Audio Postproduction for Digital Video

Chapter 9

Editing Dialog

Remember this:

•	Blobs on a screen aren’t sound. You can use waveforms as a guide, but it’s best to cut by ear.
•	Thinking phonetically will make you a faster and better editor.
•	You need a strategy to restore lost sync. You also need luck.

There’s an approach to cutting dialog that appears in most NLE manuals. It’s even taught in some film schools: look at the waveform, find a pause where it drops to zero, and edit during the silence. This kind of editing is simple, easy to describe, and somewhat appealing to visually oriented filmmakers.

But frequently it’s the only method taught, and that’s a shame. There’s nothing wrong with using waveforms and cutting in silence, for some material. But it’s not the best ...