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gkim

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Everything posted by gkim

  1. Late to this thread but I'm in the same boat as you Goldberger - wife works, I freelance and live in NYC and had our daughter 2 years ago. It was really rough - but what everyone here has already said is very true: • time flies by. It feels like being on a runaway train that stops for nothing. I obsessed about work in the beginning because I was worried about money and now she's two. I wish I could freeze time so she can be this age a bit longer. • I don't do feature or long doc work much now but it's ok - I love being with my family. • we chose daycare and it's worked out well for us. It's expensive as hell (as I'm sure you've found) but once the kid hits 2 years, it gets more affordable and there are more options. We're really happy with her daycare and she blows our minds with what she learns there. • we wish that the US would follow other countries in helping with childcare costs. Childcare in Japan is $400/month (!) Right now, we pay $1700/month but started at $2k when she was an infant. • most importantly, what Brian said: the sound of your kid's laughter is the best. No schoeps, dpa, sound devices, zaxcom, etc. comes close. I started recording her and editing what she says into little ringtones (though recording her through those things make her sound better). There really is nothing better than listening to your kids be happy.
  2. Thanks Blas, appreciate the constructive help. Shoot went well until the last day - Nypd shut down playback. I offered to get earwigs, production nixed that idea and let me go on the last day. They were shooting in Times Sq, so guess it was iphones. Or whatever.
  3. thank blas, if production wants a funky FPS (eg - 35) is there a straightforward way to shrink the audio and LTC file?
  4. Hi guys, Working playback for music video. Production is very slow with details but have told me they will be doing a slow motion shot. I've read through the forums and found this: Wanted to make sure I prep the files correctly: -singer is from Colombia (probably shooting 23.978) -I have 10 min of LTC and the music track panned L and R respectively -will make a new music track that is shortened by 50% (assuming they will shoot at 48fps) -will also make a new LTC track that is shortened by 50% It was mentioned that I should keep the pitch correct for both files, but unsure how or why to do this. Any help would be super appreciated.
  5. Such good info here, many thanks. speaking with a dp now about how she composes shots and lenses. cbsixty: i may be working with the same dp rachel: thanks for sharing an approach
  6. Thank you Robert for the great advice, truly helpful. Looking into books and materials now.
  7. understood - our work is collaborative and maybe there's more I could do to have a better working relationship with camera. Sometimes they're such pricks though - makes it tough to be diplomatic. I love John's description of a DP yelling "boom in frame", so true it made me laugh out loud on the subway. Thanks again for sharing insight guys, muh appreciated.
  8. As a newish boom op, i'm wondering who and how to get a frameline. Most of the time, I can get a glimpse from video village or the small monitor off of camera, but there are times when there's a pan move that wasn't discussed that catches me off guard. Some 1st ac's are helpful, and say when they are getting focus marks is a good time, but when there isn't rehersal when is the appropriate time to ask? Is there a protocol for getting this info? It often feels like camera dept could care less about communicating with sound regarding frameline and pans.
  9. Great advice to prep deep phillip, thank you. Hadn't thought to rehearse wrapping, which can get rushed and hairy at the end of long day. Will definitely add to the prep list.
