directing/audio recording on set/location

[Josh_Boelter]

Hi folks,

Love the site. I've been lurking for a few weeks and this is my first post. I'm going to be directing my first feature later this year (extremely low-budget, of course). I saw the thread about acting as DP/director on a project and was wondering if any of you act as on-set sound recordist and director at the same time. And if so, what problems this may have caused while trying to pay attention to sound and actors' performances at the same time. Since this is an extremely low-budget (and self-funded) flick, I'm trying to keep the crew as small as possible. I'd rather not pay a sound guy since I've got a background in recording, but I also want to make sure my primary focus is on the actors. What do you all think? Thanks.

[Barry_S]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

If there is more than one person in your crew, the second position should be sound mixer/boom operator.  If you're concentrating on booming, listening for ambient noises, and setting levels--then you won't be able to focus very well on the performances or the myriad of other details a director needs to oversee.  If you look, you can find a sound person will to work for experience or love (of the project).

[Mike_Donis]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

I agree entirely with Barry_S, it'll be impossible to make sure you're doing a good job with the boom and audio levels, and at the same time pay attention to (much less, direct) your actor's performances. I'd do what I could to find another person to work audio...

[Josh_Boelter]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

Mike and Barry,

Thanks for the advice. The more I think about it, the more I realize you're right. Since we're going to have a small crew, I wanted to do as much as possible. I'll likely have more experience in the audio arena than anyone else on the crew, so I thought I might take on that responsibility. But watching the performances and being there for the actors needs to come first.

[Mike_Donis]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

If you really want to monitor the audio, theres no harm in you getting a feed of the output. It can be the audio guy's job to set it all up and make sure its all working, but you can get a tap and also hear it. That way if the guy REALLY sucks you can do something about it...

[THiNSPiRiT]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

Personally, I don't find there's any problem at all with being the sound recorder and a director for your film... I only say this however, if these are the only two things you're doing, as well as if sound is your strong point and that's why you'd be the one on that. If you are not doing Cinematography, there's one less thing that YOU are going to have to worry about whereas I know for a fact Mike acts as a camera operator and a DOP for most of his films. He's able to concentrate on both of those, so I think if you only have 2 things going at the same time, you should be able to concentrate on both as well... as long as you're not being camera op, DOP, director, and sound technician... that would just be far too much...

[Mike_Donis]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

I don't know, Thinspirit, I think it's a little different doing camera and directing than it is doing audio and directing...mainly because, at least with being the DoP and director, you're watching the actors at all times. With audio, you've got to be monitoring your levels, and therefore may not even be looking at the actor's performances.

But, you never know...it still could work. I don't know, but that's also mainly because I don't know much at all about audio :P

[ddh]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

I recently did the camera on a low budget shoot where the sound guy did not show up and the director elected to do the sound. I have to say, he did not do justice to the job. The reason is quite simple. He had to monitor the the scene on a field monitor, help the actors, and run the sound- with all the accompanying adjustments required when several actors are in action! Get a sound man. Get a lighting guy who knows what he's doing. These people are very important to a project if you do not want to waste time and effort.

[Josh_Boelter]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

Yeah, I'll definitely be getting a sound guy. At first my plan was to act as director/sound recordist and have someone else DP. I wasn't planning to also be DP/camera operator on top of it all. I'll take Mike's advice and get an audio feed though, mostly because I'll likely have a fairly inexperienced sound person, given my non-existent budget.

[Bischofftep]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

Where are you shooting, Josh?

[Josh_Boelter]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

Southeast Michigan, mostly near Ann Arbor.

[THiNSPiRiT]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

You really don't have to monitor levels as diligently as you might think. You can generally tell just by listening. Same reason why you don't need to pay attention to the specifics of cinematography as diligently. You just do whatever looks good. With audio, it's the same thing, you go with whatever sounds good.

You just say it's different DPing and directing when really it isn't, just so long as you're comfortable doing what you're doing. You just happen to be more comfortable with the cinematography because you don't have to think about it as much and can concentrate on your actors at the same time. Audio can be very much the same thing, if you're an auditory person and are good with sounds and such, you really don't have to think about it and can focus on your actors perfectly.

You can really take on as many tasks on the film set as you want.

[David Jimerson]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

Agreed. But the place to find out what your limits are is probably not the set!

[David Jimerson]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

[quote author=Josh_Boelter link=board=Directing;num=1086628658;start=0#10 date=06/17/04 at 11:57:15]Southeast Michigan, mostly near Ann Arbor.[/quote]

Ah, so close to home . . .

[J_Barnes]

Re: directing/audio recording on set/location

I like to think of myself as a pretty good cinematographer, a good audio mixer, a talented lighting designer and a good director, but I discovered something about doing all of those things together last year.

A casual friend discovered that I have an interest in directing, and approached me with a series of short films he had written. He asked me if I would be willing to direct the shorts as a series of demo reels for his troupe of actors. He then sweetened the deal by bringing a brand new DVX to the table, and a three person producing team to handle all the gross details. Thinking that I was walking into a relatively well-packaged project, I decided to take on the duties of director. Little did I know that the producers didn’t plan to have any technical crew available beyond the writer's friend who had an interest in sound but no experience in booming. Oh, and he only spoke Brazilian.

The producers, actors by trade, apparently had no appreciation for the technical side of production, and thus didn’t bother to get me any help on the day of the shoot. While it was already understood that I’d be doing the cinematography, but what I didn’t understand is that when they said I’d have help, they meant more of the “I’ll go buy the pizza and napkins” kind of help.

Halfway through the first day of shooting, I realized that I was intently staring at the monitor in one scene to achieve the rack focus I needed, and I was totally ignoring the performances. In another scene I was so bothered by the handling noise on the boom that I drifted the camera off the correct framing without noticing. In another scene I was desperately trying to tell my Brazilian boom op to raise the mic out of the frame, and I completely missed a continuity problem. In another setup, I worked so hard to get the camera where I wanted that I completely missed the blistering hotspot just off frame. In another scene I was so intently focused on the actor’s argument that I didn’t realize the camera was out of focus for one of the takes.

My point being that it was a very humbling experience for me as a creative person and as an able technician. I’m often inclined to think that I can do everything simply because I have a strong understanding of the individual tasks and techniques, but when they were all coming at me the same time, I did none of them very well.

The actors I worked with that day later became good friends of mine, but it took a good five months of reluctant editing before I could even bother to show them their performances. In the end, they were shocked that I could pull out something so watchable from the sketchy script and the desperate shoot, but I would have preferred an easy days’ shooting to the months of polishing it took to finally come to terms with my own performance that day.

Doubling up may certainly work for some people, and I always thought I’d be capable, but now I realize that I don’t have the omnipotent focus needed to do all those tasks to the best of my abilities. Actively involving myself in any part of the technical process, be it turning a knob, pointing a boom, holding a camera, or just pushing a dolly is enough intellectual activity to draw me out of the scene.

But of course, I wouldn’t have learned that about myself without failing in the attempt!