Mic placement on Hollywood films???????

[HerzogisGod]

Why do boom operators on Hollywood films hold their mics so far above the actors? Every time, their mics are held at least two or three feet above. Watch behind the scenes on any given DVD extra.

Are they even using this sound? or is this just a scratch track to be replaced via ADR in post

 

[rafaeldelauz]

two, three feet are not to far for a schoeps 41, or sennheiser mkh50, 40. These microphones have a enough side rejection to work perfect at that distant. They will bring the mic closer for CU.
Why that distant? You should ask that to the DP and the Director. The boom Op is getting as close as possible on that frame.

 

[Rippie]

some of that is probably perspective. If the EPK crew is shooting up its going to make
things like that look farther away.

Other factors could be, 2 camera setup wide and tight, pretty much boning the boom op
from getting in closer. Lighting, sometimes even when you can get closer you have to play
it higher because of shadows.

The last feature I did, it was a constant battle trying to get in close, we were constantly lit off of the set. In situations where we could have been 6" of their head we had to play it 2+ ft away because of shadows.

Another reason is if the sound mixer decided to go with wires on a particular scene
more often than not he'll still have a boom swinging out there and mix just a tad in for ambience to help bring the lav's to life.
In that situation you wouldnt want to play the boom as close because of phasing.
3:1 rule.

 

[Alex H.]

Why do boom operators on Hollywood films hold their mics so far above the actors? Every time, their mics are held at least two or three feet above. Watch behind the scenes on any given DVD extra.

Are they even using this sound? or is this just a scratch track to be replaced via ADR in post

Yes, they are using this track. ADR is a last resort for situations where production audio was hosed for whatever reason: wireless mics crapped out, boom mic couldn't get in far enough due to wide shot, etc.

As Rafael pointed out, 3 feet is a good working distance for these mics though at the limits. One foot away is even better. If you have ever played with a shotgun mic outdoors or a hypercardioid indoors, you'll have noticed how clean the pickup is within three, sometimes even four or five, feet.

As for holding the fishpoles overhead, the best pickup placement for all involved, audio and camera, is directly overhead. It gets the mic in over the top of the frame allowing it to be as close as possible. There are times when I'll boom underneath, especially outside, but wherever the mic is it must be angled so that the off-axis rejection eliminates reflections, extraneous noise, etc., while still capturing clean, clear dialog.

 

[puredrifting]

As someone who shoots EPK and BTS for a living, 2-3 feet is not typical, although you will occasionally see it in a master. The boom operator is always trying to get the mic as close as possible to record a signal as isolated from BG and ambient as possible, that is the boom ops most core function.

I also agree with the angle comment, we are always trying to stay out of actors eyelines and stay out of the cameras way so you definitely do see some extreme and awkward angles that can be very visually misleading. It is actually pretty difficult to stay out of everyone's way, that is part of the skill of shooting BTS. Our best compliment is when the producers and directors tell us that they barely even noticed we were there.

Dan