How much time would it take to mix a 33 minute film? Good question. A full day at
the very least, maybe two days if they are eight hour days. Remember, episodic
television shows are usually mixed in just one day but they are often recorded or
filmed on a sound stage so their dialogue tracks are (or should be) very clean.
It all depends. To get by on this fast a schedule you need to have all your
tracks/units well edited and know what you want out of the mix. A mix, after all,
is basically audio "on-line".
"Be prepared" should be not only the Boy Scouts but every editors motto! Do the
following:
Schedule an interlock of the film before the mix. Assuming you are
cutting sound on mag. Film using a flatbed or upright, you won't be able to make
accurate judgments of the quality of your production recordings. If I only had a
dime for every sound editor who said, "I couldn't hear that rumble on the flat
bed!", I'd be rich. You need to cut your tracks and have everything ready as if
you were going to the mix (or a pre-mix of the dialogue) and interlock it with the
work print in a mix room, preferably with the mixer with whom you'll be working.
You and your mixer will both hear the quality of the tracks and he or she should
be able judge whether or not the tracks can be made to sound acceptable, assuming
there is a problem. You will also experience the film for the first time with all
or most of it's "sounds" in a theater environment. You may decide to add or even
delete some sounds...or even re-cut the picture! If all goes well then you can
schedule the mix. Otherwise you have time to make changes or even to think about
changes.
Know where everything is! Have accurate sound logs to mix to and know
where the takes you used (or didn't use) are on your original recordings. You may
need a quick replacement. Experienced editors even write on the sound log where
the sound effect originated from. (e.g. Door Slam, PE18,#101index#3)