Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Invisible Art

Dialogue editing is a crucial yet invisible part of filmmaking. Do it right, and no one notices. Do it wrong, and your film or video sounds messy, distracting, and unrealistic. This is a book for people who need to edit production sound for film, TV, or video but were never taught how to do it. It goes step by step through the process and covers all the workflows you are likely to encounter. Efficient working practices are emphasized throughout, so you learn to save time and avoid needless repetition.

Many dialogue editors are hobbled by a lack of understanding of the non-sound aspects of filmmaking. Unlike editors who cut effects, backgrounds or Foley, a dialogue editor's work is directly affected by what has gone on before. How a film was shot, recorded and edited will dramatically influence the dialogue editing process. Much of this book, then, deals with things which at first glance don't appear to be dialogue. You will find overviews of film picture and sound postproduction--film, tape, NTSC, PAL, 24p, and HD. There are summaries of film picture editing, OMF manipulation, and ADR management.