SOUND POST-PRODUCTION FOR FILM

Kick things off by meeting your instructor, getting the course roadmap, and diving into how sound shapes a story, from diegetic vs. non-diegetic to the subtle power of subjective audio.

• Instructor intro
• Course structure
• Assignments & final project overview
• The psychology of sound in film
• Diagetic vs. non-diagetic & subjective sound vs. realism

Get a backstage pass to film sound post-production. Explore who does what, see how sound shapes every scene, and check out real-world demos that turn ordinary footage into an emotional experience. Plus, get clarity on career paths in sound.

• Roles & responsibilities in post-production
• Post-production sound team structure: Overview
• Career paths: Post-production vs. production sound roles
• How sound shapes audience emotions
• Demo: Scene improvement through post-editing

Assignment #1 (Optional): Listening / Writing Exercise
Document the sounds you hear during your morning routine, breakfast, or commute. How do they affect your day?

Get hands-on with sound editing as both a craft and a tool for storytelling. Learn how to meet directors’ and editors’ needs while shaping audio that drives emotion and keeps scenes flowing seamlessly.

• Sound editing: Technical & creative craft
• Understanding directors’ & picture editors’ needs
• Building emotional continuity through editing

Assignment #2: Script Analysis for Sound
Mark up the guest speaker’s short film script with creative and budget notes.

Tune every line, clean every track, and shape the sound that makes a film feel alive. Learn to organise multitrack recordings, polish dialogue, and break down a soundtrack’s emotional impact — all in a hands-on workshop analysing Witness.

• Dialogue editing priorities: Intelligibility, consistency
• Cleaning production sound
• Lined script, sound reports, multitrack location recordings
• Organising large projects: Track layout, labeling
• Workshop: Soundtrack breakdown & emotional impact

Assignment #3: Field Recording
Create your own sound effects library.

Set up your post session professionally. Learn how to prep a DAW for film post, handle picture changes, and use markers and memory locations efficiently, all through a hands-on Pro Tools demo that gets you ready to dive straight into sound post production.

• Session setup for film post
• Conforming to picture changes
• Markers & memory locations
• Demo: Pro Tools post-production session setup

Assignment #4: Metadata Matters: Embedding
Embed important metadata using Basehead.

Take Foley from the studio to the screen. Learn how to edit and integrate sound effects so every footstep, rustle, and impact feels perfectly in sync and completely real. Walk through real team deliverables and get hands-on with syncing in a live demo.

• Deliverables from Foley teams
• Editing for sync & realism
• Demo: Syncing footsteps

Assignment #5 (Part 1): Sound Template
Create a customised sound edit and mix template, download the required materials for the class project, and convert the video for use in your DAW.

Let the sound do the storytelling. Spot, cue, and layer effects for depth, manage your libraries, and craft “invisible” SFX that guide the audience without them noticing, all while cutting with perspective and polishing levels for impact.

• Spotting & cueing within schedules
• Layering for narrative depth
• Library management & tagging
• Creating “invisible” effects
• Cutting for perspective, mono vs. stereo, rough levels

Understand how to work around dialogue – clean up audio, match ADR to production, and nail room tone continuity. See it in action through The Matrix case study and learn how every line stays seamless on screen.

• Audio repair: Clipping, hums, distortion
• Matching ADR texture to production
• Background matching & room tone
• Case Study: The Matrix: ADR & continuity

Assignment #5 (Part 2): Spotting Document
Develop a detailed spotting document using Google Sheets to outline critical cues and technical notes for the class project.

Learn how to make music fit the picture. Explore temp scores, dialogue balance, and editing tweaks to shape emotion and clarity in film. Get insider tips from a composer and break down a real-world case study from The Social Network.

• Temp score & replacements
• Dialogue & music balance
• Editing music for re-cuts
• Reverb for realism vs. effect
• Case Study: The Social Network: Balancing dialogue & music

Assignment #6 (Part 1): Dialogue Edit
Do dialogue editing for the final class project.

Get your mix ready for the big leagues: balance dialogue, music, and effects, deliver in stereo, 5.1, or Atmos, and see how to polish a short film for distributor delivery. Walk away confident in turning the audio into a professional, industry-ready final product.

• Pre-mixing dialogue, music, effects
• Printmaster & deliverables
• Mixing for stereo, 5.1, Atmos
• Demo: Mixing a short film for distributor delivery

Assignment #6 (Part 2): Music Edit
Now that you have the dialogue edit, do music editing for your course project.

Keep your projects on track and your team in sync. Learn to plan schedules, hit milestones, coordinate in-house and freelance crews, communicate clearly with directors, and manage editorial budgets professionally.

• Schedule & milestone planning: Cue sheet management
• Spotting sessions with directors
• Managing mixed teams: In-house & freelance
• Clear technical communication
• Budgeting editorial resources

Assignment #6 (Part 3): SFX Edit
With music and dialogue out of the way, perform sound effects edit for your course project.

Take control of every version and sound element in your project. Learn to handle picture edits, sync ADR and re-recorded audio, and tackle both manual and automated conforming, then see it all in action with a live demo.

• Handling version changes from picture editorial
• Syncing ADR & re-recorded sounds
• Manual & automated conforming
• Demo: Live conforming

Assignment #7 (Part 1): Premix
Prepare a full sound post workflow: dialogue cleanup, ADR, Foley, SFX, music, stereo/5.1 mix.

Get your post sound skills screen-ready. Learn how to navigate pipelines for film and TV, collaborate with production teams, explore the latest post-production tech, and build a portfolio that gets you noticed.

• Sound post pipelines for film & TV
• Working with production companies & directors
• Emerging technologies in post-production
• Preparing a professional post-sound portfolio

Assignment #7 (Part 2): Final Mix
Finalise the mix: create a soundtrack with clean dialogue, original sound effects, edited foley, and edited professional score for a short science fiction movie. Plus, complete it with mixing, mastering, and exporting a polished sound mix with video.