Warehouse Location - Advice Requested

Jeremy Ordan

Jeremy Ordan

Major Contributor
Warehouse Location - Advice Requested

Hello all. Most of the regulars here know me, but now I have a question that hopefully ya'll can help me with. For an upcoming short film I have just secured my location, a warehouse type location off the side of a theatre. It is a massive space 60' x 100', concrete walls, empty, concrete floor. It has twenty-five feet aluminum ceiling / roof. Even speaking in the location there is an immediate reverb / echo to the location. My initial plan is to bring in a lot of moving van blankets to try to absorb as much reflection as possible and hopefully tie this in with my set decorator to make as much clutter as possible to also help reduce the natural reverb of the location. For the physical shoot I contemplated going wireless for my lead (a man stalking through this location) but with the wardrobe that will not work. Essentially we're going to be in a boom situation throughout, most likely using an Oktava MK012.

My question is, with a ceiling this high and a location made out of this much metal and concrete, beside the blankets and clutter to help absorb the sound, what other tips and tricks can ya'll offer to help ensure the best possible audio?

I thank everyone in advance.

-Jeremy
 
bring black big fabric that we usially use to make day for night , few high rollers , put the fabric on high rollers as close as possible to the action outside the shot , you need a feew large ones ,try to hang one on the sealing in the middle as well - or find better location
 
That's good advice... So pretty much rebuild the ceiling just above where I'm going to be top lighting. Thanks!
 
I think there were two things Oleg was talking about. One was the poss of getting a blanket over the set and the other was temp blanket walls that you can move around. You may have a hard time with the overhead blanket because of lighting but the moving walls should help a lot. This is a common technique in recording studios except that the walls are more rigid. If you have the time budget you can make some out of 1X4's on edge (sort of big cigar box with out a top or bottom) put cloth on the open sides and fill with fiberglass batting. You can make them as tall as you want but your sort of limited to the with of the batting side to side. They suck up a lot of sound and you can position them around to make a sort of traveling vocal booth.

Blankets are probably a lot more practical though.
SK
 
I own a dozen moving blankets that I was planning on bringing in, plus renting at least a dozen more. This space is HUGE (and we're shooting in just one part of it).

Ultimately though I have some recording studio foam that I need to get out of storage and bring that out also. This location is massive and empty though, so I figure the more dead air I can eat up the better.

For the fabric / ceiling thing, I can easily get 100-200 yards of heavy nylon and drape that just above where I'll be top lighting. That thought had never hit me, so I'm pretty excited now to get in there and just take this dark and dirty space and bring it to life. This location is really a great find and works perfectly for my story. I'm going back out there this weekend and will try to snap some pictures...

-Jeremy
 
if you use only part of the space , cut the room to the minimum with brezent or heavy fabric , at least 100sq meters , the blankets is not very practical since the most you have is 70meters , it will help but you have to add , for the top use material which is heavy and not reflect , make a belly when you stick to the top ,
you also can bring helium balloons , but they start to fall after wile , so it good if you are shooting there 1 day only
another cgeap solution is cheap water mattresses, 40 like that will give you good impact if you will hang them from the sealing or will place them on the net , of course you can build barriers on the side as well
 
Oleg... You are the man. Great advice, thank you very very much. Isn't sound proofing almost as much fun to discuss as what mic should I buy?

-Jeremy
 
for got to mention , something i heard on ramps , make the crew wear yogi bear costumes, it sucks sound very well :-)
 
I have been sitting on that balloon idea for years now. Think I first heard it from Oleg awhile back. I really want to try it but never have the situation that it will work out in.

If your frame is tight enough, getting a couple of well placed blankets will work on the horizontal reverb. The floor is what is if it is in frame, out of frame a couple of blankets will make your day. The tricky part is (for me) the ceiling If you can get a blanket or baffle rigged up a few feet above your mic then you are good to go. Otherwise you will be getting all that late reflection off the ceilings and corners. I made a couple of hard/soft baffles that work wonders if you can get them right above the mic. Problem is getting the time and space that doesn't interfer with lights to get the sucker mounted.

Good luck man and PLEASE try the balloon trick, I want to hear more feedback on that (take some pics if you do).
 
