timapter
Veteran
Hey everyone.
Had a ROUGH night shoot last night. But recorded some really great stuff.
We were shooting with the Sony Z1, and I was using SD302, 416, 4073a, 4071a, Oktava, AT899 lavs, and Sony UWP Wireless.
It was an interesting shoot because I got to break the "hypers indoors" rule - the house we partially shot in was entirely carpeted! We were also primarily shooting in bedrooms, so LOADS of extra reverb absorbtion. Because the rooms were so dead, I managed to actually use my shotguns quite a bit! But wait, there was a reason.
The story (it was a short film about the toothfairy), had two characters - a super talented little girl (maybe 6 or 7 years old) and a guy in his 20's (playing the tooth fairy - strange story, but quite cool). The problem for me was that in some shots we had two way dialogue, but naturally his head was way higher than hers (sitting or standing).
So I used the Oktava on him, and a shotgun on her. The shotgun gave a bit of extra reach, and suprisingly I didnt have any matching problems (thank goodness, this tactic could Im sure fall apart on this).
I also deployed the AT899 lav as a plant mic quite a bit - a tactic that is definitely worth trying out. In fact, I used a LOT of plants. I had no boom op (besides the usual PA story), so I used two heavy duty mic stands to lock microphones into positions for the shots (luckily, there wasnt much movement in the story, dialogue delivery was VERY static)... At one point, the girl had to walk across a room in a wide shot, but using two shotguns I just set two plants, gave her a marker, and she kept to it. Very cool sound, and gave me an opportunity to actually MIX for a change.
As far as exteriors go, I was really happy with the AT4071a. Ive said it before, and Ill say it again (until I get a CS-3e), sometimes I think that the long shotgun is a seriously overlooked tool. I often find that my shotguns go by the wayside for a while because Im using either Oktava or long gun on some shoots. Of course, Im ignoring the difficulties the long guns can give (like booming accurately), but when Im booming myself (like I did), its no big deal.
I also ran backup wireless lavs for exterior scenes, but thats what they will stay as - backup. Didnt sound nearly as good as the long gun.
So, lessons learnt:
* Sometimes kid actors are better than professional actors. But not usually.
* Long shotguns kick ass.
* Carpeted rooms are something to aim for when scouting a location.
* Wireless internet on set rocks!
* Plant microphones can be effective. Very effective.
* Always bring some microphone stands.
The other thing was that today I met up with one of the location sound guys from Survivor USA. Really nice guy. It turns out that quite a percentage of the Survivor series is shot by South Africans.. He was telling me about the gear they use, and its very clever for its simplicity, and strength in those environments.
Wendt X2 (2 channel)
Senn MKH70 (long shotgun)
Single Lectro 211 to hop to camera on channel 1.
On camera mic (forgot to ask which) set to channel 2, on auto.
So they are pretty much just mixing one channel all the time. When they do interviews, he says he just changes from wireless link to a cable link to camera to avoid any issues.
So thats the rig of a sound guy for the reality stuff of survivor. Id kill to work on that one. 7 week shoot in paradise! (Although Im sure its bloody tough going sometimes).
Had a ROUGH night shoot last night. But recorded some really great stuff.
We were shooting with the Sony Z1, and I was using SD302, 416, 4073a, 4071a, Oktava, AT899 lavs, and Sony UWP Wireless.
It was an interesting shoot because I got to break the "hypers indoors" rule - the house we partially shot in was entirely carpeted! We were also primarily shooting in bedrooms, so LOADS of extra reverb absorbtion. Because the rooms were so dead, I managed to actually use my shotguns quite a bit! But wait, there was a reason.
The story (it was a short film about the toothfairy), had two characters - a super talented little girl (maybe 6 or 7 years old) and a guy in his 20's (playing the tooth fairy - strange story, but quite cool). The problem for me was that in some shots we had two way dialogue, but naturally his head was way higher than hers (sitting or standing).
So I used the Oktava on him, and a shotgun on her. The shotgun gave a bit of extra reach, and suprisingly I didnt have any matching problems (thank goodness, this tactic could Im sure fall apart on this).
I also deployed the AT899 lav as a plant mic quite a bit - a tactic that is definitely worth trying out. In fact, I used a LOT of plants. I had no boom op (besides the usual PA story), so I used two heavy duty mic stands to lock microphones into positions for the shots (luckily, there wasnt much movement in the story, dialogue delivery was VERY static)... At one point, the girl had to walk across a room in a wide shot, but using two shotguns I just set two plants, gave her a marker, and she kept to it. Very cool sound, and gave me an opportunity to actually MIX for a change.
As far as exteriors go, I was really happy with the AT4071a. Ive said it before, and Ill say it again (until I get a CS-3e), sometimes I think that the long shotgun is a seriously overlooked tool. I often find that my shotguns go by the wayside for a while because Im using either Oktava or long gun on some shoots. Of course, Im ignoring the difficulties the long guns can give (like booming accurately), but when Im booming myself (like I did), its no big deal.
I also ran backup wireless lavs for exterior scenes, but thats what they will stay as - backup. Didnt sound nearly as good as the long gun.
So, lessons learnt:
* Sometimes kid actors are better than professional actors. But not usually.
* Long shotguns kick ass.
* Carpeted rooms are something to aim for when scouting a location.
* Wireless internet on set rocks!
* Plant microphones can be effective. Very effective.
* Always bring some microphone stands.
The other thing was that today I met up with one of the location sound guys from Survivor USA. Really nice guy. It turns out that quite a percentage of the Survivor series is shot by South Africans.. He was telling me about the gear they use, and its very clever for its simplicity, and strength in those environments.
Wendt X2 (2 channel)
Senn MKH70 (long shotgun)
Single Lectro 211 to hop to camera on channel 1.
On camera mic (forgot to ask which) set to channel 2, on auto.
So they are pretty much just mixing one channel all the time. When they do interviews, he says he just changes from wireless link to a cable link to camera to avoid any issues.
So thats the rig of a sound guy for the reality stuff of survivor. Id kill to work on that one. 7 week shoot in paradise! (Although Im sure its bloody tough going sometimes).
