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The person who says anything about women and strength in relation to boom operating is the person who also thinks that a boom operator is "just a guy with strong arms who can keep the mic out of the shot." It's an insult to the craft done beautifully by both men and women.

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The person who says anything about women and strength in relation to boom operating is the person who also thinks that a boom operator is "just a guy with strong arms who can keep the mic out of the shot." It's an insult to the craft done beautifully by both men and women.

True. 

CrewC

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+1 to RottenCarcass

 

The only dumb comment I've heard re: women doing production sound, is not from a soundie, but from a producer who opined that women don't work sound because they're too weak to boom. As happens, the first time I worked with a woman was on a European production, and she could boom longer/better than the other guy on the same production - and I conveyed that information to the producer, who shut up at that moment. Bottom line, you may encounter fools, but it will rarely be a fellow soundie. I'd encourage you to go into what strikes your fancy, and don't worry about the occasional foolish person; when you do good work, your reputation will follow and you won't have any problems.

 

I am about 5 ft. tall..and I do my push-ups.  I second boom fairly frequently and while I do feel that being small is a disadvantage to booming exterior full stick, I know I can hear a sweet spot and I would take me over a less experienced strong guy. It's not all about strength, but in the narrative world, I find I have hesitated to take first boom work because I am afraid I won't be taken seriously outside of my department...or that the  situation will come up where I just need a few more inches or a few more minutes of shoulder strength. 

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+1 to RottenCarcass

I am about 5 ft. tall..and I do my push-ups. I second boom fairly frequently and while I do feel that being small is a disadvantage to booming exterior full stick, I know I can hear a sweet spot and I would take me over a less experienced strong guy. It's not all about strength, but in the narrative world, I find I have hesitated to take first boom work because I am afraid I won't be taken seriously outside of my department...or that the situation will come up where I just need a few more inches or a few more minutes of shoulder strength.

Wow, 5 feet! That makes me feel like a giant at 5'5". Do you bring something with you to stand on for when the shot is too wide and you're not tall enough?
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The person who says anything about women and strength in relation to boom operating is the person who also thinks that a boom operator is "just a guy with strong arms who can keep the mic out of the shot." It's an insult to the craft done beautifully by both men and women.

 

+1

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Here's my graphic illustration to illustrate my last post. Jack Hill, the other boom op is 18" taller than I am! He makes it look easy:)

Thats such an awesome pic !

Incidentally, I'm not quite 6'1", and Im on top of my boom box, ladders, etc. on a regular basis.

It's way more than heighth.

best

PS Personally, this industry could stand a little more "progress" IMHO. There are many days that the conversation is no better than a construction site.

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Here's my graphic illustration to illustrate my last post. Jack Hill, the other boom op is 18" taller than I am! He makes it look easy:)

That photo is great. And don't hesitate to take 1st boom op work that comes your way. If you know how to put the mic in the right place at the right time, that's what counts.

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+1 to RottenCarcass

 

 

I am about 5 ft. tall..and I do my push-ups.  I second boom fairly frequently and while I do feel that being small is a disadvantage to booming exterior full stick, I know I can hear a sweet spot and I would take me over a less experienced strong guy. It's not all about strength, but in the narrative world, I find I have hesitated to take first boom work because I am afraid I won't be taken seriously outside of my department...or that the  situation will come up where I just need a few more inches or a few more minutes of shoulder strength. 

 

Being taken seriously...that can be a tougher nut to crack than you might imagine. Daresay it has less to do with gender or height than with attitude.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Kind of curious about your screen name Lauren.  You a banjo player?

My long Italian last name is often hard for people to spell/pronounce. In sixth grade, everyone in my class gave each other nick names. Some kid called me "Banjo", and it stuck. So I've been using "Lauren Banjo" as my stage name and "professional" name ever since ("professional" in quotes because I just graduated college last week and don't have a career yet, but I use it for any project I'm credited on). I figured it's easier for people to remember. I am a musician that plays quite a few instruments, but ironically, the banjo is not one of them. 

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Good to hear all the news.

We have a few in New Zealand that I have encouraged

My dear Wendy Adams is now the queen of reality shows

We meet up for a lunch once a year for lunch and do war stories.

Having taken her on as a trainee 15 years ago she is now a very experienced professional!

