My Home Studio is located in NJ, approximately 20 minutes from the Lincoln tunnel. It’s been acoustically treated and it’s calibrated for mixing in stereo and also in 5.1 surround sound. It’s also capable of recording voices, foley sound effects, and musical instruments.
DIALOG EDITING / RESTORATION
Over the years, I’ve learnt that when people say “Dialog Editing” they really mean to say: “clean it up, please, OMG! A miracle is needed(!)” In such cases, I’m the wizard filmmakers trust to get the job done. I rely on my ears, analytic tools, and a variety of processors to do the restorations and deliver them right on time.
Properly recorded dialog still needs a level of clean up due to the fact that having multiple microphones turned ON at the same time multiplies the amount of background noise by a factor equal to the amount of microphones combined at any given time. In addition to this, multiple microphones don’t always work as a team, sometimes they work against each other making the overall sound recording sound extra “roomie” and noisy.
For these reasons, mics need to be turned On and Off in the timeline as needed. And that’s not all, occasionally two microphones can cancel each other in certain frequencies, making the recording sound thin and awkward. The easy fix is to flip the polarity on one of them so that those frequencies get summed instead of canceled.
>>> These, and more, are not problems video editors are trained to identify… let alone fix.
SOUND DESIGN
Sound has the power to set the mood, amaze the ears, enhance the experience, and make it magical. ANY content can be taken up to the next creative level with a good sound design. You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. So let’s stop talking and let’s experiment with sounds. Your audience will love your film and they won’t know why!
My preferred method of working can be compared with sculpting. I fill the scape with a lot of stuff and then sculpt out the excess fat in the most tasteful manner I can, following my director’s visions, of course.
Whether it means recording Foley, using sound FX from libraries or creating them with synthesizers, I’m all-in in the game and won’t rest until my clients give me the thumbs up.
SOUND MIXING
Making dialog, music, FX, and ambiences play like a wonderful team can be a challenge. It’s easy to over do it and get out of specs. Balancing the right amount of power against the average loudness of the dialog track is not something an untrained ear can do.
I’m always happy and excited to take the challenge and make clients happy and audiences enjoy their experience to the max. My goal is always to help the story flow softly and seamlessly; in the most natural manner possible. I spend a lot of time making my transitions feel invisible and my impacts feel as powerful as possible without getting in the way of my dialogues.
WORKING PROCESS
At the end of a session, my clients decide whether my job is done or more needs to be done. I’m not happy until they are happy. Obviously, terms of service apply. I won’t do a million rounds of reviews.
In general, a first pass takes care of all the heavy lifting, taking us right up to the edge of the finishing line.
After a round of reviews, the second pass should get the job done although, further adjustments or corrections are still possible. Each project gets its own treatment. As a rule of thumb, the bigger and more complex the project… you get the idea.
Smaller jobs usually only require the one pass.
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If you’re looking for a seasoned dialog editor, an eccentric sound designer and / or a competent sound mixer, I’d love to discuss your project. Contact me to explore how we can give a sonic personality to your story at info@jcgorritti.com
Let’s bring your story to life with sound!
