Jayson Niner recently moved from his position as assistant sound editor to editor here at Boom Box Post. We sat down with Jayson to get his thoughts on his new position, and if he has any advice to offer.
Give a small description of your previous job to new job.
Before becoming a sound editor here at Boom Box Post, I was the assistant sound editor for the studio. My job duties included assembling the combined sound effects, dialogue, and foley sessions for our supervisors, keeping in communication with clients concerning deliverables and media transfers, and editing backgrounds for series and sound effects for short projects. I was also responsible for award submissions for the studio and would help with conforms when needed. Now as a sound effects editor, I edit the effects for one of our shows, meeting with one of our supervisors to spot and review the episodes.
What is the hardest part of the transition?
I would definitely say time management is the hardest part. Learning where to focus my time when it comes to editing an episode has been a learning experience. I have a bad habit of mulling over really small details that, in the greater scheme of things, probably won’t matter. Another aspect of time management I’m still working on is estimating how long editing certain sections will take me. Evenly dividing an episode in terms of time doesn’t always lead to evenly rationed days of work. While it may seem obvious that a fight scene would take more time than a heavy dialogue scene it still surprises me how long even 15 seconds of heavy action can take compared to 3 minutes of a dialogue heavy scene.
What is something you would tell the next person transitioning to a new position?
For someone who is stepping into a sound editorial role, I would say start to think about the sounds you’re cutting in the context of the final mix. An edit might sound great by itself with just the temp dialogue, but once music is added in, the sound effects might not be able to cut through or might clash with the score. I tend to cut a lot of low end heftiness, but that can have a tendency to get buried by music so I’ve been working on trying to add higher frequency elements to my sound builds so that they have a wider frequency range. This helps the sound effects from getting buried in the mix.
what is the biggest difference between BG editing and SFX editing?
I’m actually also editing backgrounds for the show I’m working on, so I would definitely say it is more time consuming adding the rest of the effects on top of that. I feel editing the sound effects has been more rewarding than just adding in backgrounds. It feels really great to make a sound build that I really like and even better when the clients like it too!
what is One thing you are hoping to IMPROVE?
I hope to become a better editor in general. I guess to be more specific, I want to become more streamlined and efficient when editing while still being able to produce edits that sound really cool, and that clients like.
If you enjoyed this blog, check out these:
DESIGNING RHYTHMIC AMBIENCES
TOON SOUND EFFECTS FOR CONVEYING EMOTION: PART 3
LUNCH AND LEARN: DESIGNING CUSTOM SOUND EFFECTS FROM A LIBRARY