When you are watching a movie, what is the first thing you notice about it? Is it the cinematography? Maybe the set design or landscapes? But what about the quality of the sound?

Sound is a very important part of the film experience, but it goes largely unnoticed since the film is primarily a visual medium. Sound can add immense emotion, highlight contrasts and create moods, and of course, the dialogues of the actors must sound perfect, or we lose out on their effect.

In fact, sound is so important in filmmaking, that there’s a whole team of people who deal exclusively with ensuring that a film or television production has the perfect sound. One of the most important people to deal with sound is the production sound mixer.

What is a Sound Mixer in Film?

A production sound mixer performs a very important job behind the scenes. In fact, the production sound mixer role is the senior-most position in the film’s sound department. They are the audio engineer who is responsible for overseeing the production audio crew, mixing and balancing the audio as it is being recorded, and dealing with problems which arise during the process such as echo, background noise, distortion and so on. In short, the production sound designer leads the process of sound engineering and audio mixing for film, television, and other video productions. They are the ones responsible for the crisp and clear sounds we hear accompanying the visuals of actors speaking, and the background sounds which add to the scene.

What does a Production Sound Mixer Do?

The specific jobs done by production sound mixers vary from project to project. In big-budget films, the production sound mixer works with a crew of boom operators, cable wranglers, utility sound technicians, and a couple of assistant mixers. In this case, the production sound mixer supervises the other crew members to enable the production sound mixer to efficiently and creatively perform its primary duty of mixing and balancing audio as it is being recorded. In smaller budget productions, the production sound mixer takes on a lot more of the duties that are usually done by a whole sound crew including setting up wires, operating the boom mic, affixing lapel mics, and mixing on a mobile controller.

The work of a production sound mixer begins in pre-production. During this phase, they must choose the audio equipment to be used during the project and source it, visit the filming locations beforehand to ascertain potential problems during recording such as background noise, and finally, assemble a team for the sound crew.

During production, the production sound mixer in the film has a much more dynamic role. They record audio during filming, including dialogues as well as background sounds which may be kept in the final film, while simultaneously mixing. This means that the production sound mixer balances aspects like volume and sound quality in real-time as the audio are being recorded. After every single take, they playback the audio to ensure that the quality of the audio is high and consistent and ask for retakes when necessary. And finally, of course, takes own equipment at the end of the day and sets up at the beginning of each day.

How DICE Can Help

If you want to learn more about audio mixing for film and equip yourself with skills to be in the filmmaking industry, DICE is the place for you. We offer a 3-year comprehensive course in Film Production in collaboration with Vancouver Film School, where students will get the opportunity to explore five key areas of filmmaking and finally specialize in two of the following disciplines: Directing, Cinematography, Producing, and Post-Production. This enables students to pursue careers in major areas of filmmaking including Screenwriting, Cinematography, Directing, Producing, Film Editing, Production Designing, and Production Sound Mixing.

Additionally, students will have access to the VFS and DICE alumni network and make industry connections to help secure their careers. Graduating students will receive a VFS certification in filmmaking, and have the confidence and qualifications to kick start their filmmaking careers. If filmmaking is where your heart is, then DICE is the place to be.

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