When a project has achieved “picture lock”, meaning the visuals in the edit – the shot choices and their timecodes – are finalized, it’s time to perfect the sound. This process involves creating sounds that match the action you see on screen. If you see an actor close a car door, but you don’t hear it, your brain is left dissatisfied, whether that dissatisfaction is felt consciously or unconsciously. This process involves making those sounds; setting a balance between speakers to give the listener a three-dimensional immersion within the sound; equalization, to ensure a certain sound doesn’t have too much muddiness, piercing high frequencies, or distorted, bass-y rumble; level control, for a natural loudness of each individual sound; layering, for all of the different elements that combine to create each sound; spacial mixing, to match the space seen on screen with the right amounts and types of reverb and echo. This list goes on, but we’re already rambling!