his effort to economize the editor finds himself in the position at times of being limited in the cutting of the picture to the manner in which the scenes were actually shot by the director and unless he is absolutely perfect in timing, we find that in trying to connect certain scenes either the action or the sound does not touch. It is always a good expedient for an