Sound is half the movie: the preservation of ¼” final mix soundtracks

“While the introduction of color is an undisputed colossal advance for the medium, it is synchronized sound that goes down as being the most important evolution for film. " Brian Florian
Archives around the world are sharing methods for preserving the picture element of film, but there is little discussion about the preservation of synced sound. Why are we less concerned with the sound element when developing a film preservation strategy? After all, sound is half the movie. The aim of this presentation is to start a discussion about the preservation of synced sound. I will discuss the final mix soundtrack preservation programme and workflow at Archives New Zealand. I will describe the difference between the optical vs. magnetic soundtrack, the limitations of the academy equalisation curve, and why the ¼” final mix is almost always the highest quality version for digitisation. I will also discuss the ways in which synced and non-synced sound differs, and why this matters when playing back. Finally, I will list the key pieces of equipment used to digitise sync sound so you have accurate lip sync in your digital file for future use.