One of the most critical stages in the post-production of any movie is the audio. George Lucas stated that ‘Sound is 50% of the moviegoing experience’. There’s no point in having amazing visuals if the sound isn’t up to scratch, and on larger productions it takes a fairly sizeable team of people to craft the audio and create something which fully brings the pictures and story to life. Looking through the credits of most movies, you’ll see a long list of different job titles for the sound department crew.

Here’s an overview of several common job roles in audio post-production for TV and film, listed these alphabetically.

ADR

Some (or in some cases, most) of the production dialogue won’t be of sufficient quality to use in the mix. This can be due to a variety of factors including excessive noise on the recording, inconsistencies in sound between different takes or a less than ideal performance from an actor. Dialogue which can’t be used is re-recorded as ADR. This stands for Automated Dialogue Replacement, and is the process of getting the actor back in the studio and having them deliver their lines in sync with the original performance, usually in loop record mode. Typically multiple takes will be performed and the best ones chosen and comped together. Because of the way ADR is done by playing back the original performance on a loop, the process is sometimes referred to as Looping.

Depending on the size of the production and crew, there may be multiple job roles within the ADR department. These include

• Supervisor

• Recordist

• Mixer

• Editor

On small to medium productions, it’s often down to one person to carry out all of these ADR tasks. Big productions may have an ADR supervisor, whose job is to oversee the ADR team, review all of the location dialogue and make decisions about which lines must be re-recorded.

Assistant Sound Editor

As the name suggests, this is a supporting role. Assistant sound editors work under the supervision of the sound editors and supervising sound editor and typically carry out some of the menial tasks such as sourcing sound effects, transferring sound files and preparing cue sheets.

Composer

The composer is responsible for writing, conducting and sometimes also performing the music for a production. On high budget TV shows and films, the music is typically written specifically for the production. Lower budget TV shows may use library music. This ‘off the shelf’ music can be a more cost effective option than having something composed specifically, but there’s always a chance that other shows will use the same track. If you’re familiar with any of the popular production music libraries, you may notice certain tracks popping up on different shows.

One benefit of having custom written music is that it can be tailored precisely to meet the requirements and pace of the scenes within a production.

Dialogue Editor

If there’s one thing which takes up a lot of time in audio post, it’s dialogue editing. It takes skill to clean up unwanted background noise, remove mouth clicks and generate fill for the gaps between lines. A dialogue editor will also smooth out the differences in sound between different takes with a combination of EQ, levelling and careful selection of takes.

Dubbing Mixer

Depending on where you are in the world, the terms Dubbing Mixer and Re-recording mixer may be used to describe the same role. Ultimately, the dubbing mixer is the person who carries out the final mix on a film or TV show. The term Dubbing Mixer itself is more commonly used in Europe, whereas ‘Re-recording Mixer’ is the equivalent term which is usually used in North America. See ‘Re-recording Mixer’ for more details.

Foley Artist

Named after pioneering sound effects artist Jack Foley, this is the process of post-synchronising sound effects to picture by performing the sounds using a variety of objects and props. Foley typically covers the categories of footsteps, props and cloth but can encompass a very broad variety of other sound effects too. The sounds created by the foley artists will replace or support those recorded on set and will be combined with the other sound effects and sound design. Foley is recorded in a studio called a foley stage. The foley stage is equipped with a wide selection of objects which the foley artist uses to create sounds. Different surfaces and textures are available in foley pits, allowing the artist to recreate the sound of objects and footsteps taking place in a range of locations. Foley pit surfaces may include wood, concrete, grass, water, sand, carpet, sheet metal, earth and gravel.

Foley Editor

Once the foley artist has performed the required foley sounds, it’s down to the foley editor to refine them by layering and editing to create the best sounding result to support the on-screen movement and action.

Foreign Mix Supervisor

When a production needs to be re-dubbed into another language, the foreign mix supervisor oversees the team responsible for this. When a production is to be dubbed into multiple languages, there may be a number of foreign mix supervisors.

Music Editor

A music editor works with the composer, music supervisor and director to create a temporary track of pre-existing music which is cut to picture and serves as a guide for the composer. The music editor may also create a tempo map and click track for the composer, conductor and musicians to use when performing the score. The music editor will attend the recording and mixing sessions for the score and may carry out any subsequent editing which might be necessary in order to ensure sync with picture.

Music Supervisor

Wherever pre-existing music and well known songs are used in a production, the music supervisor works with the director and producers to secure the legal rights to use that music. They work with the music editor. In some cases the two roles will be carried out by one person.

Post Production Coordinator

Post production coordinators oversee the post production process as a whole and ensure that all departments remain on schedule. It is typically the post production coordinator who will book sessions for foley, ADR, picture editing and audio dubbing.

Re-Recording Mixer

Following the assembly of all of the dialogue, foley, sound design, sound effects and music, the elements need to be balanced and mixed down as a complete mix. This is the job of the Re-recording Mixer. Re-recording mixers often make the final decisions regarding the overall balance and creative decisions. Usually, once a mix is complete, the re-recording mixer will take feedback from the director and implement changes to the mix prior to final sign off.

The term Re-recording Mixer is widely used in North America. In Europe, including the UK, the term ‘Dubbing Mixer’ is more commonly used.

Score Mixer

The score mixer’s job is to record and mix the orchestra. Once the recording is complete, it will be down to the score mixer to balance the mix, processing and panning it as required. The completed music may be delivered as a fully mixed multi channel surround mix or as stems.

Sound Design

The term Sound Design, in relation to film, came into common usage in 1979 when Walter Much was credited by Francis Ford Coppola as Sound Designer on the film Apocalypse Now. The term itself can actually be traced back to around a decade earlier when theatre sound engineer Dan Dugan started working with three stereo tape decks routed to 10 speakers during the 1968-69 season of American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.

Sound Design is the process of creating, manipulating and layering sounds to support the narrative of the story. It is a highly creative but also technical process and, done well, should enhance and enrich the feeling of a film.

The term Sound Designer is sometimes used interchangeably with Supervising Sound Editor. The two terms actually developed in parallel, but over time the Supervising Sound Editor became more of a term used to describe the head of the sound department.

Sound Effects Editor

Sound effects editors work under the supervision of the supervising sound editor and are responsible for finding, recording and editing many of the sound effects. These effects will work along with the foley and sound design to form the sound effects tracklay for a film or TV show.

Supervising Sound Editor

A supervising sound editor, sometimes referred to as a sound supervisor, is the head of the sound department, overseeing every other member of the sound team. The supervising sound editor is responsible for ensuring that the production stays on schedule and on budget. They will liaise with the producers and director about the progress of the sound team.

Depending on the size of the production, the supervising sound editor may also be required to carry out other tasks, including sound design and sound effects recording. Being a leadership role, the supervising sound editor is typically very experienced and is likely to have served other roles on the sound team earlier in their career.

In Summary

This is by no means an exhaustive list. We’ve included the most common audio post production job roles and given a description of each. Some of these roles will differ depending on the size and budget of the production, or the location in which the production takes place. Please let us know in the comments if you feel that we’ve missed any and we’ll be happy to add them into the article.

Main image courtesy of Avid.