Phase 1: The Foundation★ Milestone Week
Week 12 of 52 · Day 78–84
Audio Fundamentals & Phase 1 Milestone
Learning Objective
Master the basics of audio editing, mixing, and sync. Complete your Phase 1 milestone project.
This Week
Audio is fifty percent of the cinematic experience. A film with poor audio will feel amateur regardless of how good the picture editing is. This week, you will learn how to sync audio to picture, balance dialogue levels, add ambient sound, and create a basic audio mix. You will also complete your Phase 1 milestone: a complete 3-minute short film edit.
Daily Practice
Practice syncing dual-system audio, balancing dialogue levels, and adding room tone and ambient sound to fill gaps in the audio. (30–45 min)
Weekly ChallengeMilestone
PHASE 1 MILESTONE: Edit a complete 3-minute short film. Apply everything from Phase 1: continuity editing, J/L-cuts, deliberate pacing, Murch's Rule of Six, basic color correction, and a clean audio mix.
Recommended Tutorials
DaVinci Resolve
Casey Faris — Audio Editing in DaVinci Resolve (Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners)
Watch on YouTube
Premiere Pro
Justin Odisho — How to Edit Dialogue in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve
Watch on YouTube
CapCut
Kevin Stratvert — CapCut Audio Mixing: Dialogue, Music, and SFX Levels
Watch on YouTube
Reflection Questions
01
What was the biggest challenge in your Phase 1 milestone project?
02
Which skill from Phase 1 do you feel most confident in? Which needs the most work?
03
What would you do differently if you started Phase 1 again from Day 1?