Surprised? Well, the reality is that the actual process of filmmaking on set is painstakingly slow. It can take hours to film something that will last for mere seconds on screen. By comparison, the process of sound mixing, once the picture has been “locked” by the editing team, is fast and has an immediate pay-off. So, if filming can be considered one big foreplay, then the act of sound mixing is like … well, you get the picture.

Usually the process takes about 6 weeks but the movie has to be delivered for a preview screening that is taking place in Minneapolis on Thursday so a quick 2 day mix is being done.

So what actually happens? Well, basically mixing is the process by which a multitude of recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels in a studio ( we were at Soundtrack in New York) by a sound mixing team. In the process, the source signals’ level, frequency content, dynamics and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb will also be added with a software program called Pro Tools and a huge mixing deck. The engineer has 4 main elements to mix: speech (dialogue, ADR, Voice Overs), Ambience, Sound effects and music.

It was very exciting to sit in on the process as the previous cut I had seen was the first rough assembly without any sound effects or music and the movie has improved in leaps and bounds since then.

But there was work to be done. An Iraqi bicyclist needed to grunt and a man in the airport needed to say “Baghdad.” I stepped up to the plate. A herculean effort to suppress my Scottish brogue from making its way to the microphone. The results? You’ll have to go see the movie for yourself.

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