WhyOne Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Finished a pilot recently (didn't get picked up...) that required two days of shooting car2car (how netspeak!), with one scene car2car2car, where the director (sitting in the rear of the rear car, with camera operators in every car - hiding)) wanted to be able to shoot whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, no room whatsoever in any of the cars for sound, with all of the chase vehicles being sedans with tinted windows - at high speeds with stunt drivers in all of the surrounding cars. A separate meeting for these scenes was held after the Production Meeting where the DP described his vision, and when the group turned to me and asked how in the world was I going to get sound, I was able to tell the DP that my approach for sound on these scenes would leave him completely free of sound worries. The instant he stopped jumping up and down with joy I turned to the producers and said, "You need to know it won't be cheap...," so the cost of extra gear got approved even before principal photography started. Decided to use multiple 788Ts, one per vehicle.788s were in pure solid state mode (internal SSD w/internal and external CF). Planted COS-11s/SMVs over each person in each vehicle (thank you Joe Michalski and Steve Sollars), transmitted to receivers in each trunk. each mic was ISOed (trimmed a touch conservatively) and each car/788 had a "rough mix" track. IFB transmitters in each vehicle tuned to different freqs in the same block allowed the "rough mix" in each car to be scanned on IFB receivers. Used open tc slates on the floor of each vehicle for the operators to scan at the head and tail of each. "Rolled" all machines while loading up, turned them off and spot checked when we stopped. While I was chasing (in a lovely benz sedan!) the scrict sup and I could listen fairly well, but some times the cars raced over a quarter mile ahead of us. Since the SMV freqs were mirrored by my cart's venues, the scene where cars stopped and actors started talking in the cars then got out and talked were coverable by my cart rig. Worked like a charm, cut like butter, and even the shots that were just grabbed were good, thanks to the wonderful cam ops scanning the slates. Jay Patterson, CAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris McCallum Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Major achievement! I am very impressed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 " I love it when a plan comes together" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean McCormick Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Thanks for posting this and congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G Murphy Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Good stuff! Thank you for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordi Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Wow... I am so not worthy of the awesome amount of ideas I may have to steal from that. You REALLY advanced the skills of our craft with that setup. Can I be your FNG / cable rat someday so I can learn directly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 " I turned to the producers and said, "You need to know it won't be cheap...," so the cost of extra gear got approved even before principal photography started. " this is what separates the professionals from the wanna-bees! with enough time, and enough money, a good, skilled, experienced technician can and will make it happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Nice, well written explanation to a complex shooting style Jay. Thanks. I've done similar Car2car shots but never Car2car2car... Crazy. Every time I shoot car2car or insert car to picture vehicle not towed, I put a recorder in the car with matching TC to my main recorder and transmit back from the recorder in the picture car to me on my cart for a dallies mix whenever possible. Shots like these are when I really would like recording transmitters like Zaxcom has. Too bad about the pilot not being picked up. Next time. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whit Norris Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Very nice Jay! Well done. Thanks for sharing your plan. Whit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McL Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Hot, Jay. My eyes, ears and brain are burning. Lectro IFB's? -- Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyOne Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Lectro IFB's? -- Jan Jan, All of the radio gear used in these set ups was Lectro. SMVs & 411s for the short hops from cab to the trunk, T4s for the IFBs. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyOne Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Shots like these are when I really would like recording transmitters like Zaxcom has. CrewC Crew, While I agree that the Zax innovation of xmtrs that record is absolutely brilliant, the elegance of using the 788s is at "cut, print, wrap" one just pulls the CFs and goes home! No downloading, file management necessary. Well almost... The next morning I transferred all files recorded on remote machines to the "program" or "cart" recorder's internal SSD for archiving. The internal SSD of the 788 is a job saver; to be able access any file recorded on a project in just seconds, when one gets one of those phone calls from post, is golden. Is it true that Nomad has no internal storage, other than the removable media? Haven't been paying attention... Too bad about the pilot not being picked up. Next time. CrewC Yeah... It would have been a hard show, though. Picked up a full season of sumpin' else instead.... Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Arnold Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Absolutely fantastic! I'm curious about one thing - you seem to indicate that the Cos11s in the cars were plant mics. Were the actors wired as well? For when they got out and talked? James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Is it true that Nomad has no internal storage, other than the removable media? Haven't been paying attention... Jay Nomad, like Fusion, has only solid state (CF) storage, in basic configuration this is 2 CF cards, 1 is the primary "drive" and the other is a secondary (mirror) drive. The primary CF card is considered "internal storage" and the secondary or mirror drive would be considered removable. They are both, in fact, removable, but access to the primary card is behind an access door while the secondary card is "external" in a regular card slot out in the open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyOne Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Absolutely fantastic! I'm curious about one thing - you seem to indicate that the Cos11s in the cars were plant mics. Were the actors wired as well? For when they got out and talked? James James, Yes, yes and yes. Though it was overkill, for the "exiting" shot both actors were also wired, but with the exception of one line (delivered by an actor walking around the car) the exterior shot was carried by a CMIT. All coverage was on the CMIT (still tracking the Lectros, of course). And yes, I always prefer the sound of a well placed "plant" mic in a car as opposed to a body rig. In addition to a little more "air," a well placed plant saves the perspective clues that reinforce realism. In my opinion, plant mics should always be oriented "tail-to-camera" so that voices will be a touch more "present" as talent turns towards the camera. Call me "old school" (apologies to CrewC!) but accurate perspective clues help sell the illusion of being there. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Great post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 " accurate perspective clues help sell the illusion of being there. " another quotation (w/ credit) for my classes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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