Independent films and audio

[cowtothesky]

Hey guys,
I just finished working on an independent film and wondered if any of you had encountered this. The film mix was fine. But a few weeks later, I was asked to do the music and mix for the trailer, which I was glad to do. I sent a standard (24bit/48k) stereo wav file of the full mix as agreed. I tested it to make sure everything was right before sending. All was good on my end.

The person handling putting the mix to film apparently rendered it in a mono format, or had some kind of weird effect on it, making it sound mono. Very disappointing. I know that on larger budget films, they have teams of people who handle this process, but on lower budget independent films, it is usually 1 or 2 people, sometimes with very limited experience when it comes to audio. I am beginning to wonder if I should insist on being present when they render the final video.

Is there something I'm missing in video editing programs that complicates importing audio? If I knew more about what they do, maybe I could make a list of instructions on how to import and export audio when I send them the audio file.

What do you do when you can't trust the people you hand the audio off to?

Would love some opinions. I just want to avoid this from happening in the future.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I've definitely been there more than once. Sometimes post work is done and the composer/sound designer simply isn't even informed, in which case it becomes something to add to a contract. I have absolute horror stories where the tracks were so distressed and mutilated that the film was actually destroyed as a result. You couldn't even understand the dialogue, and the effing producers did't say a word to the post guys. These are the same producers who put us thru hell in the composition process and our contribution to the post sound, but then they pay ridiculous rates to have the film destroyed and are afraid to say anything to the final post guys for whatever reason. It is maddening.

My only suggestion is to tell them (if you haven't already) how the track was messed up and if you have the influence, demand they fix it. Once it's released, there's nothing you can do about it and your reputation suffers.

I feel your pain, man. I've even seen this on higher end commercial releases I've done. It's like they care about every detail until the home stretch and then they cave to some moron who overcharges.

Artistic control over the soundtrack is written into my agreements whenever possible and if not, I make a loud noise about fudge-ups. Thing is, they sometimes like to kill the messenger.

I hate the living!

[cowtothesky]

I'm with you. I can't, for the life of me, understand why you would go 99% there and at the finish line, mess it up. Makes no sense.

I found out what happened. One of the producers uploaded the wrong version of the trailer and it got tweeted out so much, they are going to leave it up. I spoke with them and they are going to upload the correct version in the near future and they sent the correct version to the distributors, so thank god for that. Other than the thousands of Facebook shares and tweets, it will be fixed.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

And the blame falls where?

[cowtothesky]

Well, the producer eagerly took credit for the error, but I get what you're saying.

I'm just glad they knew what they did. I would be way more concerned if they didn't know. It still sounds pretty decent in mono, but I have all kinds of panning things, as you would in a trailer. Hopefully, they'll get the right one posted soon.

If something is going to go wrong, it's going to happen to the audio. I hate to micro-manage, but when you put so much time in something, you want it right.

[AyanPrince]

One of the producers uploaded the wrong version of the trailer and it got tweeted out so much, they are going to leave it up.






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Arslan1

[stubbsonic]

Ouch. That's a bummer. Would they object if you wanted to host the proper trailer & mix on your site as well?

[MIDI Life Crisis]

So they made a mistake but are too "whatever" to fix it. The mark of a true professional. Not. Seriously, how hard is it to replace an online file?

[James Steele]

Sometimes the problem is that you've already posted it and a specific link is being shared on social media. On YouTube, for example, you can't replace a video and keep the existing URL. Once a video link is gaining traction and spreading on social media, pulling it down and breaking the link is not good. I suppose you could just quietly post again and have a second URL out there. Yep. Check, double-check and check again before posting to social media.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I see. Still, a second link is probably not a bad idea.

[James Steele]

I see. Still, a second link is probably not a bad idea.

True enough. It's redundant and won't necessarily gain traction, but better than not. Real quagmire when they post the wrong one.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Makes you wonder how one becomes "qualified" as a "producer." Good ones are truly worth their weight in gold. Bad ones... well, you know.