Guess what I'm working on right now?
Just kidding- I'll give you more specifics this time. Out of twenty sections, I have completed the sound mix for 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 13, and currently working on 14. Of course there are little glitches and continuity errors sprinkled throughout, but these sections are pretty much completed and polished. This includes the nightclub, the chase through Coruscant, the opening titles/explosion/conference, all of Tim's Lama-Su work, the Jedi analysis scene, library scene, yoda scene, the "en route" scene, the Padme/Anakin balcony and rejection scene, the Fett/Obi-Wan talk, the formerly deleted dinner scene, the picnic scene, the introduction of Nute Gunray, and Shmi's death/Anakin's temper tantrum. That's not to say the whole movie isn't more or less laid out already, because it is, but the aforementioned sections sport a completed sound mix.
To complete parts 2, 5, and 16, Jar-Jar is needed. To complete parts 18 and 19, I need all of the stormtrooper recordings. Can't do part 12 without an actor for Uncle Owen (which Sluggo may have located for me, I'm not sure). And finally, Mas Ammedda is needed for part 15.
This isn't to push anybody; I'm just letting you all know where we're at right now. It's certainly not hindering progress now, but a couple weeks from now, I will have to focus my attention on those particular sections.
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I'm realizing that I'm going to have to rerecord some lines because they were recorded too close to the mike and it sounds like a voiceover, no matter how much tweaking is done. This is OK because it's very simple to plug in new lines or alternate lines. There are many other lines that didn't sound natural at first, but I experimented filters and finally found one that made the recordings match the on-set dialogue of the others. There wasn't very much on-set dialogue retained for AOTC, but you can tell when it has been, and the new recordings are loud and clear, sticking out like a sore thumb. I had to make some of them thinner and add more treble to get them to match.
RELEASE: I'm thinking that when this is done (November is the target), I will do a bare-bones release on single layer disc. That way, the movie will be out there, and I'll have a little more time to work on a full-featured dual-layer release, with multi-language subtitles, commentary, menus, PCM sound, and so forth. Also, doing a new encode for a dual-layer release will enable me to correct any widespread technical concerns that anyone has (that are easy to fix). I could also dream that an FX guy, seeing this movie, will offer to redo the Jedi Analysis Robot scene to match the OT....
-TM