Sound man...really needed?

D

DVX100Shooter

Veteran
Tonight I was in New Jersey shooting a vigil for the American held hostage overseas. I was one of the many news crews there. One thing that I have never really understood is what is the purpose of the soundman. I mean, I know what his/her job is but I have been a shooter/editor for almost 10 years and I have no problem wearing headphones or placing my ear up against the speaker on the side of my BetacamSX camera to monitor the audio.

Do the networks use soundman so the camera person can just concentrate on the pictures? There are times where we are running and gunning and I can understand that the sound man can just extend their boom poles to get the audio without being all in our way. For movies and the like, I can see their point but in TV News I am a little confused as why they are needed.
 
Re: Sound man...really needed?

Yea my post was mainly from an audio standpoint. I work shoot news in the city now. Alot of times I will park the truck on the sidewalk if I can so I won't be blocking traffic on the street. If I need to carry extra lights and gear, I whip out my Kart-a-Bag and strap all of my equipment on there. I use this when I am shooting the Eagles or 76ers Basketball games. There are times when I do have an assistant with me to be a 2nd pair of eyes or to just assist with the shot or the cable pull from the Satellite truck. I do see your point but back to my original post, if the cameraman can monitor his own audio right there on the camera why is the soundman needed? To be honest with you, the only time I wish I had a soundman is doing those gang bang locker room interviews after a Flyers, Eagles, or 76er game with the players. Trying to hold your stick mic and operate your camera all bunched up with other crews is nuts!
 
Re: Sound man...really needed?

i told you. you never did real news under other condition -shooting (lebanon and gasa strip ) , amoution  after bus exploding, gang bang ater prime minister ( sorry  , you cant do it in states) , night invaision in to the heroin dealers places -this   is no one man in real life ,  /news is not only park your car and get the mute b roll - news ,one that not really exiszst eny more is to bring the story with usible sound and camera mikrophone sound or dynamik inside the frame doesnt count for me .you can bring ambient and if they shout hard enouth it will be usible but  you cant bring good sound on your own .
( 600 news days ( all the amerecans( nbc, abc, cbs) ,german  (ird ,zdf)and israelly (chanel2) majors in midle east between 89-96)
 
Re: Sound man...really needed?

The simple answer is: the optimal point for locating your sound transducer is almost never the same as the optimal point for placing your image transducer. Cameras capture a very small, tightly constrained part of the environment relative to mics, thus mics must be placed more carefully and much closer in order to match the image. This is difficult, and often impossible, for one person to do.
 
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