Sound Track Bed Over Entire Film?

[ofpeb]

Hi,

2 Questions:

1. Does anyone know exactly what it means when a distributor asks for a soundtrack bed over the entire film? If you know the details thanks for explaining, or if you can lead me to a source.


2. Can anyone lead me to the details of what a distributor is typically looking for when he asks for closed caption in your movie?

Thank you!

Joseph

 

[AudioPostExpert]

Does anyone know exactly what it means when a distributor asks for a soundtrack bed over the entire film?

Distributors/broadcasters are often a nightmare when it comes to audio specifications. They generally do not have a clue what they are talking about and cut and paste their specs from other distributors/broadcasters or mix and match from previous specifications. This often means that audio specs are difficult to interpret and are sometimes completely contradictory and nonsensical. Even highly experienced audio post pros are sometimes caught out and have mixes kicked back by QC departments.

The term "soundtrack" is extremely vague. Originally it meant the physical audio tracks (magnetic or optical) on tape or film but has become misused by the public and many filmmakers who often use the term to mean the musical score but some use it to mean the entire sound (including the music). "Soundtrack bed" doesn't exist as a term, the distributor has just made it up! They know what they mean but don't have the knowledge/terminology to express it accurately. The only way of finding out what they mean is to infer it from their other audio specs or to speak to someone at the distributor who deals with ingest and QC. You'll need to get their audio spec sheet and be very clear about every tiny detail, there is generally absolutely zero "wiggle room" with many distributors/broadcasters and you can find yourself with a big audio post bill if you don't comply with the specs precisely.

G

 

[postfacto]

My guess would be that they want a fully filled SFX track. They would need this if they are selling down stream to a territory that would want to dub the film into another language. This would be part of your delivery of Dialogue, Music and SFX stems.

Say you have a scene where two people are eating in a diner. Now, say you were on a low budget and just went with natural sound for this scene. So all of the ambient sound (people in the background, forks hitting the plate etc.) are mixed in with the dialogue. When a foreign territory wants to dub they are going to replace the dialogue track. Since your track is mixed they have now lost the SFX. They want to have a SFX stem that is "fully filled" so when they lay in the new dialogue there is background sound and not a complete void.

I have always sourced this out to a post house. People usually skimp and do the most basic sounds (room tone, prominent sfx).

 

[Alcove Audio]

Technically the "Soundtrack" is all of the audio - dialog, Foley, sound effects, score and source music. As APE mentioned, this has erroneously come to mean just the score and/or source music.

When a foreign territory wants to dub they are going to replace the dialogue track. Since your track is mixed they have now lost the SFX. They want to have a SFX stem that is "fully filled" so when they lay in the new dialogue there is background sound and not a complete void.

These are known as "M&Es" - Music and Effects. After the full mix is completed the same mix is run without the dialog so the dialog of the film can be dubbed in foreign languages.

 

[postfacto]

I was referring to a fully filled effects stem and not a combined M and E. Although they may take (or want) an M and E, you'd need to check your delivery items. I have had them ask for one or the other or both.