Dubbing: Practice
Look at the composition of the tracks outlined on the cue sheet. On the facing page you can see what the opening sequences look like in a synchroniser. Compare them with the cue sheet. You can see that where there is no sound on a particular track it is built up with spacing. Note, too, how the sounds sometimes overlap. There are some sounds which come up on cue like the spot effects we have already discussed. There are others which become available, to be crept in as required. On the cue sheet Track 3 faded out at 38ft but the sound on the track runs through for longer giving the mixer an overlap, i.e.: room for manoeuvre. However, where the sound cuts in, as on Track 2 at 01 feet the point is exactly the same on the tracks and on the footage on the cue sheet.
M & E premix
If you have a large number of tracks to mix, the dubbing mixer will often pre-mix a number of them and then run through again blending the pre-mix with the remaining tracks. If you expect to produce foreign versions of the film you are cutting, you should pre-mix the music and effects tracks before adding the voice-over narration. The pre-mix track of music and effects, known as an M and E track,can then be mixed with narration tracks in any language.
At the end of a dubbing session you will have all your soundtracks mixed together on one reel — the master final mix. You may also have a master M and E (music and effects mix) and you will have the final edited cutting copy. The cutting copy can now be sent off for neg cutting. What do you do with the final soundtrack?The work of cutting is now almost completed. One stage remains — the preparation of the first showprint of the final edited film. The picture can be printed from the cut reels of camera original when they have been neg cut, but what about the soundtrack? You will probably want to prepare prints combining sound and picture.
There are two main kinds of combined print. One has an optical, photographic soundtrack and the other has one recorded on a magnetic stripe on the edge of the print. Magnetically striped soundtracks are usually of much better quality. Unfortunately there are comparatively few projectors capable of projecting magnetically striped copies. Optical sound prints are far more common.
Where mixes occur soundtracks, like optical effects, need an overlap. Track 3 mixes to track 4 between 36ft and 38ft (see preceding cue sheet). The editor has left an overlap ending at 40ft. If you do not want sounds to cut in and out instantly, always allow plenty of overlap and cue accordingly.