Who can forget watching a Sergio Leone film and seeing those epic gunfight scenes. Two men staring each other down in a series of building cuts and shots: a “symphony of violence” as the director called it. Symphony was correct. In most of the gunfight sequences there is a lot of sneering, a few extreme close-ups, and usually two gun shots accompanied by an over the top score. What really created the mood was the sound. As George Lucas has always said, sound is half of the film, or in our case, half of the commercial.

So for all of the advances in sound design and capture I still hear clients say that most people just don’t understand audio as well as they use to. Now of course, I have worked with some great audio engineers and those guys really do know how to create a good mix. But more often than not, because the technology is available, a lot of spots get mixed by the editor or even the compositor because they are the last ones in line.

But fear not – this can be averted

Discussing audio from the first days of production can save your spot from being mixed by “the last man in line.” With a little bit of planning most audio, even on lower budget spots, can be done well. I’m not saying that Bob’s Discount Auto Mart will sound like Star Wars, but it can sound good. The best productions will always have the best pre production and audio is a critical component in that.

So the next time you sit down to discuss a script with your producer take a few minutes to think about the audio. After all, it is half of the spot.

Tim Stevens, Directing Animator, Stevens Design & Animation, LLC