design-sound-design-plan

Design Sound Design Plan

Create a comprehensive sound design plan that integrates production audio, sound design, music, and mix strategy into a unified sonic vision for the film.

Why This Is Best Practice

Adopted by: Cinema Audio Society (CAS), SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers), AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) sound branch, and all major studio productions. Impact: Films with a pre-planned sound design approach complete their audio post-production 35% faster (CAS industry survey). Walter Murch's sound design methodology — developed on Apocalypse Now and The English Patient — is now standard curriculum at USC, NYU, and AFI. Why best: Sound accounts for approximately 50% of the film experience (per Murch's "In the Blink of an Eye"). A sound design plan created before production ensures production audio is captured correctly, sound design vocabulary is coherent, and the mix has a defined target — preventing the most common cause of audio post re-work.

Sources: Walter Murch, "In the Blink of an Eye," Silman-James Press (2001); CAS technical standards; SMPTE ST 428 Digital Cinema audio standards; Tomlinson Holman "Sound for Film and Television" (2010)

Steps

1. Establish the sonic world document — Write a one-page sonic world description: the emotional register of the film's audio (naturalistic vs. heightened, sparse vs. dense, acoustic vs. electronic), the music genre and function (diegetic, score, hybrid), and the ambience philosophy (real-world recording vs. designed environments). This document guides all subsequent sound decisions.

2. Identify key sound design moments in the script — Read the script specifically for sound: moments where audio carries narrative weight, transitions that could be sound-led, scenes where silence is the most powerful choice. Mark these with sound design notes. Share with the director to confirm alignment before production begins.

3. Define production audio requirements — Specify the microphone strategy (boom-primary vs. lav-primary vs. hybrid), the recording format (48kHz/24-bit minimum, 96kHz for productions with heavy SFX post), and the number of isolated tracks required. Include timecode sync strategy for multi-camera shoots. Communicate requirements to the production sound mixer before the shoot.

4. Build the sound asset acquisition plan — Identify all required sound assets: production dialogue, ambiences for each distinct location, Foley categories (footsteps, cloth, props), hard sound effects (vehicles, weapons, impacts), and any specially recorded custom sounds. For each category, note whether the asset will be captured on set, recorded in a controlled session, sourced from a library, or designed synthetically.

5. Design the music strategy — Define the role of music in the film: score-driven (music leads emotional interpretation), diegetic-prominent (music from within the story world), or minimal (music used sparingly for maximum impact). Identify the composer and their deliverable schedule relative to picture lock. Specify stems deliverable format: M&E (music and effects) separated for international distribution.

6. Map the mix format and delivery targets — Specify the final mix format before production: 5.1 surround, 7.1, Dolby Atmos, or stereo-only. Each format requires different monitoring during mixing and different asset management. Theatrical and streaming deliverables have different loudness targets (SMPTE ST 2095 for theatrical: -85 dBSPL reference level; Netflix/broadcast: -23 LUFS integrated).

7. Schedule audio post milestones — Set dates for: picture lock, ADR sessions, Foley recording, sound design delivery, temp mix for test screenings, music delivery, pre-mix, final mix, and deliverables. Audio post requires picture lock — enforce it. Build in one ADR session after the first assembly to identify production dialogue problems early.

8. Establish communication protocol between sound departments — Sound editor, composer, re-recording mixer, and music supervisor must operate with shared documentation: a spotting notes document (timestamped cues for music and sound design), a sound report from production, and a music cue sheet. Schedule a spotting session with the director within two weeks of picture lock.

Rules

• Picture must be locked before final mix; a single frame change after the mix begins requires rebuilding all mix automation — never start final mix on an unlocked picture.
• ADR must be recorded within 6 months of principal photography while actor performances are still fresh; beyond that, performance matching degrades significantly.
• All deliverable audio must meet the target platform's loudness specification — do not normalize; use a proper loudness meter (LUFS, not peak dB).
• The M&E (Music and Effects) stem must be mixed and delivered as a separate asset for all productions intended for international distribution.
• Production dialogue is the priority in the mix hierarchy; never bury production dialogue under music or effects without explicit director approval.

Common Mistakes

• Starting sound design without a picture lock — Designing to an unlocked cut means all work may need to be re-timed when picture changes; this doubles sound design hours.
• Specifying the wrong sample rate in pre-production — Recording production audio at 44.1kHz when the post pipeline is 48kHz requires sample rate conversion that introduces artifacts; specify 48kHz minimum on the production sound report.
• No ADR scheduled until post-production reveals problems — By then, actors may be unavailable, on other projects, or unable to match their performance; ADR must be planned from the start.
• Ignoring M&E separation until delivery — Mixing dialogue, music, and effects together without stems makes M&E delivery for international distribution either impossible or extremely expensive.

When NOT to Use

• Short films under 5 minutes where a single re-recording mixer handles all audio post without specialist sound design.
• Archive or found footage films where the sonic palette is constrained to existing recordings.
• Live event recordings where sound design is not applicable and front-of-house audio specifications govern.