Working on the audio post-production of a feature film is always a challenge—especially when it’s a major production with many actors, multiple locations, and a Pro Tools session with over 30 tracks of raw dialogue only.
But these are the challenges that we, as film sound post-production professionals, love the most!
Unraveling scene by scene and take by take, dissecting the field recordings, finding the clearest sound for each line of dialogue, achieving sonic coherence between the different angles of each shot in a scene, and making sure everything sounds natural—without the audience ever having to consciously notice the sound…
Wow! This is a detail I learned years ago, and it echoes in my mind every time I start a new project.
Beyond the technical aspects, creative decisions come into play. Editing and mixing a film like A Quiet Place, where foley and sound effects are the main protagonists, is not the same as working on a feature film about a family story, where dialogue takes center stage but the image is the primary driving force, and the sound must never distract the audience’s attention.
On this subject, a well-known dialogue editor and virtual friend, Evan Benjamin, once told me: “A scene’s dialogue edit is finished when you can watch and listen to the scene without noticing any details in the sound.” Exactly as a person would experience it in their living room on a Sunday afternoon—or a Tuesday night, for that matter.
In films like "My 7 Grandmas", where I had the honor of being the dialogue editor and foley artist, it was crucial to support the visual narrative with clear yet natural dialogue and an even more organic foley treatment, as it’s a story about family and emotions—not a Marvel action film.
At first, the dialogue work seemed like a chaotic and overwhelming task, but after a few clicks and some track organization, everything started to make sense.
Foley is always more dynamic and even more fun in a way because recording with everyday objects—or even creating new sounds for an object using elements that have nothing to do with it—is always an unforgettable adventure.
After two months of intense, non-stop work, dedicating more than 12 hours a day, the film was ready to move forward in the audio post-production process with the final mix engineer, Micah Touchet, and the film’s composer, Jared DePasquale.
Today, the film is making its way through festivals, earning recognition and awards that give all of us a warm pat on the back—encouraging us to keep going, to stay passionate, and to always give our best in every project.
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Congratulations to you and the My 7 Grandmas team on the film earning recognition and awards at the festivals, Walder Martinez! There's more to audio post-production than I thought. What if you couldn't find the clearest sound for a line of dialogue? What would you do?
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Great question, Maurice! The usual answer would be: "asking the sound department for some ADR". For those who aren't familiar with audio post, ADR means "Automatic Dialogue Replacement" and it requires the same actress/actor to re-record its dialogue line(s) at the studio to replace the damaged ones. However, new techniques are emerging every day thanks to the help of AI. Not long ago, in a short film I also worked on, I was able to generate a line of dialogue from an actress without her having to re-record it. And I'm not talking about a voice-cloning service (which already exists), which would be much simpler. What I did was use a voice engine, choose a similar female voice timbre, and adjust the timing and pitch until the sentence sounded 99% like the original. I leave this margin because I and perhaps some crew members could distinguish different nuances in the voice. But the director, producers, and the general public never noticed. And ultimately, that's what it's all about: achieving a result that works, regardless of the techniques used.
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Thanks for the answer, Walder Martinez. I'm looking forward to seeing My 7 Grandmas just from the title alone!
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Congratulations
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This is such a thoughtful and inspiring breakdown of your post-production journey, Walder Martinez! Thank you for sharing it with the community! The way you describe the balance between technical precision and creative sensitivity is a beautiful reminder of how essential sound is to the emotional life of a film. That quote from Evan Benjamin is a gem.
I also love that you touched on the joy of foley, it’s one of the most imaginative aspects of the process, and it’s amazing how ordinary objects can breathe life into a scene when in the hands of a skilled artist. Huge congrats to you and the entire My 7 Grandmas team on the festival success! I hope you’ll continue sharing insights like this in the Post-Production Lounge, there’s so much fellow artists can learn from your process.
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Congrats to the film's director! Looks like a fun project you worked on!