Case: Sound design, mixing, and mastering of 2.1 and 5.1 versions of the documentary film “Monchegorsk.” Screenplay author and director: Svetlana Bokova. Runtime: 114 minutes.
The film “Monchegorsk” can be classified as an important historical document. It captures the key moments in the founding of the Northern metallurgical town, its development, the growth of the Severonickel plant, memories of its pioneers, and accounts from contemporary witnesses. It tells the story of the Monche-tundra settlement and the people devoted to the North. To create the film, specialists at the “Rek.A” film studio recorded 120 hours of interviews, processed nearly 400 photographs, and about 6 hours of archival footage. Unique documentary materials, previously unavailable to the public, were discovered. The viewing left a strong impression even on those who believed they knew the city’s history from start to finish.
Client: Documentary Film Studio “Rek.A,” Monchegorsk City Administration with support from Kola MMC.
Task:
From the rough sound edit of the full-length documentary “Monchegorsk,” assemble several final versions for distribution across different platforms, in accordance with their technical requirements:
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For placement on various online platforms.
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For theatrical screenings at Russian film festivals.
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From the stereo version of the film, create a “surround sound” (5.1) version for full theatrical distribution in cinemas equipped with Dolby® Surround and screenings at international film festivals, taking into account cinema technical standards.
Solution:
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Conversion of the AAF project and synchronization with the rough cut of the film were performed. All audio tracks were normalized to consistent loudness levels. Some important narrative phrases were cleaned of extraneous noise and repositioned within the sound space.
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To fully immerse the viewer in the scenes, SFX were added, both custom-produced and sourced externally.
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Dynamic and spatial processing of voices and ambient sounds was applied, depending on the scene’s environment and the director’s creative requirements.
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Complete mixing and mastering of the 2.1 and 5.1 versions were carried out in accordance with EBU R 128 and Dolby® Surround technical standards.
Documentary Film “Monchegorsk”:
Screenplay Author and Director: Svetlana Bokova.
Camera Team: Valery Gavel, Sergey Shestakov, Alex Gilyazov, Artem Smirnov.
Editing: Valery Gavel.
Graphics, Color Correction: Alexander Znaskevich.
Editor: Irina Mironova.
Sound Engineer: Konstantin Omelchak (OMStudio).
Music: ARTLIST.
Producer: Mikhail Broder.
Production: Documentary Film Studio “Rek.A,” Murmansk. 2022.
