Audio sync issue is the DP's problem - why?

Chris Santucci

Chris Santucci

Veteran
I'm being asked by a very experienced producer to share in the overage liability incurred as the result of a sound mixer who didn't do his job right.

To make it short: I showed up with my R1 and told the sound mixer we were recording double system sound. He had no TC cable, and a 15 year old smart slate that only ran at 24fps. Not MY problem, right?

We fed audio to the camera primarily for playback (from external nanoflash), and for some reason our one AC was instructed to not clap the slate. It seems the sound mixer decided on his own that the audio recorded to the R1 would be sufficient for post to use in syncing and as it turns out - it was not.

The way I look at it is - I did MY job, so why am I liable in any way?

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this as the producer seems determined to take a bite out of my invoice.
 
I wouldn't view it as my fault. Your job is to concern yourself with the image and blocking. Did you ever say aloud anything to the point of the in-cam audio would be usable? Sounds like the producer didn't ask enough of the right questions before hiring the guy...

And I always just carry a RED sync cable nowadays. Seems hit or miss if audio is going to have one.
 
If you were hired to do video and another person picked up audio I think it's not your problem. But it's also good on set to talk things through with the team to make sure the client gets what's needed.
 
I recommended an entirely different sound mixer, not the guy that was hired, so there is that.

I never said anyyhing to anyone about audio except to tell the sound mixer first thing that we'd be recording double system sound. That was it. I gave it very little thought after that and assumed he was doing his job.

In my experience, it's the sound mixer who shows up with whatever-all gear they need to record audio whether it be cabling for a specific camera or whatever else. The guy looked like he was going to puke when I said "double system sound."

And yes, communication is essential. Too bad there was little to none in prep and none after I told the mixer "double system sound." He could have told production that he needed a different slate (seriously - a 15 year old slate?) and/or the TC cable, but he did not.
 
Chris Santucci said:
I showed up with my R1 and told the sound mixer we were recording double system sound. He had no TC cable, and a 15 year old smart slate that only ran at 24fps.
Click to expand...

So your sound guy was fully aware that there would be no TC sync with your camera with anything you shot that day?

Out of curiosity, how much footage did you actually shoot that day?

Lastly how much will it cost to fix the audio?

...I shoot lots of corporate wild-sound ( cheap gear ), where I sync in post, so this is something that I've gotten very used to. ( last week I had to edit an hour of Skype webcam supplied to me by my client, where the video drifts up to 10 seconds behind the audio, it was the absolute worst footage I've ever had to deal with, when I finished I told them "never again" )
 
We rolled for 3 days like that and then the producer shows me a tally from the post house that's almost a $9K overage.

The sound mixer knew he had no TC cable, yeah, and he knew he had an obsolete slate that didn't even run at 23.98.

I keep asking the producer if the guy even knew we were using a R1 and I'm told "He was most likely told - Red."

Sounds pretty thorough, huh?
 
Chris Santucci said:
I'm being asked by a very experienced producer to share in the overage liability incurred as the result of a sound mixer who didn't do his job right.

To make it short: I showed up with my R1 and told the sound mixer we were recording double system sound. He had no TC cable, and a 15 year old smart slate that only ran at 24fps. Not MY problem, right?

We fed audio to the camera primarily for playback (from external nanoflash), and for some reason our one AC was instructed to not clap the slate. It seems the sound mixer decided on his own that the audio recorded to the R1 would be sufficient for post to use in syncing and as it turns out - it was not.

The way I look at it is - I did MY job, so why am I liable in any way?

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this as the producer seems determined to take a bite out of my invoice.
Click to expand...

Where's the captain... I mean the director... In terms of 'reporting', relative anything that happens on the set, is it not the director who is in charge... And why didn't he demand a clap on the slate?

And with it missing, costs dollars to 'fix', is it not the director's fault... or the producer who hires the crew and cast...
 
The director was brought in from out of town and was not really in the mix with respect to hiring, which is fine, he did an awesome job directing. The fault lies on production, the AD, and the sound mixer to my mind. The producer was sitting there watching the takes being shot the whole time(?) and never asked about the lame smart slate not being clapped, as was the AD, but I'm somehow to blame for not questioning the lack of clapper action just because I happen to be operating the camera.

To paraphrase Jesse Pinkman - "I'M THE DP, B!TCH!"
 
The sound guy is responsible for sound, period. End stop, full stop. If you're recording double-system sound, then there's no way anyone could place liability on you, for something that went wrong with the sound. If recording single-system, then yes you should be peripherally aware and at least verify that the sound is being recorded on your camera, but in double system? How is it possibly your problem? Especially with double-system?
 
Barry_Green said:
The sound guy is responsible for sound, period. End stop, full stop. If you're recording double-system sound, then there's no way anyone could place liability on you, for something that went wrong with the sound.
Click to expand...


Thank you for that. Everyone I speak to seems to believe this is more than obviously the case and even though I feel bad for the producer, who I like, it also seems it would be lunacy for me to concede. She keeps trying to make out like there was a "compatibility" issue with gear, that "mistakes" were made, and that there were "communications" problems on the set.