  10. Really helpful replies, thank you everyone @mike, i'll definitely try grabbing fx during lunch @robert - this is indeed low budget. great idea with a 2nd boom on a stand I don't like feeling second to camera, but the reality is much of the crew (camera, art, director and dp) work regularly on other shows, so i feel a bit on the outside. They're all polite enough, but if you've ever worked on a low budget shoot, sound has a tough time competing with camera for parity. Would any of you mind sharing how you try to stay ahead of the game?
  11. Hello everyone, Wrapping up my first (true) feature in a week. I now understand what a different beast a feature is from shorts, commercial work, even broadcast. In an effort to get better at the craft, I was hoping to get thoughts and insights from you all. I'm trying to find the equivalent of "getting ahead" in the sound department. As always, I get that it depends: the mood at the moment, is the shoot behind, etc. Here's what I observed: 1. talking with the dp to see when she/he prefers to have the boom op come in. Some prefer to have the boom op in rehearsals, some want them only when 1st team is called. But once the boom op has annoyed the dp or 1st ac, I found it's a tough road back to getting cooperation from camera dept. 2. finding the balance with the 1st ad. Some prefer to be gently reminded for wild, room tone, etc. while others seem irritable to hear from sound dept at all 3. is it problematic when directors give verbal direction during a scene? Or is it only mentioned if post or the asst editor mentions it? 4. I'd love to use the downtime to prep lav mics for the next scene, as this often takes a bit of time rigging and testing, but can only do so much ahead of time before wardrobe. 5. would love to get wild, fx but again, without lock ups, probably wouldn't be helpful to post 6. tightening up the cart: organizing, cleaning, wrapping cables, cutting moleskin/topstick, inventory, etc. 7. the boom ops were kind of green, so talking with them about positioning, making friends with the 1st ac, being prepped 8. getting in sync with scripty for sound reports How do you guys spend downtime and get ahead so the day is smooth and as stress free as possible? Lastly, there are more days than not that I feel grateful to be able to work at something I love. Every so often though, I feel annoyed at how the sound department is treated on set. We're often not included in discussions regarding the scene, left till last minute to fix lav problems, put on the spot, caught between requests from post and uncooperative AD's, and generally disrespected. Camera can take as long as needed to work out technical problems, new thoughts on lighting and positions, but god forbid if sound needs a moment to reposition a lav. Apologies, small rant. Any insight, shared experience or thoughts (and criticisms) would be much appreciated.
  12. Eeee gads...it was the trim on channels 4-6. Occam's razor. Well, thanks to you guys, i can teoubleshoot cos-11 wiring and check by sending tone to rx. This community is awesome
  13. Crap- right. Forgot how to adjust trim on those.
  14. Thx for the reply! Clipping happens at tx. Actor was yelling across street in scene, turned down tx to 8, and i could still hear it. It was ok on the 633 meters (bouncing around 0). Concerns: 1. Dropping rx level below +5 isn't line anymore and degrades signal 2. Improper gain staging. Has this happened to you before?
  15. Hi guys, I'm on a feature and have run across a strange problem. I'm using lectro smqv tx and dual srb receivers into a 633. -All receivers are set to +5 -All 633 channels receiving lavs are set to line -All receivers are using ta3 to ta3 connectors -All receivers are using the same cos-11 lavs -All tx have audio levels set to 23 (for testing purposes) The problem is that 2 tx, set at audio levels of 23 with normal dialog sound normal, and show up on the 633 meters around 0. Fine. The other 2 tx, also set to audio levels of 23, with normal dialog are super hot. They're clipping. I had to turn them down to 8. I've tried the following troubleshooting: -ensuring all cables are wired for line level -switching mics (they are all the same) -rebooting 633 It seems like a tx issue. They are all the same smqv, same lav mics but 2 are fine at 23, and the other 2 are hot as hell. Can't figure out what I'm missing. Any help would be mucho appreciated.
  16. gkim

