BOOM IN THE SHOT -- Who's fault is it? POLL

BOOM IN THE SHOT -- Who's fault is it? POLL

  • Total voters
    29
Jon Starr said:
It's not stepping on people's toes to tell the boom op he's in frame. It's common practice. It's a usual thing on set for the boom to dip 2-3 times every shooting day, and the cam op says "boom in frame" or "mic in frame". In fact I've heard from boom ops to specify if it's the boom or mic to not confuse, because it's such a common practice.
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I thought this as well even though I never stated it. Instead I wondered why didn't the dp say anything? Why didn't anyone say anything? My only conclusion was that no one looked or no one had the time to look and that it was a pressure cooker of a shoot. That is why I said what I said earlier about that the buck stops with the producer (or line producer). Anyway, every shoot is a learning experience. On shoots I've produced, I'v held 30% of funds as crisis solving money and ... I nearly always end up using it !
 
J Davis said:
blame the producer,

the budget should be there to make sure the right equipment is there or enough time is allowed to get it right

otherwise they are taking on too much and the production value slips
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Haha, this is my favorite response. Nice job, Jhoe.
 
J Davis said:
My only conclusion was that no one looked or no one had the time to look and that it was a pressure cooker of a shoot. That is why I said what I said earlier about that the buck stops with the producer (or line producer).
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Being incompetent is also an explanation.
 
It's a long time since I've done boom work on a daily basis, but part of the job was to keep an eye on the camera position, and actually check by asking before they roll - "Am I in shot?" and you'd lower the mic until they said "Whoaa", then back it out, memorise the distance and keep it there. I'd also try my hardest not to be caught out - because "cut, booms in again" is NOT what you want to hear. If you saw the cameraman changing focal lengths, you do the dip again. Have people now got to the stage where they are all so important, that only their own job counts? It's supposed to be a team! If the camera tracked in and suddenly lurched, we'd all laugh at the cameraman.
 
I don't like pointing fingers on a good day. It's everybody's responsibility more than it's about casting blame.

That said, as a director, I prefer to work with two cameras whenever the location permits. If I'm getting great take out of the actors and it's an emotional scene, I'd rather play it through until it's done even if I see the boom in the shot. Then I say "great take, guys! That was ****ing awesome! Let's do one more just to be safe" and tell the boom operator on the side to be further away.
Repeat until I've got at least two great takes without the mic in frame.

Honestly though, there's a scene like that in Marianne where it's very much in frame, but very few people even notice it at all.
 
paulears said:
You can't blame the editor!
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I think the editor can take some blame if it makes it into the final cut release that you watch! Especially if it's in the DVD version as well. For one, they could try to use a different take or cut it differently. If that's not an option, their are ways with editing that you can mask it out, do a tracking mask, even zoom in some to crop it out, or switch to a different aspect ratio on the whole thing if it's that bad in multiple scenes. I think releasing it as is, the editor certainly takes some blame for not attempting to fix it in post.
 
filmmakerguy said:
I think the editor can take some blame if it makes it into the final cut release that you watch! Especially if it's in the DVD version as well. For one, they could try to use a different take or cut it differently. If that's not an option, their are ways with editing that you can mask it out, do a tracking mask, even zoom in some to crop it out, or switch to a different aspect ratio on the whole thing if it's that bad in multiple scenes. I think releasing it as is, the editor certainly takes some blame for not attempting to fix it in post.
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Keep in mind that with many films, they're shot on 4:3 35MM film and they're projected at 1.85 or 2.35, matting off the top and bottom with a gate on the projector. Boom mics and other equipment are sometimes, if not often, in the frame, but matted out by the gate. Improper matting can reveal things it shouldn't, and in that case, the projection is to blame.

And what this means is that when the transfer to DVD is done, the matting occurs during that transfer process. Again, improper matting can show things which shouldn't be shown. That's not the editor's fault.
 
Is the DP or camera operator going to tell a boom op what to do like that, order him around? Probably not! So again...who's fault is it.
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Well put it this way, If it were my set and he didn't, because of stepping on toes. He wouldn't be my Dp for long. I'm not sure where your from, but in my neck of the woods, the Dp better speak up, In fact, I usually give my Dp's damn near the authority I have as a director. I would rather have a few broken toes than a boom in my footage.
 
Maranfilms, well put. I feel the same, it's not stepping on toes, it's expected. They're called a DIRECTOR of photography.

filmmakerguy said:
I think the editor can take some blame if it makes it into the final cut release that you watch! Especially if it's in the DVD version as well. For one, they could try to use a different take or cut it differently. If that's not an option, their are ways with editing that you can mask it out, do a tracking mask, even zoom in some to crop it out, or switch to a different aspect ratio on the whole thing if it's that bad in multiple scenes. I think releasing it as is, the editor certainly takes some blame for not attempting to fix it in post.
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What kind of films do you work on!? I mean if a boom makes it onto the final DVD, sure blame the editor, but more importantly blame the director and/or producer (and anyone else viewing it). With all the viewings they should have done of the final product, and all the test screenings, how did they not catch it before putting it on DVD? I would NEVER hand the film to my editor and just say "edit this thing, then make a final copy and send it out, I don't need to see it."
 
Yeah, by that time....... there needs to be dialogue between the editor/producer/director. And determine who has final say. And then that is the person that takes the blame.

Look a few of you know, sound is my bread and butter. And I am anal about camera and what they are doing because the absolute last thing I want to hear is: we got the boom in the shot. To me, that is like nails on a chalkboard.

But occasionally it happens, if I am overextended and leveraging on the last two feet of the pole, or if the cam-op over tilts/pans. If those shots make it past principle photog and are in editing, then the editor needs to figure out a fix. If the producer and director decide to accept "as is".......then the fault lays on them.

It always comes down to who has final approval on a cut.
 
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I feel sorry for those of you who are looking for someone to blame, rather than a solution to the problem. My producer showed up with a homeless guy he was trying to rescue and drunk, this guy was my boom operator. He cast a drunk moving shadow across the back wall and I had to animate a mask around it and replace it with footage what did not show the mic. Big deal, it took a half an hour. Of course I was trying to blame both of them at first but my solution made it all unneccesary and I am at peace now. I have a few new rules about working (or not working) with the homeless and alcohol on the breakfast buffet but it's all good. I haven't worked with those guys in years.
 
I say it's the directors fault. Director is captain of the ship. Yeah there are of plenty first mates and so on but ultimately, it's the director who is running the show. Some may argue the director has too many things going on to worry about a boom in a shot, oh well, pay more attention then. Now usually if a movie stinks, director is to blame, not the DP or Boom operator, and if a movie is awesome, they credit the director, not the boom or DP, so why not blame the director for everything else that goes wrong and right? Comes with the territory. Sure you can blame the camera guy or boom operator as there's reason to, but my vote is for Director.

Great poll by the way.
 
capitalP said:
I say it's the directors fault. Director is captain of the ship. Yeah there are of plenty first mates and so on but ultimately, it's the director who is running the show. Some may argue the director has too many things going on to worry about a boom in a shot, oh well, pay more attention then.
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I've been in the position of directing a project (multi-camera) in which there was an issue with one of the cameras that the DP and producer knew about but thought it wasn't important enough to inform me about. I late got the blame, which was total b.s. because the only way I would have found out on set was to micro-manage everything, which I'm not going to do.
 
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