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View From The Office:


Philip Perkins

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Last November, I spent a week in Turkey, and 2 weeks in South Sudan. 11 planes, 2 helicopters, and a boat.

 

Istanbul. My kind of love at first sight.

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A couple of days of shooting, then a flight out to Ankara, the capital, then a flight back to Istanbul. I wish we would've had more time. It's an absolutely fantastic city, though a bit crowded.

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I did bring back home a box of Turkish Delights to share with friends.

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Not nearly as sweet as they appear. Instead, many subtle flavours in every bite. A delight indeed.

 

Juba is the capital of the youngest country on earth, South Sudan having declared its independance in 2011. It's peaceful now, but tensions are still high. Our hosts strongly advised against talking pictures while travelling in the city.

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We spent our weekends in the compound of the NGO Nonviolent Peaceforce, and flew out to shoot during the week.

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I had a small first world problem with my room.

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Then, a few nights at the Wanjuk Hilton.

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With bucket showers...

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And this...

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It was in no way my first experience with a squat toilet. Travelling the world has opened my eyes to the different ways of doing things. And if you add the population of China, India and Africa, it's clear that this is the preffered method of the majority of human beings on earth.

But why? Why would you subject yourself to acrobatics first thing in the morning, when a simple wooden box to sit on would achieve the exact same result? I'm so convinced of my opinion, I'm ready to yell it out. When it comes to toilets, THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE WRONG!

 

The first night, I was woken up by sounds of munching in my room.

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With headlamp on, I opened my door (to give the intruder an easy way out), and with boompole extended, I chased a rat from my room. The next morning, I witnessed the devastation; the bastard found the rest of my Toblerone.

 

A lot of discussions.

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Note the ERX velcroed to the back of the monitor of a bare-bones C300. In the words of the DP: "Génial!"

 

Lunch. 

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Those aren't mashed potatoes, by the way. I never did find out what it was, but I'm pretty sure you could caulk a window with it.

 

Company move.

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Two days of camping in an IDP camp. Internally Displaced People, in NGO jargon. They were chased out of their villages, but remained in South Sudan. A refugee would be one who has crossed an international border.

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Twin urinals.

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And yes, it smells just as lovely as it looks.

 

Stereo ambiences.

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Cattle ranch.

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At the beginning, I mentionned a boat.

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But not on just any body of water.

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We spent 5 hours cruising the White Nile.

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Here's one for Larry.

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Another IDP camp.

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Jackpot! I've got the princess suite.

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Flight back to Juba, and then home.

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A few days after our return, we got these pictures from the camera rental house. It appears we brought back a few stoways.

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What's bizarre is that I didn't have a single one in my kit. Even more bizarre, there weren't any in the camera bag. But there were so many on the camera, they ended up sealing it in a plastic bag with ant killer.

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The camera is currently at Canon getting checked out. I expect production will be getting an additional invoice.

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Here is a show I designed last semester, I just saw this thread and I don't know if you guys are into theater but it was a great show. Coverage was tough in the round with all the walls and the large beam in the space, but I had a great Meyer system UPAs, UPJs, UPMs and older apogee subwoofers. If you are interested in checking out more we had a talented student video documentarian. The videos are much more interesting than my photos.

 

http://growcloser.tumblr.com/

 

 

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Hey, Philip, you're my hero --- few of us here have the experience of such a wide variety of jobs as you have had and continue to have. Your posts are so valuable for all of us, giving insight into all types of work mixing sound, valuable especially for those who find themselves in only one specific type of work.  Thank you, as always, for being an active participant on JWSOUND.

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The end of my "whiplash week", back with the train wreck known as The Great Wall Youth Orchestra, again, year 5.  This experience much improved over previous years: we had more adult supervision (esp. ace TV director Frank Zamacona and TD Dave Lezynski), and the orchestra folks listened to us during rehearsals a bit more than in the past.  But always, last minute curve balls, dead channels and singers with tiny voices in front of a 100 member orchestra.  Big thanks to Young Will who came out of retirement to help the cause, and to Russell and Miguel from BBI who tamed the feedback and hum monsters.  Other improvements: old school wired TC + genlock for cams that would take same, as opposed to flocks of DSLRs and flaky TC Buddy feeds to iDevices as TC slates, pot pies from the Bakery Cafe in Oakland for dinner: the highlight of the evening says me.

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