Blocking, Explosions and Bi-planes oh my!

Dustin Wadsworth

Dustin Wadsworth

Active member
So I'm a boom op on an indie film being shot here in Oregon and I'm pretty nervous as well as excited about it. There are three of us doing audio and for two of us, it's our first time working on this big of a production. We are going to be getting audio from helicopters, explosions and gun shots as well as working around some crazy blocking on some fight scenes and I'm afraid that everything is going to be good and the audio is going to turn out like crap.
Anyway I was just wondering if anybody had any conventional wisdom they could share or good links about technique or anything like that that could help us out.

Thanks
 
Prioritize.

Crew safety should always be paramount. Explosions, firearms and pyrotechnics can put you at risk physically and damage your hearing. High SPL sounds can also damage your equipment. Know exactly when things are going to explode or when guns will be fired, and duck the mics accordingly. You can't fix your hearing in post.

After safety, dialogue should be your next concern. Concentrate on recording clean dialogue rather than getting good effects during production. If the dialogue will be compromised by loud practical effects (pyrotechnice, hellicopters, etc.) then you should be getting as many wild takes as possible. Record a few rehearsals without the practical effects, and then roll wild lines immediately after shooting the sequence while the lines are still fresh in the actors' minds.

Your lowest priority should be the explosions, helicopters and gunshots. These should be covered in effects, and they tend to be rather difficult to record. If you approach recording these effects the way you would production dialogue, you're almost guarenteed unuseable tracks. For one thing, the mics you'd use for dialogue are rarely the best choice for explosions. Recording a single explosion may involve four or more mics, and a sound editor may layer together many more sounds to design the final effect. If you can get a few nice effects during production, then great. If you can't, that's alright as long as you recorded clean dialogue.
 
Assuming the third guy knows his stuff then your job as the boom op is to know the script, pay attention to the blocking, and STFU. :) The last one meaning to keep your thoughts and suggestions between you and the mixer; don't be a distraction to the actors and director (from previous experience I can tell you this is not always as easy as it sounds).

Don't sweat the big budget part, as a rule the bigger the budget the easier your job should be. Recording explosions and gunshots will usually be just for a guild track so no worries there. Dialog in helicopters and planes will be more up to the mixer to handle and nine times out of ten will also be a guild track for later ADR.

As long as you have boom before and know how to work your mic placement, everything should be a piece of cake.

One last thing, don't be afraid to speak up if you see that your boom is being lite out of a scene. Ask the mixer to request some flags to give you some room to work.

Knowing how to lav the actors is a good skill to have and will make you the mixers go to guy.

Good luck and have fun

PS-Don't be a smoker, boom ops don't have the time to wander away from set. You need to be on top of action and aware of any last minute changes that always happen. A well earned cigar at the end of the day is fine, but regular smoke breaks will have people cursing your name.
 
I'm totally eating this up, thanks guys.
As long as you have boom before and know how to work your mic placement, everything should be a piece of cake.
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Both of us new guys are pretty confident about mic placement because we've both done audio for recording music and we understand polar patterns and we have a good idea as to what mic's to use and when (theoretically) but neither of us have actually boomed before. The closest I've come to booming something was my Oktava mc-012 on a mic stand for a stationary interior shot. So I'm hoping our technique will naturally develop out of our knowledge but any more tips are certianly welcome!

One last thing, don't be afraid to speak up if you see that your boom is being lite out of a scene.
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I'm not sure what this means. I really don't know much lingo and I'm not going to even try and speculate because I'm quite positive I'm wrong about what you mean here.

Ask the mixer to request some flags to give you some room to work.
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I don't know what a flag is or why I would need it until I know the first bit. This sounds important!
 
take a dance lessons , there is not as good feet work to be abooman ;-)
sorry why did they hire you to such a big gig without any knowledge how to do it , just queries
by the way , make asearch on the forum to see what people expect from a good booman -check if you know or have it
 
Well, I have no idea how I got the job. I literally got it from the mixer who I'm friends with. He (and the other boom) knows how much experience I have but nobody else does :)
make asearch on the forum to see what people expect from a good booman
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Yeah, I'm a big fan of the search function and I have been doing that and it's been helpful as well.
 
so why do you worry , it is his ass on the line -( i guess he is the one without experience )

search its make you better

dont forget ask for 2 way ticket
 
Dustin Wadsworth said:
I don't know what a flag is or why I would need it until I know the first bit. This sounds important!
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"This means something! This [sounds] important!!!"

Photoshop is much more fun then Spring cleaning (don't tell the wife, she thinks I am organizing files in here).

Anyways...."Being lite out of the shot" is when the DP throws up so many fricking lights there is no place to get your boom in without throwing shadows. A helpful DP will put some flags or nets (that thing Mr Dreyfuss is obsessing over) to provide you some space to work your boom. A dick DP will tell you that boom shadow is a sound dept problem and to not bother his dept with such trivial matters. Let the mixer handle the politics of the situation if the DP turns out to be a dick.

From your question it sounded like you had boomed before. If you have not I would suggest you practice. It is not as easy as it looks. Firstly, the correct position to hold the boom is overhead, forming an H shape and NOT holding it like a flag pole. The flag pole position will put your mic a foot or more above it's optimum position. Most people will start crying after a minute in the "H" position; you have to do it for 2 to 10 minutes (sometimes longer if it's a video shoot) at a time, 40 to 100 times a day.

Secondly, you need to understand frame lines and how to stay right on it without going in or backing off too much. The biggest freshman mistake is for the boom op to error by keeping the boom significantly above the frame. You want to hug that line at all times. With experience you can learn where the frame line will be just by looking at the shot but it is still a good idea to ask for a boom check before you role.

Thirdly, and this is where we separate the boom ops from the PA, you have to smoothly get the boom from point A to B without handling noise, keeping the speaker on-axis, the boom out of frame, and the shot boom shadow free the whole time. That takes practice and, as Oleg said, rhythm.

You also need to be slightly ahead of the action. Knowing the blocking and dialog is key to this but the good boom ops can also anticipate improve and changes on the fly. You learn visual cues as to when a person is about to speak and keep your eye open for these.

If I were you I would talk to the mixer about your concerns and get his help on preparing for the job. He definitely put his ass on the line bringing in a green boom op for a professional job, but with some practice and focus you should be able to do at least an adequate job.

Good luck
 
Just wanted to thank you guys again. Your advice has come in handy. Luckily it's a pretty laid back set (socially) and everybody helps everybody. I'm starting to feel comfortable on the boom but I still have a lot to learn.
 
understand what the camera sees. yes, shots get blocked and rehearsals are key, but as a newbie, once the cam frame is set, you can have someone(your mixer probably) looking at the frame and you can dip the boom into frame. from there, pull up until boom is out, then give yourself a few inch safety margin.
 
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