    choosing mics

    thank you everyone, Joshua - your mic purchasing history was really insightful into the reasons, the situations and decision making. That really helped a lot. Sorry to add to the "which mic is best" threads, wasn't trying to do that. It's hard to know what you don't know, so my thinking was, I have a decent indoor mic and got sick of renting. So after trying out a few, and knowing that most of my work is in nyc, a good mix of narrative, corporate and doc work, i was trying to think of considerations I didn't think of, know what I mean? (humidity, RF problems, known issues, etc) I think I'm going with an 8060 - it'll give me flexibility to swap out capsules down the road to a 50, 40, etc. Thanks again folks ps - the 3 times I used the cmit: indoors - great, loved it; coney island in july - crapped out; miami in august, died. I could give it another shot, love the way it sounds.
  17. gkim

    choosing mics

    @john - true that ultimately it will be my decision, but thought i'd pick the brains and experience of more expericed folks @daniel - sounded best meaning off axis. I've tried the mkh50 and never felt much love for it, maybe i'm not hitting the sweet spot. I'll give the 50 and 60 another shot though. Thanks to everyone guys
  18. gkim

    choosing mics

    @john - guess i was more curious what other production soundies would reach for if they had to choose from this list. @daniel - to my ears, the cmit5u sounded best off axis. So far, the outdoor work hasn't been too unpredictable, so I have time to adjust.
  19. gkim

    choosing mics

    Hello again to this awesome community, I've read every single post about mics on this forum, gearslutz and trew, as well as talking with mixers, gotham and pro-sound folks. Every single one, so this isn't to rehash unresearched questions or to drag the Senator out to say, "it depends". I buy gear when the gig can pay for it, so currently my set up is: sd 633, neumann km150 (for indoors), lectro smqv. Got enough cash for a decent outdoor boom and zepplin but would prefer not to spend it all if I don't have to. Been renting the following: 416, cmit5u, sanken cs3e, 816, dpa 4017. I know it depends on the shot, the environment, weather, etc. and I'd love to buy'm all, but i got enough for one of them. My work is based in nyc, a mix of everything and it's getting busier, so a 3rd mic is on the horizon. One thing I do notice is that the cmit5u craps out when it's humid, which is too bad. Now, I leave myself open for all the arrows and possibly opinions. I take them all humbly.
  20. Ah, i see, thanks phillip. Anyone have experience using sanken or other pop screens on OST TL40 lavs?
  21. Hello, great community here. Couldn't find an answer anywhere, so thought i'd ask here: has anyone tried to use the countryman b6 caps (http://www.trewaudio.com/store/Countryman-B6-Protective-Cap-Flat-Response.html) over the OST TL40 lavs? Saw the threads here on reducing the pops on the TL40, but was looking for other options too. Thanks!
  22. Man, I am blown away by this community and the advice. It's all tremendous. The nitty gritty details (checking reflections, transformer boxes) to the soft skills, such great advice. Thank you all. I will absolutely report back on my first celebrity gig. Just a side note: the hard skills advice are great for the technical "what-ifs". But often it's the mind games that undermine my confidence. Reading advice like: remember he's a colleague, or the basics, hi, i'm Gene the soundguy. May i put a mic on you, is so helpful. You guys are awesome. A million thanks.
  23. this is terrific advice. Rick, I think hardwiring the lav is a great idea. The shoot's in nyc (rightly guessed RF hell), sit down interview. I'm thinking boom stand, wired lav set-up, maybe feeds to the camera. A crew I worked with me referred me for the gig, which was nice. I'm confident using the gear I have but it is the biggest gig I've had so far. John Blankenship - great advice about seeing him as just another animal making sound. My main concern was being already nervous and then dealing with new gaer. Thanks for the support gents, it's incredibly confidence inspiring to have industry pros back you up. Toddsound: I will absolutely not lowball myself.
  24. Hey guys, Avid reader and new to the production sound scene. I've doing location sound for about a year now with good success doing corporate, 2 features and a bunch of shorts. Upgraded to my first nice indoor mic (neumann km150). So here's the deal: got my first gig that's got me pretty nervous. I've been asked to do sound for an interview with Martin Scorcese. My first thought was that I have to upgrade to a sound devices and some lectros or zaxcom lavs along with my indoor boom. I've been getting by with a tascam 680 and sennheiser g3's with a cos-11 mic. I know it's prosumer and I"m saving up for the next round of upgrades (I can rent too) but just not there yet. I'm confident that I can deliver clean, balanced tracks using my gear to it's full potential. What I'm kinda scared of is showing up on set with my gear and getting looks from Scorcese and the production crew like, 'who invited this guy?' Am I right to be nervous about my gear or is this a case of 'it's not the arrows but the archer'. Your thoughts and opinions would be much appreciated.
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