radio mic used in water...100% waterproof

[lee kelly oz]

hi guys.

im hoping someone might be able to offer me some advice with a job ive got at the end of this month.

im going to be shooting some surfing in HUGE waves and the director wants me to be able to capture good sound while the surfers are communicating and co-ordinating their towing (on jetskis)

ive seen many scenes where the recordist has been able to capture sound with radio mics used in splash proof bags etc BUT for my gig id need a 100% watertight setup that could possbily get wiped out by a 20ft wave.

sound impossible huh? well it has been done on this directors last shoot doing the same thing however the recordist is located on the other side of the planet to where we will be shooting this new film and i cant seem to contact the guy!!

my idea was to have my transmitter AND mic head inside a mini pelican case like youd put an ipod into with the mic taped to the inside of the box to avoide it rattling inside and get it as close to chest of the surfer as i can. i know the sound will be muffled but it will be dry and safe.

other than that im stumped for ideas that wont ruin my gear if it does go under a wave.

as you can see i need ideas ha ha thanks in advance. 

[John Steigerwald]

Hi Kelly,

Read THIS thread.

See if that helps.

[Doug Brandon]

Hello LKO,

Check out the link John recomended, these seemed like good suggestions. I was the boom op on the replacement sound team (first sound team had a prior engagement) for the to be released surfer film 'endless bummer'. Most of the surfing scenes had been shot by the time we got there.

I strongly recomended my mixer use the lectro 400 and b6 with the 'condom'. A few days before the shoot we found out they were only doing a few lines with no 'hard action' surfing, more or less just sitting on the boards. The mixer decided he didn't want to put any equipment in harms way unless he had to. We ended up booming all the scenes with me balancing in a nearby raft (my very own boom operator's raft complete with union marine-grip operator and personal diver to keep the boat positioned and steady while shooting. I've got a photo somewhere, I'll post it when I find it).

A mixer from one of the bay-watch years recomended I keep the antennea's high on the body to limit its time under the water plane when they did go in.

You might want to do this: just in case we decided to use the transmitters, I purchased a torn, used wet suit earlier that week ($25) and cut out many different sized strips and pocket sized patches. Because the studio costume dept owned the actor's suits, we were given permission to glue pockets into the inside back of the wetsuits between the shoulder blade area (I purchased some black neoprene cement made for wet suit repair). We were also thinking of gluing a small strip on the inside of the front after pushing the mic through a small cut, thus securing the mic in place while all the surfing/moving around takes place. It would have made the mic kind of permanent until we cut it out in the end. We never had to do this as the boom was working out just fine, successfully positioning out the coast guard hellicopter training up the coast to the north, and LAX airport to the south.

I recently attended a crew/friends test preview without any ADR or color correction and was amazed at how well the boom worked.

BTW, I called K-tek (I had recently purchased a new long pole) and the rep assured me there would be no problems with the pole regarding the sea water and corrosion. She went so far as to say, send it in and they would re-furbish it if necessary. Nonetheless, I took it entirely apart within an hour after shooting and washed it thoroughly. No problems so far.

I wish you the best, let us know how things go down (not into the ocean, I hope-ar ar ar).

Doug

[ILavLA]

Remote Audio has a waterproof box for transmitters.

The link is below

http://www.trewaudio.com/waterbox.htm

John

[FSBELLA]

hey guys,

who ever made it out to NAB this year, and visited the Rycote booth. on the other side (behind the new shock mounts) there was the VOICE TECHNOLOGY display.

little story here- I approached the man (his name escapes me now, but I have his email and info at the shop)

after the goodmorning handshakes and the nice to meet yous., I somehow said the word water resistant. he boldly responded. " do you really need water proof or resistant lavs" and is there really requests for this". almost egging me on, I was taken a back at first, thinking there was some sort of confrontation coming. when to my suprise, he quickly whipped out a small dvd player and promptly played a extreme reality show that used the lavs primarily. it was a show with handicap participants along with guides. there mission, going down huge white water rapids, ( the strongest rapids,- forgot the term right now, but grade or stage 5) or bad ass rapids that knock the shit out of you.

one of the handicap riders, fell over board and was completely under for several seconds, ALL of which was recorded perfectly from the MM400'S along  with the

voice technology lav. it almost sounded like a hydrophone. there was that fast curerent underwater sound and the yelps from the rider who went overboard. he played it back several times and the more he did the more I was impressed with this lav.

I have had it in rental for some time and now I understand they to are water resistant or maybe even proof.

they look like a tram, but smaller and sound good. I will check the email and try to post the show name. and the sound mixer who used them.

[FSBELLA]

scott,

damn you are fast. I modified my typos etc. 2 times and you posted a reply.

thanks for the link.  but yes indeed, that is the gentlemen from

VT and yes sir that is the lav.

I will email him, and ask him to put that little take from the underwater scene.

thanks.