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JamesP

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Everything posted by JamesP

  1. Really interesting discussion here guys, learning a lot. It seems to me that to get definitive answers to these questions then a conversation with post-sound will go a long way. So we wrapped the feature over the weekend and I have to say that at least sound-wise, it was a total success! The advice I got from you guys here helped me raise my game to a new level and the film sounds that much better for it. Thank you all! I also have lots of food for thought moving on now in terms of different approaches and conversations to have with production and post. My team and I had a blast the entire shoot, was a super fun experience for all of us and we definitely intend to work together again. Cheers from the Sound Dept!
  2. Interesting, I've been trying that in wide shots and it definitely makes the Lavs sound more natural.
  3. Hey all! So it's been a chaotic first week, we've been put through our paces to say the least. We're dealing with noisy locations, noisy wardrobe, an unconventional shooting style that leaves us without the coverage we need half the time, last minute script changes and a tense atmosphere on set as everything is behind. Tho joys of low budget film-making! Good news is is the sound department is having a great time despite the challenges and we're doing as good a job as we can! I'm getting plenty of opportunities to practice mixing and I'm starting to get the hang of it. Fader moves are sounding smoother every day and I'm getting a good feel for how things should sound. My boom op is an absolute beast and is fighting for every inch and our second is learning super fast. We're all hoping we get to work on some better organised projects in the future! Went for a mono mix track in the end, feel much more comfortable that way and everyone seems happy with the results so far! Thanks again for the amazing discussion here guys, really appreciate all the advice. J
  4. The feature starts tomorrow morning and based on what I have read here I think I'm going to go with the mono mix track. I feel much more confident doing it that way and feel I will learn more. I can totally see myself trying out other approaches when the communication is there in post but at this stage I'm going to attempt what I feel comfortable with. Wish me luck!
  5. Thanks Jez, I think we should start an 'international boom awareness day', very important cause (; So I'm a little confused now at how I would approach a mix using both 2 booms and lavs. Seems like I don't have enough hands?? I can see that if I focus on a single mono mix track then I'm deciding in the moment which will sound better and then focus my mix approach accordingly. I mean, if they're gonna go to the bother of blending boom/lav mix tracks then they're likely to dig into Isos anyway? My main goal with the mix is so the editors have something decent to work with and so the directors have something good for coms and dailies. It's use in the final film will be a nice bonus for me. Any thoughts on this? Factors which might sway this decision one way or the other? Really great to to hear your perspective Jez, it's feedback from post that I desperately need and am not getting enough of right now! Thanks again everyone, this has been a very enlightening conversation for me!! Really appreciate it!
  6. I have spoken to them and there are no real plans for the post sound yet. They aren't particularly sound savvy but are very accommodating to to us so the approach is basically up to me. I do think that a good production mix is going to be very useful and as I said earlier, might actually get used in the final film which would be very cool. I think I'm going to focus primarily on the 2 booms and use them both all the time. What are your approaches to mixing 2 booms? Wouldn't the BG be noticeable when crossfading? I'm using a matched pair so they will sound the same at least. I'm really lucky to have this experience with 2 booms so I want to make the most out of it, might not get the chance to do it again for quite some time!
  7. Thanks for clearing all of this up for me guys, feeling a lot more confident for this shoot now! I would like to hear more opinions on this ambience mic though?
  8. Awesome, I can't wait to try out all of these techniques. I suppose as long as my mono mix track sounds good then that is enough QC for me to be confident that things are working. I can see how I can be much more focused on a single mono track than I would be with many open ISOs, if I hear a problem in my mix I know exactly where it's coming from so it can be fixed quickly. Also handily there are headphone monitor presets on the zoom F8 that I can quickly switch between to check everything is working. I'm a big fan of this little machine, gonna put it through it's paces with the FRC-8 control surface. Yes David this is something that has confused me in the past. I heard that advice and after shooting an impossible master shot I was left wondering if I should keep the boom far away for consistently shit sound haha. I recall the Senator mentioning that on super wide shots the dialogue from the closeups can be edited in surprisingly well as the talent are so far away that lip sync isn't as much of an issue. Is this right in your experience? If so I can hold fire in the master shot and go for consistency when we punch in close?
