Responsibility of the Sound Crew

[Jeff Wexler]

One of the most important topics covered by Don Coufal's outstanding "What Is Good Sound" lecture recently presented by our union, Local 695, was the responsibility of the sound crew. Many times Don made the statement that on every movie, from little projects all the way up to major movies with a crew of hundreds, there is really only 3 people on the movie who are the guardians of the soundtrack. We hope to put up this lecture, along with many of the other events we have held, on the Local 695 website.

In the meantime, I was pleased to go to the website of one of our members here who goes by the moniker "curleysound" (and hasn't yet actuallty formally been identified). I hope curleysound will not object to my posting from his wsebsite, his own personal mission statement of sorts, that sums up in many ways the spirit of how many of us approach our work.

from curleysound's website:

I keep in mind constantly, that I and my crew are responsible for the quality of half of a complete film.

A high quality production track is the first step to a high quality final sound mix.

Anything but the best crew and equipment will cost you valuable time and money in production and post.

I consistently update my equipment to stay on the leading edge of professional audio technology.

My approach to production sound is simple. I analyze each shot as it comes. I choose my setups based on what is best for the film (not what is fastest or easiest) at all times. I try to consider what will help the editor have a simple and logical work-flow, and advise production on how to best take the sounds I record efficiently into post to save time (and money) and maintain the quality of the original master throughout. I look at what each camera sees, and what the actions, and dialog call for. If the script notes something I will also take this into account. I then assess the environment, and decide if, and how any offensive noise can be eliminated, or deadened. I then assess the room, or environment, and apply all of these factors to my knowledge of accoustic science, and to the individual properties of the equipment I use. I then decide how to actually mic the shot, and tweak these setups as things change.

I don't consider this a job, but an adventure that I get to embark on every day. I love what I do, and it shows!

 

[Doug Brandon]

from curleysound's website:

I keep in mind constantly, that I and my crew are responsible for the quality of half of a complete film.

A high quality production track is the first step to a high quality final sound mix.

Anything but the best crew and equipment will cost you valuable time and money in production and post.

I consistently update my equipment to stay on the leading edge of professional audio technology.

My approach to production sound is simple. I analyze each shot as it comes. I choose my setups based on what is best for the film (not what is fastest or easiest) at all times. I try to consider what will help the editor have a simple and logical work-flow, and advise production on how to best take the sounds I record efficiently into post to save time (and money) and maintain the quality of the original master throughout. I look at what each camera sees, and what the actions, and dialog call for. If the script notes something I will also take this into account. I then assess the environment, and decide if, and how any offensive noise can be eliminated, or deadened. I then assess the room, or environment, and apply all of these factors to my knowledge of accoustic science, and to the individual properties of the equipment I use. I then decide how to actually mic the shot, and tweak these setups as things change.

I don't consider this a job, but an adventure that I get to embark on every day. I love what I do, and it shows!

 

I admire the ring at the end of curleysound's reach, and I especially like the first statement with the words "I and my crew," however (having never worked with curleysound, and that curley may be burley, I surley don't want to offend) I do notice this to be the last mention of the crew. What happened to the team? I hope they survived... "the wrath of curlysound!"

(coming soon to a theater near you)

gosh, I hope this doesn't piss anybody off

[Jeff Wexler]

I admire the ring at the end of curleysound's reach, and I especially like the first statement with the words "I and my crew," however (having never worked with curleysound, and that curley may be burley, I surley don't want to offend) I do notice this to be the last mention of the crew. What happened to the team? I hope they survived... "the wrath of curlysound!"

I did notice that the statement did turn a little bit too "mixer centric" to my way of thinking, and I did consider RE-writing his statement to change certain things, but I still thought it proper to post his statement since the spirit of the statement did encompass a lot of the things that matter to me.

