Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound, 4th Edition

Chapter 9

Spotting the Picture for Sound and Music

“The studio jet is waiting for me, so we're gonna have to runthrough the picture changes as we spot the music, the dialog,and sound effects all at once—okay?”

Steven Spielberg, announcing his combined spotting-session intentionsas he sat down behind the flatbed machine to run his segment ofTwilight Zone: The Motion Picture

Spotting sessions are extremely important in the ongoing quest to produce the requisite desired final soundtrack. They present an opportunity for the director to mind-meld with the music composer and the supervising sound editor(s) on the desired style and scope of work in a precise sequence-by-sequence, often cue-by-cue, discussion. The various functions (music, sound effects, ...