Mono or stereo for a non-dolby release print?

[tomcat]

This week i will be mixing a documentary for limited theatrical release. It was shot on DV but will be transferred to 35mm film for release. It is 95% talking heads with the remaining 5% archival footage that may have some basic abiences added, but most of the music will be old and mono. They are not buying a dolby license for surround. I will specify that SR is encoded during the photographing of the optical negative.

I have never done a 35mm printmaster that didn't involve at least an LtRt. My concerns are these:
I want to make sure the dialog is "anchored" on the screen. This makes me lean toward mono, but also leads me to a greater question: Is there any way, short of buying a dolby license and doing an LtRt, of utilizing the center speaker? What i want to avoid is being limited to a phantom center, to protect the experience of the folks in the audience at the extreme side of the theatre. Is this a valid concern? If i mix in mono, would this simply be "2 track mono" coming out of the LRs?
Should I just mix in Stereo? Is it common to deliver a non-dolby matrixed pure stereo printmaster? How about a single track mono one?
What are the possible results of mismanagement downstream by the projectionists? If they apply dolby matrix decoding to my track, does it make a difference if my track is mono or stereo (99% 2-track mono anyway)? As i said before, it will have SR encoding, so i won't be screwed when they don't see the note to turn SR decoding off.

Any help is appreciated.

Tom

[Noiz2]

You could use an SRS box, it's "dolby compatable" and at least for now they arn't charging a lisence fee.
SK

[Henchman]

I would mix it in stereo, with added stereo ambiences and roomtones etc aadded to fill in the backgrounds, even of the talking heads.
The issue is, that if they get a broadcaster wanting to broadcast it, they will probably insist on a stereo mix, and filed in FX for future foreign dubbing purposes.

[Bokir]

We do Stereo most of the time. In my place budget is still major concern, so Dolby mix is a rare request.

The key is monitor the mix through either Dolby Decoder hardware or the plugins. Trust me, it is harder to establish wide spatial sound then worrying about the dialog (and most other sound) going off center.

If you have ever done Lt-Rt mix, the trick and technique is mostly the same. Just make sure you add some sort of dynamic control as stereo optical is unforgiven to overload. Mix wisely, and as you have noted do put SR encoding, finally ask the dupe lab to mark it "Type 05 - Dolby Stereo SR" in each release copies.


Good luck.

[tomcat]

thanks for all the replies. In another newsgroup i subscribe to, i was told that I could go ahead and encode the printmaster through a hardware or software SDU4 and make an LtRt without paying for a dolby license. I am surprised by this. Can anyone confirm? Obviously, you can physically do it, but can i do it without putting myself, the studio, or my client in a legally vulnerable situation?