If it does spark something in others, maybe there will be some more inspirational statements that can come out of this. Isn't that what discussion is all about anyway.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[old school]

Hey all, greetings from So. Cal. I don't know curleysound, or maybe I do, hard to say, but I agree with almost all in his mission statement, except that it is a job, and like all jobs, we must be able to walk away from it no matter how much we love it. Maybe I'm reading between the lines....  I suspect that when curleysound writes I he means We? who knows? the curlman do.... Have a great day...

Old School.....

[Doug Brandon]

Hey oldschool,

I suspect you're right about curlysound meaning WE when he says I. I've done some quick researching on the fellow and he seems to be vary caring and concerned about what he does––with his life as well as his work. It looks like he's been on a number of one man sound dept. routines and therein lies the 'I' of 'we.' I wouldn't doubt he's a good guy to work with.

Doug

[curleysound]

Hello all,

  Jeff, thanks for the mention, and the kind words all around. I'm glad to see that my statements ring true with professionals of your esteem. As it says on the web site, I love my job, and it shows. I think that it's important to be passionate about what you do, or there's no incentive to excel. There are certainly "Hell shoots" but the thing I enjoy about this business is that I am never bored. There are always new and different people to meet, and new locations to visit. I've travelled to many of the most beautiful places in the world, on other people's dime, and had access to places that many people dream of. After five years, I'm still technically new to town, so I'm sure much more will follow. I hope everyone else finds something about their career as exciting as I do.

  Speaking of "I", the use of "I" in place of we is true in both ways. I have worked on my share of one man band shows, and shoots where the boom operator was whoever they could find for (insert insultingly low rate here). In this realm, the knowledge of sound, and boom techniques frequently ends at "Point it where the words come out" so it does become an "I" situation. That being said, I have worked on a couple of bigger shows too, and always consult with the whole sound crew. I try to be as knowledgeable about every setup as I can, and what better way than to have 2 extra sets of eyes, ears, and 2 extra lifetimes of experience to feed off. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to be sour to your team, especially when it's a fun job, we're pretty much the smallest department on set, and you have to work closely with these people for a month or more at a time. Who needs drama?

Now shameless self promotion time...

  I have been mixing in LA since 2001. I was a broadcast engineer in Albany NY before then, and NABET had us do the live news audio two days a week. I got into sound during my time there. In early 2001, I took a hiatus to work on "The Time Machine" where I got to work closely with David MacMillan, who taught me a lot of what has become the basis for how I approach this career. If you don't know him, he's a terrific guy, and a pretty darn good mixer. I joined the 695 in 2002, and, sadly, have only one IA feature, and quite a few days on ET and The Insider to my union credit. The rest is non union, which I'm not thrilled about. I'm supportive of the union, and I hope that with the release of "D-War" coming soon, my ability to book more union shows will increase. D-War shot in LA and South Korea in 2004, and has been in CGI post since then. It's supposed to be out this Thanksgiving, and is boasting itself as the biggest budget Korean film in history. That film is actually being audited by the IA, because they signed the "Under $10M" contract, and recently boasted a whopping $145M budget. We we're a little surprised to see live tanks, 200 extras, 2 supertechnocranes, spyder cams, and all kinds of other crazy stuff on what was supposed to be a little movie, so hopefully they will own up and pay us the back wages we deserve. I am presently working at "Current TV" which I have tried to get IA to organize, or at least pester. I have passed out flyers, and spoken to several IA people about the network run by Al Gore that has not lifted a finger to support the union. Anyhow, I'm returnign to location sound work this February with an HBO documentary series on a man who is attempting to swim the entire length of the Amazon River. Hopefully he doesn't get eaten!

If you don't know me, I hope that this forum can serve to fix that. I look forward to learning and sharing here.

Best wishes to all,

Tom Curley

www.curleysound.com

<img src="http://www.curleysound.com/images/gallery/tank.jpg">

Boom Operator Keith Birchfiel, Mixer Tom Curley and Utility Derrick Cloud on the set of "D-War"