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Sound · Advanced · Brief

Sound Design & Mix for the Short Film

Dialogue edit, ADR, foley, atmos and the final mix. Turning production sound into a finished soundtrack that carries the picture.

The brief

Assessment 1 — Short Film + Production Portfolio

Independently or in a small team, produce a 3–4 minute short film with a full production portfolio. The reflective report focuses on the role(s) you undertook, the collaborative and creative decisions, and how health and safety was integrated throughout.

Weeks 11–14

Deliverables
  • Risk assessment
  • Script
  • Storyboard
  • Shot list
  • Final film (3–4 minutes)
  • 750-word reflective report
Constraints
  • Adhere to H&S protocols throughout
  • Harvard referencing in the reflective report
  • File upload by Week 14, Sun 23:59
Learning outcomes
  • LO2 — Cut a dialogue edit that removes hum, hiss and inconsistency.
  • LO2 — Build a layered soundscape from tone, foley and effects.
  • LO3 — Deliver a final mix at broadcast-safe levels.
What you'll practise
  • Dialogue editing: room-tone bridges, breath handling, de-essing
  • Foley from library and from recording
  • Ambience beds — the invisible layer that sells the location
  • Music placement — starts, stops, sidechaining under dialogue
  • Loudness targets (−23 LUFS broadcast, −16 LUFS streaming)
Before you start
Prerequisites
  • Sound — location recording completed.
  • First assembly of your scene ready to import.
Kit
  • DAW: Pro Tools or Reaper
  • Studio headphones + monitors
  • Loudness meter plugin
Step-by-step
  1. 01

    Conform

    Import the OMF/AAF from picture edit. Verify sync on the slate frame.

  2. 02

    Dialogue pass

    Trim to breath. Bridge every cut with matching room tone. De-hum and de-hiss only where needed.

  3. 03

    Ambience bed

    Lay a continuous location bed under the whole scene. Duck it under dialogue by −6dB.

  4. 04

    Foley + FX

    Add three specific foley elements the picture edit forgot. Test with picture off — does the scene still make sense?

  5. 05

    Mix and measure

    Set dialogue nominal to −12 dBFS peak. Check integrated loudness against target. Export stems and a stereo master.

Watch this
  • TodoSoundworks Collection breakdown of a recent feature — tutor to pick.
Read this

  • In the Blink of an Eye — Walter Murch

    Not strictly sound, but Murch's rule of six applies to every audio cut too.

Common pitfalls
  • Loud music covering a weak dialogue edit — the audience hears the seam anyway.
  • Compressing the mix into a wall of sound with no dynamics.
  • Missing the loudness target — your film gets turned down on delivery.
How you'll be assessed

Your Assessment 1 short must deliver at −16 LUFS integrated with peaks ≤ −1 dBTP. Your mix from this workshop is the rehearsal.

Tutor notes — TODO

Fill these in below. Notes save automatically to this browser.

  • TodoProvide a sample OMF for students without a picture edit yet.
  • TodoAdd a loudness delivery specification sheet.