ExileOnTheMainStreet said:
for got to mention , something i heard on ramps , make the crew wear yogi bear costumes, it sucks sound very well :-)
Click to expand...

LMAO, missed that thread. In medium sized rooms a full crew standing around will usually do the job of several blankets (more if they are krafty regulars :) ).
 
Jeremy,

Everything that was said above but, I'm not sure that nylon would be enough of a cut. I think Oleg is talking about duvateen (sp?) or something heavier like black out cloth (makes supporting it much harder).

What about the wardrobe won't work for wireless. Get a B6 and you can hide that sucker pretty much anywhere. I've tucked in behind actor's ears, taped it to their glasses, under wigs, in shirts, etc. If your actor is going shirtless, might be a problem... ;-) (You could get a flesh-colored one though...) Also, might be a good chance to rent a Lectro SM Tx and see where you can hide it. ;-)

Just thought of another thing you might be able to do to put a "lid" on it (so to speak). You could rent like a 30x30 silk (usually comes with a frame and two large stands on rollers (similar to C stands, but much more sturdy). These go up pretty high, and roll around really easily. Just another thought...

Phil
 
yeah! i'd love to see some pictures of that! haha!

other than those awesome inputs, id recommend always blanketing the FLOOR where you can (this has already been mentioned, but its good advice) - simply because in a big space that will most often be the closest reflection source, hence loudest contribution to the reverb.

naturally, sometimes you cant do the floor, but where you can it helps - also gets rid of echo footsteps.

but mostly, go with the yogi bear suits :)
 
In most markets, you should be able to find duvytene through hotels or live-event staging interests. They commonly call it "pipe and drape" because it is an integrated upright and cross-member system.

Now, P&D is spendy - often staging companies will charge up to $10 a running foot. To keep your cost down, let them know that it'll be a longer-term rental and that you don't care if there are mis-matched colors (blue and black are most common) and that even a few rips are just fine.

"Duvy" can also be purchased from fabric stores, but it is usually a thinner fabric than what is used in theatrical and live event applications.

I used to be a GM for this company - they're the best in the business. http://www.avhq.com/

Their Charlotte office is:

http://www3.avservicescorp.com/lsws/PublishedSite.aspx?Loc=1903

e
 
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I can get a tank of helium for $50 through party city. I figure two of those big bad boys and we can do a lot of baloons, so I'm going to actually try that route to start with.

Overland, I'm sure you know the location... CAST Theatre?

Now, regarding wireless... our cast won't have much clothing on, so that's the problem with the wireless. I feel pretty comfertable using an Oktava in this location though and Saturday am going back down there to run some sound tests. It should be a learning experience from so many different angles. I'm excited!

Jeremy
 
overlandfilms said:
If the cast is nude (pref. female, hot) let me know and I'll come pitch in.

e
Click to expand...

Not nude, but not a lot of clothes... Either way, it should be fun, just a strange BDSM short film.

If you have any lights that you might be willing to rent, let me know

-Jeremy
 
TheYankee said:
I can get a tank of helium for $50 through party city. I figure two of those big bad boys and we can do a lot of baloons, so I'm going to actually try that route to start with.

Overland, I'm sure you know the location... CAST Theatre?

Now, regarding wireless... our cast won't have much clothing on, so that's the problem with the wireless. I feel pretty comfertable using an Oktava in this location though and Saturday am going back down there to run some sound tests. It should be a learning experience from so many different angles. I'm excited!

Jeremy
Click to expand...

An Oktava? Really? I am currently working in a "sound stage" that is much more like a warehouse and we have been running an MKH60 and MKH70 because the tighter pattern is absolutely necessary. We listened to a Schoeps MK41 and it just was not happening.

Is there any way to build walls to eat up dead space and confine the working space? If so, through some foam on to help with reflections. Definately through blankets down when acceptable. Somehow convince the director and DP to make shots as tight as possible, (good luck with that). Can't really add to what has already been said.

Good luck.
 
I can get a tank of helium for $50 through party city.
Click to expand...

I've always wanted to try the "bounce light off of a bunch of white helium balloons to make a giant softlight" thing.

So if you go with the balloons, I'd either go with white and bounce light off them to bring the general light level up, or black if you don't want any reflected light at all. Disclaimer: never tried either.
 
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