A Sound Designer Saga: Plan Ahead for One of the Most Important Elements of Your Film

MOS means Mit Out Sound, and refers to a scene shot without sound. Nothing makes me cringe more than reading those letters on a sound report, or hearing them during a spotting session. I just wonder to myself both how many lost opportunities, and how much extra work, not having sound is going to create!

I’m Jon Vogl, owner, re-recording mixer and sound supervisor at Apex Post Production. Having worked with producers, directors, A-level talent and post supers from major studios, indie production companies, TV networks and streamers, I’m going to share a few things from these experiences and suggest how you can save a lot of time and money on post sound.

When I started working at 20th Century Fox in the ‘90s (gasp!) sound director Dan Ortiz said filmmakers should always know where they need to end up, in terms of deliverables, and then work backwards. An experienced sound supervisor will know how to create a technically accurate set of files to send through quality control, and what’s needed to get there.

Although some people consider post production to be something that simply happens after production, there’s much to be gained through integrating post, and specifically sound, much earlier. I recommend hiring your sound team during pre-production so they can be integrated into the entire process. 

Why? Most sound supervisors will jump at the chance to visit the set, view the production schedule, meet some of the principal cast and crew (sound mixer!), and better understand the locations and conditions the sound will be recorded in. The post sound team may offer some simple acoustic solutions for problem locations, or record location source material (crowd scenes, specific vehicles, or mechanical props) to use in the mix. This creates accuracy, authenticity and efficiency. 

For example: For scenes set at a convention center in 2019’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, director Kevin Smith allowed us to bring in three people for a couple of days to join his  two-person sound team. We positioned extra boom and plant mics around the audience and recorded their applause and yelling.

And during the filming of 2021’s Blue Bayou, director Justin Chon encouraged me to visit the set and the edit room. We recorded tattoo guns, a Ducati bike, location ambiences, and a secondary set of tracks of Alicia Vikander singing “Blue Bayou.” In the edit bay, Justin played scenes for me as they were being cut, so I could start forming ideas about pacing and content long before receiving the locked picture.

Sound Design Advice, Step by Step

Dialogue is the most important element of the mix — if the audience can’t hear dialogue, they’ll miss plot points. Your production sound mixer is solely responsible for recording good, clean and consistent sound under the most challenging conditions. Hire an experienced sound mixer, and boom operator, with verifiable credits. Talk to the post and sound supervisors on other projects they’ve mixed and ask how things went — credits alone do not indicate the quality of someone’s work.

Understand the structure and process of the sound team. You may have five or more people working together and led by a single person, the sound supervisor. Each person has a role, and most, if not all, will be competent sound editors. Each type of sound (dialogue, hard and background FX, foley, design) is edited separately. Original recordings are made for ADR (automated dialogue replacement), foley, and FX. These processes are scheduled in advance and managed by the sound supervisor. The culmination of all editing and recording is the “final mix” session that can last days or weeks. This complex and multi-faceted process is the reason sound is costly. Cutting corners can significantly degrade your final sound mix, and your film.

Also Read: After Life Crisis: How Spirits Lifted Our Haunted Indie Story

The term “sound design” is often used as a reference to the person who leads the sound team, but it’s also a unique type of sound effect. Sound design “effects” within the mix are sounds that are not “real” but are used for dramatic intent. They are similar to music, but are usually not melodic, and occur in short gestural instances or transitions. Think of “stabbing” jolts in a horror film, or heavy low bass hits for emphasis, or a cool transition to bridge two scenes together.

ADR is used for fixing problems and changing a performance for story purposes. I’m a very experienced ADR mixer, trained by some of the best in the business, and love successfully recording really good ADR and fitting it seamlessly into an existing sequence of dialogue. But most directors prefer the original performance over ADR. Problems during post can be avoided by hiring a good production sound team and giving them support and time to do their job.

Also: Remember to budget for foley. Many sounds can be found in a library, but there’s an art to conveying the nuanced movements of a person handling a bag or objects, or walking naturally in accurate footwear on different surfaces. If you need to deliver sound for international distribution, you’ll need foley to fill “dubbed” areas. So expect to pay $10,000, minimum, for foley on a feature.

Many lower-budget shows don’t hire a music editor and rely on the composer to prep tracks — or perhaps the sound mixer to make adjustments during the mix. But if schedules get tight, you don’t want to lose time by having your mix stage stalled waiting for a music turnover. A music editor can prep everything and deliver it to the stage for a seamless integration. If you can, please hire a music editor. 

Sound Design Budgeting, and Final Advice

I’m often asked, without being given any info on the overall film budget, genre, length, or delivery timeline, “How much will it cost for a sound mix?” This is like asking a contractor how much it will cost to build a house without giving them a set of plans, size of house, or a location. 

But let’s just assume it’s an indie feature, 92 minutes, an overall budget of $1 million, with 30% going to above the line costs. That leaves $700,000 for physical production, post, and other related costs. I like to budget 25% of this for post overall, then 25% of that for sound. That leaves about $40,000, and this seems logical. If you can set aside $40,000 for sound on a $1 million film, you’ll be doing great. Up the film’s budget to $10 million, and this model suggests $400,000 for sound — but that’s not the case. The economic curve works in your favor, as $80,000 to $120,000 is appropriate, though you’ll have union fringes to consider as well.

Start and finish strong. The turnover from editorial to sound, and other finishing teams, is a critical process and almost always takes longer than it needs to. Theoretically, it can be done in one or two days. But problems can extend that to a week or more. Practice this turnover using a short segment as a test ahead of the actual turnover. Hopefully you have an assistant editor to manage this process.

Know your deliverables: Theatrical or festivals require DCPs (digital cinema packages), and streamers will likely require a 4K picture master or something derived from it. Sound is still primarily 5.1 and stereo, with the occasional Atmos mix request. 

The bottom line is, give yourself a decent budget for sound, hire your sound team early and know your deliverables before you even start filming. That will make sure you never deliver a scene MOS, or even MOGS (Mit Out Good Sound). 

In my many years in sound, I’ve seen a lot. I’ve curated a workflow and a team at Apex to be able to provide Oscar-worthy sound design for all projects, even student films. We’ve even expanded to offering a full post production experience, including dailies through final color, in both our New Orleans and Oklahoma City facilities. But more on that next time. 

You can learn more at apexpost.com.

Main image: Apex Post owner Jon Vogl and Blue Bayou director Justin Chon. Courtesy of Apex Post.