X

		sations behind the dialogue in the fore. Because each track is recorded separately it is possible to bring each of them up or down later on depending on the final needs of the scene. As for Jean-Luc Godard, he experimented with omnidirectional microphones in Two or Three Things I Know about Her (1966) and several other films. His goal though was more theoretical than practical. He wanted to make a point about sound, letting the audience hear what the world would really sound like without the usual manipulation provided by the technicians. For all their intrinsic interest, these experimentations do not have to be duplicated to the letter. Indeed, problems of audibility in some of these films quickly discouraged other filmmakers. The result, Godard disingenuously complains, is that professionally no one dares do things differently any more. His main point though is worth reiterating: "the average American film has excellent audio but it should not be the only film sound we are given to hear. It is only one view of sound out of a thousand. What is wrong is that the American model has forced the disappearance of these other nine hundred and ninety-nine ways of thinking about sound." 72 At the very least, rather than getting locked in a narrow aesthetic mode, filmmakers could rethink the issues surrounding sound recording and come up with their own solutions.

		VIII

		The moment when the voices, sound effects, and music get together is called the mix. What exactly happens during a mixing session? Principally, in Claude Bailbl 's words, the re-recording mixer

		runs a constant and homogeneous "ambiance" under the scenes, allowing the words to stand out by giving them color, echo, and contrast. He creates an aural landscape by adding carefully selected effects. Problems related to sound continuity between cuts are erased. Finally a mood is emphasized through the repetition of certain sounds or musical leitmotifs.73

		The mix is certainly where the entire operation comes together. It is where the disparate parts are given the glue that seamlessly binds them in one body. For any filmmaker the mix is crucial, for this is also where the world the film attempted all along to create finally comes into being. In the mix then, one is able to gauge the results of the film against one's original