Tales from the Green Side

[atheisticmystic]

1-Finishing up a low-balled sound gig on a TV pilot where lots of thought and money went into nearly everything within the well-written and well-acted script by an accomplished and talented director except what equipment was necessary to get good sound. When the UPM wouldn't budge on price, I gave him a kit list of what I would bring for that price...2 channel recording, no TC, a boom and 2 G3 wireless kits, no camera hops, and when asked for options, I include the search for someone with a bigger kit who would work for what they're offering. I discuss the script with the UPM, explain the inherent limitations of a restricted kit, he doesn't know what the "free prototype"cameras will be, I forget to ask the shooting style, the producer OK's the kit list, and I find myself neck-deep in a "wide and tight" shoot, struggling to keep a mic on every actor, and the director, producer, and DP asking me questions about why I wasn't jamming TC, sending a scratch track, or wiring every actor.

The producer and editor take me aside yesterday and tell me they've listened to the sound files, are extremely pleased, and tell me I'm doing "hero work" with just 2 channels. I of course consider everything I've read here and wonder If I've somehow fucked up by making it work for their shoot, knowing how much better It could have been with a little planning, communication, and not that much more gear, and sending them on their merry way to the next unconscious sound decision.(I read it here that "low-ball" gigs force you to record bad sound.)

2- I get so nervous wiring up a well-known actor whose work I've admired, that I pull his fucking chest hair with double tap in front of the entire crew... instantly crushing my mojo and putting him in a foul mood...humiliating.

3- I ask the 2nd AD to ask the "pregnant actor" if she is OK wearing a wire (I read the thread here and thought I'd give the option). When he asks "which one" I incredulously tell him the only actor here who looks like she's suffering from Kwashiorker. He comes back saying "of course".

I later wire her up and during the process tell her that my girlfriend just found out that she's pregnant and that we're very excited. "Thats great" she beams and asks me many friendly questions.

When I ask if this is her first, she replies "First what?"

"First baby" I state with the now creeping and familiar mojo-crushing gravity from earlier.

"Pregnant?...this is a prosthetic, I'm not pregnant"

I am reminded sometimes of that "demotivational" poster with the bow of a half-sunken ship jutting out of the water with the motto...

"It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others."

Be warned,

Steven

[ProSound]

Sounds like your doing a great job without any production support at all and for someone with limited experience you should be proud. It has been a very rare moment for anyone from production to come up to me and compliment me on my audio tracks. Usually no news is good news from post production, only time I usually hear from post is them bitching about something out of my control.

Wiring actors especially difficult ones is a art form in itself. I am good at wiring people but take comfort on features that my crew has it highly refined into a art form. It also helps to build your lav rigs ahead of time if possible and to be very confident when your doing it. It also helps to have the on set dresser assist you especially with female talent. It also helps if the talent are use to being wired and know the drill and pretty much do all the work for you and even know that after lunch they will need a battery and come to the sound cart before going to set. Hang in there you will be fine

[MatthewFreedAudio]

I have also run in to jobs where the script really called for many more wires, iso channels, and a whole lot more gear than what was budgeted. Occasionally I have had luck getting the budget increased but usually the conversation ends up being "this is what I can do for your budget, this is what we can capture, this is what WILL suffer, etc."

It is very frustrating when people on set start asking you why you aren't jamming timecode, wiring everyone (which is always your call, not the DP, or anyone else) not providing a timecode slate, the sun, moon, and a few stars. They frequently don't understand how expensive each of those items are to buy and/or rent and that production didn't want to cough up the needed money to ensure they get proper sound.

However, the fact that they pulled you aside and complimented you on the audio, in spite of being short handed with gear, is a good sign for you. Hopefully they don't take the attitude next time of "gee, in the past we paid XYZ for everything so why can't you do the same?" Even though the shoot could be totally different and have different needs.

If a production doesn't have much money I see that as just fine, so long as they understand they will not get all the bells and whistles they otherwise would if they had a proper budget.