I was asked once by one person how sound was to be recorded (yes, with my camera) and after I said "double system sound," that was the end of my responsibility as far as I can tell.
 
Chris Santucci said:
... and for some reason our one AC was instructed to not clap the slate. It seems the sound mixer decided on his own that the audio recorded to the R1 would be sufficient for post to use in syncing and as it turns out - it was not.
Click to expand...

This is the part that baffles me. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine a situation where I'd show up on set and assert that there's no need for the clapper (MOS notwithstanding). There are dozens of practical reasons to use it even with single-system sound, at least in my mind. Maybe I'm overly-cautious, but it's saved my a** before. I even keep a dumb slate tucked in my audio kit at all times, just in case.

Your sound guy failed at his job. The onus is on him for that. But in the long run, isn't the fiscal liability on the producer? It's her budget, not yours.
 
Obviously the lack of a competent (or any) production manager, pre-production meetings to iron out technical specs and potential problems, and poor on-set communications falls on the producer, not you. Had your visuals not been satisfactory, it would be another story, but I agree with Barry - the sound guy is responsible for the sound. Like her or not, your producer is looking for a scapegoat, and since you probably pocketed the largest paycheck, she's latched on to you to try and cover her incompetence. These things can get messy and hurt your reputation, but don't let her push you around - you are in the right.
 
Alex H. said:
This is the part that baffles me. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine a situation where I'd show up on set and assert that there's no need for the clapper (MOS notwithstanding). There are dozens of practical reasons to use it even with single-system sound, at least in my mind. Maybe I'm overly-cautious, but it's saved my a** before. I even keep a dumb slate tucked in my audio kit at all times, just in case.

Your sound guy failed at his job. The onus is on him for that. But in the long run, isn't the fiscal liability on the producer? It's her budget, not yours.
Click to expand...

Same here. It totallly defies logic.
 
Alex H. said:
This is the part that baffles me. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine a situation where I'd show up on set and assert that there's no need for the clapper (MOS notwithstanding). There are dozens of practical reasons to use it even with single-system sound, at least in my mind. Maybe I'm overly-cautious, but it's saved my a** before. I even keep a dumb slate tucked in my audio kit at all times, just in case.

Your sound guy failed at his job. The onus is on him for that. But in the long run, isn't the fiscal liability on the producer? It's her budget, not yours.
Click to expand...


All true and again, I was operating camera and lighting, so why I'm the guy who's supposed to start asking questions about location sound recording methodology is a mystery. Especially when sound has NOTHING to do with me, regardless of whether I own the camera or not. For YEARS, when on a crew with a sound mixer, I've NEVER given audio a single thought. These guys plug in, maybe, tweak pots on the camera (maybe), and/or roll their deck and point the mic where it needs to be pointed.

Picture and sound are completely separate departments regardless of who owns the gear used.

And yeah, it's really baffling to me that the producer would have the gall to ask me to help defray the overage. I mean, if the camera package was rented from the sound mixer and some of the shots (I made) were soft and had to be re-shot, I doubt the sound mixer would be called upon to help pay for that.

It's ludicrous.


taylormade said:
Like her or not, your producer is looking for a scapegoat, and since you probably pocketed the largest paycheck, she's latched on to you to try and cover her incompetence. These things can get messy and hurt your reputation, but don't let her push you around - you are in the right.
Click to expand...


Thanks, and yeah, I'm sure that's what it is, as well as some kind of perception that since I own the camera gear, I'm somehow responsible. I'm not backing down and I know I'd never lose in arbitration or even in court. Sure, if I was getting a lot of work from this producer, maybe I'd be fine with giving this person a break, but that's not the case at all.
 
You were the R1 guy. Surely its magic. You provided it and something isn't right so therefore it had to be you. If you think people doing the hiring are going to blame themselves for anything, you'll likely observe something else. No question that you're all absolutely right. So what. If you're not cutting the cheque, watch what happens, even though you are completely in the right.
 
craigbowman said:
You were the R1 guy. Surely its magic. You provided it and something isn't right so therefore it had to be you. If you think people doing the hiring are going to blame themselves for anything, you'll likely observe something else. No question that you're all absolutely right. So what. If you're not cutting the cheque, watch what happens, even though you are completely in the right.
Click to expand...

Not your fault but as Craig pointed out the person doing the hiring will NOT blame themselves. Ever. So the best way to deal with it make it clear that it's the audio man's fault but also offer some help (not monetary). For instance maybe it's as simple as using using Sound Devices Wave Agent (free) to give the audio new time stamp? (It worked for me recently after a 5 day shoot in Europe - after 2 hours i had perfectly synced up audio).
 
Every once in a while, things go missing, or something gets broken on set...you know, it's called L&D. Its never good, but the production pays for it, not the individual that misplaced or broke the item in question. Even if it is your fault, the production should be the one paying for it in the end.
 
If the sound guy looked baffled by the concept of double system sound, then he was not a sound guy. He was an idiot.
 
Raindog84 said:
If the sound guy looked baffled by the concept of double system sound, then he was not a sound guy. He was an idiot.
Click to expand...


Oh, he knew. He just knew he wasn't prepared for it. And, I had to remind the producer after the **** hit the fan that the R1 is not a video camera.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top