How to save time (and money) during your film’s sound mix review

Making a film is a group effort, and it takes a group of decision makers to get to the finish line. Things can go very smoothly during the process - or very wrong. 

A lot of what helps a film become the best that it can be is when key decision makers are aligned with the overall creative vision for the project. Things don’t go well when directors and producers start butting heads over creative differences. Internal conflicts can cause huge delays on a release, or even keep the project from ever seeing the light of day.

The final sound mix review sessions for your film is no exception. In fact, it could end up being one of the most complicated in terms of getting everyone on board, especially as your production team moves on to other projects with limited availability.

We’ve compiled a list of best practices to help keep things organized, so you and your team are always on the same page during the final touches of your sound mix.

Credit: Vancouver Film School

Create a Hard Deadline

In most cases you will probably be aiming for some kind of completion date to have your project ready for a festival or distribution release. This is a great way to expedite your decision making process, as there is a limited window to work within. It’s when you have a loose deadline that things can fall apart. Suddenly the project no longer becomes a priority, as there is no motivation to have it ready for a specific purpose. Since this is also a group effort, it will become more difficult to have everyone focused on getting it finished. One of the biggest problems you may also face is increased budget if you put your sound team on hold. They have other work in the pipeline and causing changes to their schedule could equal added costs if they have to prioritize your needs on short notice. Creating a specific deadline for the final sound mix to be complete will help you avoid a lot of pitfalls.

Stick to the Schedule

Things are always going to hold up the sound mix process. You may have trouble getting clearance on footage or music, the composer might go AWOL, or you may need to revise some of the VFX shots. All of this will impact the post sound schedule and delay the final mix. It may also create a time crunch if you have a deadline, and you may need to cut corners on sound to get sound completed. Planning for a bit of flexibility in your schedule can relieve a lot of stress, however this isn’t always possible. At that point you may have to come to terms that not everything asked for will get proper attention within a limited time to deliver. Always talk to your sound team if you need to move the schedule to get things done.

Consolidate Feedback

Because your project may have a number of decision makers, each person may have their own list of changes they would like to see. Some requests may even be similar between different people. An important step during the review process is to collaborate with your own internal review team and come up with a plan for discussions. Through those conversations you can then begin to consolidate feedback for the post sound mix. Having one master list, and one lead person to facilitate during the review will help keep things on schedule, and reduce any indecision from your own team.

Rounds of Changes

After developing a plan for how feedback will be provided during the mix reviews, there should be an understanding as to how many rounds of changes the project will go through. Normally this is between 2 and 3 complete rounds of review. During the process there may be requests for level changes and tweaks to sound effects. There may also be changes to soundtrack and score that need to be implemented. Your sound team should provide insight on what can and can’t be done from a technical perspective which may cause problems for QC down the road. Make a plan for what’s to be expected during each round, and understand that any round outside of the contract could incur additional costs.

The Final Word

Communication and organization is the key to a smooth post sound experience. Your sound team should always have your best interest in mind, and they will be able do the best job for you when everyone involved is aware of the process. 

At Enhance Media we take a lot of pride in the time we put into organizing and scheduling reviews for our clients. If you’d like to have your next project go even smoother, contact us.