Our women camera a/c's here are also so good without the ego of male counterparts!!

mike

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Our women camera a/c's here are also so good without the ego of male counterparts!!

mike

​I've noticed this too about female A/C's. What I don't get is why the camera dept. always feels like they're the alpha males on set? I find myself having to "piss on their leg" as soon as they start giving me crap so as to let them know not to mess with sound! Things usually go a lot smoother between our departments when I get this ritual out of the way. LOL . It's nice not having to go through all that BS though when dealing with a chill camera dept. 

Anyways, I do think we need more sound chicks in the mix. Sure would be nice to go to a soundie gathering that wasn't just a sausage fest. haha

 

 

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I must be a lucky citizen.  Most of the ACs I deal with are pleasant, cooperative, team players -- both male and female.

 

​My experience too.

I think unpleasant AC's or anyone unpleasant on set may simply be too young to have the brain space to be pleasant; it's hard to be sweet when you're scared poop-less. That or they decided at one point that being mean was OK. I was a horrible person at work for a long time. I'm a much better asshat now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you allow me to be sexist for a moment and make a generalization, I think it's just that women tend to be wiser than us men and choose professions that make more logical sense, leaving the bunch of us idiots here to make much ado about microphones and potentiometers. Welcome to the stupid club.

LOL! Tom, that's hysterical. I laughed out loud. I love the Stupid Club, then.

Truly though, this board is far from a Stupid Club (I know Tom only meant that tongue-in-cheek). Though there might be a few who post somewhat brazenly here, this board is only intelligent and kind, and accepting of others. I'm a geek, and I love the challenges and adversities of gathering location sound. Geek is international and genderless. I worried about all that stuff too, but when I've opened my mouth on a job, seems people respect and listen to me. I'm very thankful for that.

To me, JWS represents the leading edge of the sum of all sound department knowledge. There must be collectively, about 1000 years of awesome sound experience here, starting with the RAMPSters. Wish I was here, then. My first real sound job was Burning Man '97, but like others of us, I've not worked consistently the whole time. I was an Avid editor (medical) for seven years before I saw sunshine again.

I feel that boom operation is more about stamina, than strength. I don't workout. Anything ~ no matter how light ~ gets heavy when held overhead for a period of time. When I've run out of stamina for those few moments at the end of a long scene (I cheat If I can), there are techniques I employ to give the front arm a  rest (how many have desperately rested the boom on their headphone strap, carefully, to gain a 30 second respite for that front arm?).

Big welcome, Laurenbanjo. Love the pseudonym, and you've found the right place to be.

Edited by Rachel
fuzzy math
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Well, we have our personal sound department apple box, but since booming often requires freedom of movement, I don't use it as often as you might think.

+1

I carry a few of my own full apple boxes. I sometimes lay out a little 'track'. I put them on sound blankets to keep them quiet on uneven surfaces. I'm only 5'5" (and shrinking).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey Lauren!

I realize I'm a bit late, but I figured it couldn't hurt to put in my two cents, haha. 

As a woman sound recordist, I have never had my gender prevent me from getting a job or result in someone questioning my capabilities. If anything, people are enthusiastic about me being in the sound department, and make comments about how there should be more women interested in our industry. Also, it's a true statement that most women and the parents of children do prefer us to lav them over a man (it's just how it is). Anyways, I wouldn't be worried about being a female breaking into the location sound industry if I were you. Most of the mixers, boom ops, and utilities that I've worked with are very welcoming and amicable, and almost every single one of them will be willing to show you the ropes and give you advice when you need it. That's another thing: don't be scared to ask questions. If you come across something you haven't seen before, want to know their tricks, or they ask you to do something you don't know how to do, by all means ASK! It won't affect your credibility, I promise. That being said, everyone will hold you to the same expectations as any man, so if you can do your job and do it well, you'll be golden. 

Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk! 

Cheers,

Katelyn

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  • 4 months later...

Haven't been here in a while; thanks everyone for your replies!

 

I met up with @Jan McL last weekend and we did a workshop about trying to get more girls into the STEM fields. They got a huge kick out of singing songs and doing pretend interviews into the microphones, and trying to hold the boom pole. It was around 32 girls total over two sessions; we hopefully inspired at least one of them!

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