User talk:RedSox2014

Hi, Red. My name is William R. Warren, Jr., I'm primarily known as a science fiction/fantasy illustrator, but I worked at Boeing for almost 20 years in their Motion Picture/TV unit, among other assignments, and I also (briefly) studied cinematography at the University of Oklahoma under Charles (Ned) Hockman (c.1973) and I learned something different about the definition of a 'scratch track' than you present here. So: FYI and for whatever it's worth, ignoring this bit of underrated knowledge has ruined a shitload of amateur productions, semi-pro movies and even pr... okay, it doesn't happen to pros.

We (the cinematography students at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, 1972-74) were recording audio on a sprocket-driven 16mm-film stock multi-track reel-to-reel machine called a "Magnasynch". This would let us edit 16mm film and audio up to the millimeter, stereo mixing was possible, and I mean PRECISELY synchronized, (in a pre-digital world, mind you, this was a HIGH TECH TOY)! The whole movie-director stereotypycal "Lights! Camera! Action!" bit is billshat unless you're shooting MOS (seriously: even today, it means "Mit-Out Sound!", a racist mocking of the brilliant German directors of the time, and their accents)!

On command, we'd heat up the "LIGHTS" to get the color temperature right and make sure a Kleig or a coop didn't blow and force a reset, then the director would call "SOUND"! When WE were rolling the Magnasynch and the loops were good, no chatter and the machine was quiet, we'd answer "SPEED" and he'd yell "CAMERA" and start burning the expensive film, we'd chip it for color correction and slate it and the "talent" did its thing. "Cut" and hopefully "Print!" You could record over the audio, but if it didn't work, you didn't want to roll film. And the lights were even less reliable than the sound. These kids have it so easy today! Audio is *DIFFICULT!* It is also one of the most important, underrated and essential elements of cinema! Regardez Ben Burtt!

The deal is, while the lighting and costumes and other continuity issues are largely covered, the ear is hard to fool. The mike setup is going to be different on different days (and a single shot CAN take days, yawn yawn yawn TERROR yawn) and the audience's ear picks up that difference, even one day to the next, one mike setup versus another on the same day! Even amateur filmmakers will cringe when they see (hear) that mistake in a friend's movie. (Nobody gave Corman the note, huh? Hm. Who forgot to pass it, Lucas or Spielberg or Acapella with that Vietnam thing oh wait, I get it.) (How did that work out for you guys?)

So, the thing I learned was called a "scratch track" was, in fact, a way of degrading the audio clips that were synched to the film from various different takes (and before fancy ADR was available!) by adding a continuous 'hiss' that camouflaged (however poorly) the fact that the audio had been tampered with, then adding a "traffic" or "murmur" over top of that. The 'scratch track' is a background white noise added to the primary vocal tracks to disguise the fact that the recordings are not continuous/contiguous (unless you're lucky enough that your talent gets it right on the first ambient shot! RARE, but it happens!!) I'm surprised that your page makes no overt mention of this definition. OTOH, that's what WIKI's for, n'est-ce pas? My two cents' worth?

I apologize for not having proper documentation of this potential contribution to the world's encyclopedia, but I was on a surfing mission elsewhere and accidentally landed here and really should be on my way. Happy Thanksgiving, LL&P, so long and thanks for all the fish!

Hmm, actually, I only had Dr. Hockman's word on the "MOS" description and while it's entertaining enough to be factual, I'm in my 60s and have to cop to it: Too many old friends (Kelly Freas, Algis Budrys, Ted Sturgeon, Wilson Tucker) have ALL told me: "DON'T LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY!"

Which, while more erudite, uses considerably more words than my favorite rendition, "Don't confuse me with facts!" But you should look this one up, I'm surprised no-one's asked ... or is pre-digital cinema technology completely passé? Still, I'd look it up before you claim it as a fact, I've only heard it from the world's greatest authorities' lips. And I'm on mine. Happy Thanksgiving!

All the best, always, William R. Warren, Jr.

PS, I just realized I totally talk like Stewie Griffin. "MEIN FUHRER, I CAN VALK!" oops, no I can't .................