Production sound mixer

The job

Head of production sound. In prep you read the script for sound, recce for noise, choose the kit and hire your crew.

On the shoot you record and mix dialogue from the cart, on boom and radio mics, and keep the sound report. You speak up when noise will hurt the track, including stopping a take. You agree file formats, metadata and delivery with post.

A typical day

Set up the cart early and jam timecode with camera.
At blocking, listen and plan mics with the boom op.
During lighting, check radio mics and levels.
On "turn over", call "speed" once recording is stable. Mix and listen through the take.
After the take, tell the 1st AD if sound was clean.
Between setups, record wild tracks and room tone. At wrap, finish the report and send files.

Skills

Deep knowledge of microphones, recorders, mixing and timecode.
Critical listening.
Leading a small team.
Diplomacy with the director, 1st AD and other departments.
Understanding of post-production sound.

Who you report to

You report to the production manager and work with the director. The boom operator, sound assistant and trainee report to you.

How people get in

Most mixers have worked as boom operators and sound assistants. Some come from factual TV as sound recordists. ScreenSkills publishes a production sound mixer skills checklist and profile. AMPS represents production sound crew.

Next step up

Mixer on larger productions. Some move into post-production sound.

The production sound mixer records what the actors say.