ChrisH25

I do understand this, and I agree with you. I was not looking for a friend, and I was treating it more as a coworker to a supervisor; as in "if I move to this mark here while you turn there, is that cool?" In hindsight, I should have tried to find out from the video assist, but seeing has how I had no direct comm with him or my mixer, and the DP and AC were there, I went with the direct contact.But yes, I do agree about the wireless; however I am slightly miffed that the sound mixer does not have any, nor did he decide to rent any. However, I feel more like a whino just rambling on about the issue. I do appreciate the responses, and I will remember to gear up more on my side of things; not having duplex cable was not a good sign. The mixer comes more from a music studio recording scene, and knows his stuff, but I think this is his first feature job.Bumming a quote from one my favorite action films, "You had your whole life to prepare for this moment. What's your excuse?"

Doh, I meant to type that I have a headphone monitor, but there is no talkback function, so the Mixer has to yell out aloud across a crowded set. I also understand that on higher budgeted productions, that I probably should not bug the DP. A bad habit I will break, but I come from the school where the DP is also the camera operator/ 1st AC, because that's how small the production is. But yeah...

Alright, so I have searched through the forums, and I have found several topics on dealing with inconsiderate DPs or ADs, but my question stems more from job duties. Also, this is not a pity post; if you guys have to be real, please be real. I am currently working on a low budget shoot for a feature (aren't they all now?), and I'm working as just the boom op for a production sound mixer that is also (I'm willing to bet) a rookie. Now, I have boomed before, and I understand how to boom, and why it is important to work with the grips and DP as they light a scene, so they can add a flag to cut away boom shadow, and so you know where to be at when they start shooting. With that said, there are no comteks or even a monitor feed for me to hear the production sound mixer, who is set-up next to video assist, so whenever I ask the AC or the DP what my frameline is, I get this annoyed look from them. That's not the problem; deciding to be a sound man I have developed copious amounts of thick skin and scar tissue. But what has bugged me the most, is what the DP said to me for this one setup: A dolly pan of two actors talking at a bar, with glass mirror shelves setup in the background of the bar. I moved and worked out where I had to be when they blocked the scene. During the several rehearsal takes, I never once heard from the DP, or AC, or video assist, or even my mixer if I ever showed up in shot or as a reflection. Then during the first take, the director comes out to say that he can see myself, as well as the DP and AC on the dolly when they turn the corner because of the bar mirrors. When we reset to 1, I ask the DP if where I am is acceptable when they turn the corner, since that is where the crew visibility issue arises. His response was " You're in the shot, and that's your problem to solve, not mine". I had asked him if he could work with me, so I knew where I could be at to record acceptable audio and also be out of the shot. I did not yell, or slack off, I just asked a general question. So my question is, from this lengthy story/rant, is he right? I moved with them during the blocking, and from what I could see from the occasional LCD camera monitor was that I was not in frame. The lack of communication between the mixer and video assist is what bugs me the most. I know they didn't have comteks, but that the mixer could not get up from laptop to tell me, or even send the PA to tell me, has me annoyed to nth degree. Right now, I'm thinking about hunting down some basic lighting books so I can recognize problem lights or basic setups. All I know from school and previous experience are kinos/ and 3 pt lighting; right now I move and walk around with the boom during the lighting setups/blocking to see where I need to be at, but I feel like I should learn more.

Phil that photo is the bee's knees. Now there needs to be a picture like that, but a row a boom operators.

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/EhrV8_AV49-LKFDzgn7NDg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_F9kOyxuMrMA/S_XwOANJoQI/AAAAAAAAAeI/Gm4TnqPxdxs/s400/photo.jpg" /></a> Late to the party, but me posing to kick ass on set for an ultra low budget feature in the woods (Like late May-early June 2009). I'm somewhere in PenMar on the Appalachian Trail.

I agree, this is for my own growing gear, and something I would carry as a backup.

Ok, so I'm looking at these 3 boom box units, but I cannot decide which would work for the following applications: When I work as a 3rd or Boom Op for Union gigs, and for Non-Union shoots (mostly goofy shorts with friends where I run audio). I was looking for just a basic headphone monitor and something to send the signal to the mixer, so I was looking at just the basic duplex box http://www.trewaudio.com/store/product.php?productid=832&cat=0&page=1 But then I was also looking at the Remote audio boom cable system, which would be handy if I needed to talk directly with the mixer over long distances or noisy sets. http://www.trewaudio.com/store/product.php?productid=114&cat=0&page=1 Then, to add more to the madness, I was looking at the sound devices MM-1, which would be useful if I ever had to power 48p mics and if I used a wireless transmitter. http://sounddevices.com/products/mm1master.htm I was looking at the sound devices, because I could also plug an IFB feed into it, and would seem more versatile, but I was wondering: Can I just use it as a headphone preamp, and have the mic powered and level controlled via the mixer?

Thanks for the notes and tips guys 1) I powered up the mixer with a separate NP 1 cup, and the ground noise was gone, and I could hear the audio returns from the recorder perfectly. 2) As for the wireless issue, I ruled out the the transmitter and receiver, lavs, the mixer, and the power source. It seems to me like it's a bum xlr to mini stereo, The MC100 XLR http://www.lectrosonics.com/catalogs/UniversalCatalogPages/AudioCablesEtc.htm The problem I was having was with one cable I would come in nice and clean, and with the other cable, I would come in louder, and it was a much nosier signal that would clip even when talking with an indoor voice. Question: I know the above cable is unbalanced, but that would only come into play as a problem if I was using a longer cable to connect to a mixer, correct?

Alright, so I'm a newbie, and I'm curious if what I'm experiencing is ground noise. So my gear is setup as bag based with the following: -PSC Promix 6 -Tascam HD-P2 - 2 Lectro's 100 Series Receivers -The mixer and the recorder are powered by Remote Audio's BDS system (2nd revision) and I'm powering it via NP-1 batteries. The Lectro's are powered by 9 volts What's weird is that I can hear the loud humming noise in the mixer headphone, but not in the recorder, and the recordings themselves don't have any noisy humming in it. However, the noise issue seems to occur in the recordings when I use the two lectro's. Now if I just have one unit on, it picks up nice clean audio, when I select a good frequency. Sometimes it works when both are powered on, and other times I'm constantly trying to find an available frequency for one of the units. But when I have the units turned off, if I turn the mixer fader up on one of the channels I'm using for wireless, I can hear a loud humming noise. I then unplugged the unit leaving just the connector in, and I could still hear it, I swapped out the cables, and I would try a different channel on the mixer, and the same issue would happen. The weird thing is, when I accidentally switched 48p, but then turned it off, it seemed to stop producing the loud humming noise. I had emailed PSC about the noise in the mixer headphone jack, and they said it was due to sharing one power source to power all the gear. So anyone know what's causing it? I'm guessing the BDS unit does not like the mixer, even though it's listed as compatible with the unit on Remote Audio's site.

OK, so I've been looking at Lectrosonics, and trying to decide what band works best for me. I live in between DC and Baltimore, and find work in and around both places. I've looked at the frequency chart, and also used Sennheiser's chart to see what's open and what's in use. My question isn't which band to choose, but when I choose a band, can I use frequencies that are occupied in one city, that are listed as open in another city? Provided that it's the same state I mean; for example, a set of frequencies that are listed as being used by local DC TV stations should be free and open in Baltimore, and likewise. Is that sound reasoning?