definition of "Verite shooting"

Sound Chaser

Sound Chaser

Active member
A recent ad called for a "sound recordist experienced in Verite shooting."

I looked it up in Filmsound.org and Wikapedia but there was no reference.
Can someone enlighten me on this term.
THX
 
Cinema Verite basically means that you go into the doc without a script or storyboard. The film maker is prepared to capture anything that happens in front of (or near) the camera, shooting often hundreds of hours of footage. The story is created in the edit suite. Kind of a backwards way of doing things, and it can either be a really raw, gritty storytelling style or a complete disaster.

So as a recordist you'd need to be on your toes and really handy with a fish pole.

Note: Reality TV is the complete opposite of Cinema Verite. Most often in "Reality TV," the producers are guiding the story by creating the drama on-location... be it with coaching, scripting, or supplying alcohol in vast quantities to volatile personalities. There is no "reality" involved.
 
We did a shoot like this last week. It was very similar to the office, in fact it was even shot inside of an office as well. It was one of the few times myself and my boom op have faced this type of shooting. It was def a challenge and yes it kept both myself (mixer) and my boomslinger on our toes. Wireless was very important here. It was also a plus to know the the camera man (have worked with him before.) I have been writing audio diaries for myself to learn from each shoot and there is much that I have learned on this particular shoot. When I am done writing this edition, I will post a couple of "blurbs" and questions that I asked myself in order to improve my techniques, perhaps some of you will have some workarounds to problems I encountered.
 
Verite is an odd subject, as their are multiple styles....could mean anything from : "You can just run up and stick a Mic in someones face their sound guy" to "Try not to get in the shot" to traditional "GET THAT MIC OUT OF MY SHOT!"....

I'd ask these people what THEY think Verite means.
 
Verite to me means (although I think historically speaking my POV is more of the American "Cinema Direct" genre, but I could be wrong about that): very small crew (e.g., camera+sound), "fly on the wall" approach, attempting to not influence events, natural lighting, no staging, no scripts, etc.
 
They want a sound guy (boom op) that's smart enough to watch the cameraman and keep the mic out of the shot... maybe they also want a guy that's got a hop (extra wireless) from cam to sound bag... maybe they also want a soundguy that's really good at hiding a lav and still getting good sound from it.

Riding the frame line becomes more of a challenge when the line moves... and there are other factors that will come up when you know going in... that chaos is the working environment... and if you have experience in how to approach sound for those situations... it's pretty helpful.
 
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