[Eric Toline]

Before you break your arm patting yourself on the back for getting what they call good sound under less than perfect conditions consider that those complimenting you might not know good sound from A Subway Tuna Sandwich.

Eric

[atheisticmystic]

Thank you Whitney and Matthew, and to Master Eric who has answered more than one question of mine...I will remember to be humble. Although Im reasonably confident that self-congratulating is NOT the tone of my post.

Now that I think about it, I should have posted this in the Daily Journal huh? See...greener than I pre-freeze-dried pea with all of it's Vitamin C onboard.

Best,

Steven

[jason porter]

"greener than a freeze-dried pea" I love it.

[Eric Toline]

Thank you Whitney and Matthew, and to Master Eric who has answered more than one question of mine...I will remember to be humble. Although Im reasonably confident that self-congratulating is NOT the tone of my post.

Now that I think about it, I should have posted this in the Daily Journal huh? See...greener than I pre-freeze-dried pea with all of it's Vitamin C onboard.

Best,

Steven

Has nothing to do with you being humble. You have to consider the source of the compliment. Based on your description of the project and how the client views the importance of quality audio, compliments from them about your work should be taken with a grain of salt.

Eric

[Marc Wielage]

I am reminded sometimes of that "demotivational" poster with the bow of a half-sunken ship jutting out of the water with the motto...

"It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others."

I'll buy that on a T-shirt!

Sounds like you did do heroic work under the circumstances, Steven. I think that's all they can expect. I agree 100% with Whitney's comments above: getting costume people involved with wiring the talent can be very beneficial. I'm keenly aware that there are very few people who actually lay their hands on the actor, and I'm very cautious about invading their space except when absolutely necessary. The Lectro SMs and Zaxcom wireless units have the advantage of letting you turn them off from a distance, which is great for the actors' privacy and saving battery life. Actors love them.

The "hairy chest" case has been dealt with in past discussions; there are not a lot of solutions aside from shaving, changing the mike position, booming, or even considering a wind-resistant mike cover, which might buffer the shirt and the hair. In other words... punt! Somebody here had a story within the last year about dealing with an actor twice, and on the second shoot, he had already carved out a spot, knowing from experience where the mike was going to go! (But then you might have to deal with the potential noise of stubble, which is also bad.)

I have wired up pregnant women before, and I always tell them, "this wireless unit puts out about 1/10th as much power as your cellphone -- you'll be fine." And I keep it away from their stomach (like that would make a difference). It's worked so far. Wiring kids up is more of a challenge, especially if they're squirming and running around. Gaffer and/or transpore tape, plus Neopax elastic wraps, help immensely.

--Marc W.

[atheisticmystic]

I hear that Eric, I will, and I STILL dont feel I was...well...

Copy that Bossman.

Best

[Marc Wielage]

Hey, you know this business is 90% illusion. If they think you did a good job, then you did a good job. If their perception was positive, and you had a good attitude, to me, that's most of the battle.

--Marc W.

[Olle Sjostrom]

Green side! How I loved my being green days. When I got to fool around and blame it all on being green

Jokes aside, this work is not so much solving technical issues as it is solving social and human interaction issues, IME.

You'll be fine, just listen to what your ears tell you and don't be a jerk. The latter is the hardest part.

[studiomprd]

" If a production doesn't have much money "

I get the feeling this one had some money,m just spent it elsewhere (or kept it!)... SAG actors, DGA director, and an experienced enough DP to ask about the usual goodies of a better funded audio package...

BTW, when they start asking those questions, refer them to the UPM.(just ysay: "You'll have to ask the UPM about that".

[atheisticmystic]

Olle, it does seem the critical factor, and combining your input with Eric's... perhaps they wouldn't know good sound if it was sampled up their ass at 196k , but they liked that I wasn't a jerk!

Matthew and Marc, thanks for the virtual encouragement!

Senator you're literally "right on the money" ...I think I heard the figure of 50k being bandied about for the five day shoot with all the factors you correctly identified. But even with that, I felt that the experience was equitable for me because I learned so much.

Thanx for letting me debrief ya'll!

Steven