  9. Great info guys thank you, I apologise if this topic has already been covered but I couldn't find any threads here. I have never heard of that technique being used but it makes a lot of sense. What pickup pattern might you go for here? I imagine a wider pattern would get the desired results? Do you leave the fader up in between takes? I've been practicing this at home with some old location stuff from previous shoots, there's definitely a knack to it. This film will be really good opportunity to practice this under pressure with the assurance that the ISOs are there if it goes tits up! The two people I'm working with are lovely and we're gonna get along great, gonna be good vibes on set, I agree, super important!!
  10. Hello all! Long-time lurker, first time poster here. Firstly I’d like to say how grateful I am to you all for maintaining this amazing site, for people like myself just starting out it is a fantastic resource. The fact that I am only just posting here with questions now is a testament to the richness of debate that goes on here. Keep up the good work! So I’m going to be mixing my first low budget feature next week, I have worked mainly as a solo sound recordist and boom op so far and have very limited experience producing a mix track. This time I’ve got a great boom op and a sound utility gal working with me so I have an opportunity to get my head around mixing. I’m going to be using the Zoom F8 with the FRC-8 control, we have some decent boom mics and the option of a 2nd boom when needed. Also running 3 channels of wireless (G3’s with COS11s). I’ve read through these threads: http://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/topic/23938-the-importance-of-lavs-from-the-pov-of-post/& http://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/topic/24760-do-we-still-need-a-production-sound-mix-track-when-multi-track-recordings-are-requested/&tab=comments#comment-291328 I know that the post-production budget is small and there are no sound editors on board yet so I think that a good production mix will be really useful for this project. Besides coms and dailies I think there is a chance the mix will actually be used in the final film providing that I produce something of decent quality. I’m confident making a mix track from lavs; ensuring there is only one channel open at a time, this I can get my head around. But my questions are about the composition of the mix. I’m sure that most of the time my boom op will be in an optimal position (good boom skills, single camera, sound friendly crew), in this case would it be best to just push up fader 1 and make slight adjustments based on the dynamics of the scene? Leave the lavs recording on the ISOs but keep the faders down? My main problem with this scenario is that I can’t stand the thought of having tracks open that I can’t hear. How would I know if there are issues with these tracks? Do I set up a a monitoring situation where I can still hear the Lavs? Wouldn't this affect the quality of the mix? Maybe I don’t even need to use the lavs if I’m confident that the boom op/s will cover the scene? I can get my head around it more if the boom is in a less than optimal position, I would add in a little of the boom for air and then mix the lavs into the same track. In this situation how do you guys deal with phasing issues? My final question is about the structure of the mix, the Zoom F8 can produce a polywav with two mixtracks on channels 1 and 2 (L and R). I know in some cases mixers will send the boom to channel 1 and then a mix track of the lavs to channel 2 but whilst this seems useful for sound editors in post, it defeats the purpose of my mix for good quality dailies, a better experience for the picture editor and potential use in the final film. I don’t think that the zoom can be set to just produce a single mono mix track, if this is the case, and I want to produce a proper, usable mix, what do I send to the 2nd mix track? A safety mono mix at a lower volume? Do you use the pan control to set the levels here? I would really like to have my approach nailed down before I start the film so I can tell the DIT exactly what will be on each track, and keep it consistent throughout the entire film. Thankfully as this is a super low budget film it’s not a total disaster if I get this wrong, and I don’t think they are even expecting a mix, but I would like to use the opportunity to practice mixing and go beyond the expectations of production. Thanks again for all the great info on this site, I’ve spent many happy hours browsing through these threads and it’s great to get involved with some (hopefully not completely daft) questions. I have so much respect for you pros out there and I really want to honor the craft by giving us soundies a good name, and doing a great job on set. Any help on my journey is greatly appreciated! Peace! James x
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