Capturing Film Mixers’ Workflows

Shalabi, Ahmed; McGregor, Iain

Abstract

Cinema being a controlled medium can offer stakeholders reassurance and a certain level of predictability in terms of soundtrack reproduction. The television and streaming suite of standards and delivery specifications have been developed in order to provide a consistent sonic experience for viewers, as well as predictability for content creators. However, current delivery specifications and standards do not fully address the plethora of playback hardware, inclusive of the reproduction environment, and they fail to consider variance in playback levels and the wider audience demographic. This paper describes the approach developed to identify re-recording mixers’ workflows and monitoring layout, inclusive of speaker types and mixing environments. The findings indicate that mixers adopt varying approaches toward certain stems when creating mixes tailored for TV and streaming platforms, particularly with regard to the dialogue stem compared with other components in a film sound mix. Additionally, it is evident that some mixers adjust their monitoring levels and configurations for TV and streaming platform mixes, although these adjustments may only yield minimal to no discernible outcomes at all. Lastly, the results highlighted that mixers expressed a desire for improvements in current workflows, especially addressing constraints related to shrinking budgets and tight schedules.

Citation

Shalabi, A., & McGregor, I. (2024). Capturing Film Mixers’ Workflows. Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 72(9),

• Journal Article Type: Data Article / Data Paper
• Acceptance Date: Jul 1, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Sep 1, 2024
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 27, 2024
• Print ISSN: 1549-4950
• Publisher: Audio Engineering Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 72
• Issue: 9
• Publisher URL: https://aes2.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=22711