| Gary, Phillip and Henchman,
I think that this post is one of the best I've read in years!
I appreciate all your points of view. When our names (Re-Recording Mixers)
are on the opening credits to a Film then maybe I might change my view but until then, it's their Film (The Director and Producers) . They have created it, Financed it, sold the ideas to others . We Mixers come at the very end and we help create the sonic aspect to help on the story telling of the film. We all have pride in what we do, but our sound agenda should be within the content of what the they (Director and Producers) desire.
When we all work as a team and experiment and try things through sound that compliment the film it then becomes quite rewarding.
GREAT POST GUYS!!
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Gary Geegan said:
I remember when I was younger I thought that my job as a mixer was to grace each film with my personal aesthetic. However, after many years in the industry, I gradually came to the opinion that my job was actually to adapt to the director's, or often the communal aesthetic that surfaced on each film, and to add to it in the spirit of the project - being a chameleon, if you will.
Phillip Perkins said:
Pretty much exactly the way you do, in the same trajectory. In my old age I'm no longer confused about who's film it is: not mine. The thing that helped me to this state of mind the most was being a director myself, and having to deal with sound people (among others) who had their own agendas for the project and their methods for doing it. A lightbulb went on, and I was much easier to work with after that. I have projects of my own that reflect my sensibilities and tastes very directly, at work the trick is figuring out what the "creative" people's tastes are to the extent that you can even anticipate what they will want. That is the mark of a true professional in this biz.
Philip Perkins (CAS)
Henchman said:
I've always approached mixing that way.
I never had the opinion that I should force my opinion upon someone who's been workign on the project for god knows how long.
Who am I to come in at the 11th hour and push my artistic ideas on them.
Gary said:
I don't want to single out editors, because I know mixers who have their own agendas too, but I often have effects editors come up to me during the mix and whisper in my ear asking me to do something that directly contradicts what the director wants. It might be sneaking an effect back into the mix that the director specifically said to lose, or to turn up effects after being asked to turn them down. Of course I tell them to go negotiate it with the director, though then they'll look at me like I'm a turncoat.
This is why it bothers me when I hear people criticize mixers' work, even if the mix sucks. Sure, there are some mixers that are better than others, but it's highly unlikely you're going to survive as a mixer without a high degree of talent and professionalism. It's just too competitive for a hack to get very far, though it has been known to happen in rare circumstances. If something sounds wacky with the mix, my first instinct is to assume that the mixer was told to do it that way, because that's been my experience.
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