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- 6 replies
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Hello everyone, As you know I am the developer of Boom Recorder. I am thinking of advertise my product in a magazine. Could you tell me which magazines you are reading. I am also looking for a good general film production magazine for me to just read, as I am trying to make my own independed science fiction movie. And as it will be the first movie I will write, direct and finance I need all the help I can get. Oh, and a couple of weeks ago I had my first Boom Operating job, that thing is quite heavy after a while, and the mixer wasn't that light either. I just hope the sound is ok. Cheers, Take
Last reply by Steve Eagle, -
- 17 replies
- 2.9k views
How do you work on insert cars? Do you work inside the cab with the driver or do you work on the truck outside with the director and script supervisor. While I was in New York I was introduced to putting my sound cart on the back of the truck. I had for years worked in the cab, cramped and cozy, this method requires considerable setup but allows the mixer some area of quiet space. Now, with shooting schedules being so tight they want to shoot almost immediately after finishing the car work. Do other mixers just put their carts on the truck and work from the outside?
Last reply by Coleman, -
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I would really appreciate help in trying to find these guys -http://www.coffeysound.com/investigation Have any of you ever seen them before? The guy with the goatee may have had a full beard recently. Please e-mail me privately off group at jcoffey@coffeysound.com
Last reply by old school, -
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Hi All !!! Great place Jeff !!! Alan Chong
Last reply by soundtrane, -
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I've noticed lately that I've kinda reached my limit in the types of jobs I'm getting. Small Indie films (under $5mil), ENG day work (Oprah, HGTV, etc.). What I'm wondering is does anyone have suggestions on how to step up to the next level such as getting a series or even a job as a 2nd on a feature (even sound PA). I'm sure I could beg but I'm looking for a better way. I'm also finding that most of my clients have the notion that what I do now is all I do. THanx, Marque
Last reply by marque, -
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I've been reading "old schools" post on being a boom op before a mixer, and this thought came to mind. I have been doing "sound" for 15 years. Professionally for 7 years. Started out editing on real-to-real, moved into production sound after school. First job was as a boom op for a 4 day shoot, in windy locations, and holding an mkh70 all day. Almost made me NOT want to be a boom op. Next 7 years, I was doing it all, ENG, Booming, Mixing with and without boom ops. And the last 5 years I've been mixing exclusively. A local sound mixer, and good friend, asked if I'd be interested in booming for him for a small commercial. I said yes without any hesitation. When I got to the…
Last reply by Michael P Clark, -
- 17 replies
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I'm hooked on this show (it's about the dangerous conditions in the Bering Sea during crab season). Anyway, let me tell you, if you watch it, I assure you that you will never complain about working conditions again. The camera guys on that show are working in some very dangerous conditions. My question is, does anyone know what kind of mics they're using? It appears that they are just using camera-mounted shotguns, but you so rarely see the camera guys in the shot that it is hard to tell. And, generally speaking, the audio is amazingly good considering the conditions and the camera mounted mics. If I had to guess, given the conditions (very wet, rainy, cold,…
Last reply by John Blankenship, -
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Hi everybody, I was catching up with a friend of mine the other day who happens to be a manufacturer. His name is Danny McKinney and his companies are Requisite Audio & Standel. I know him from my music days. Anyhow, Danny makes great gear. Requisite has mastering quality limiters, pre-amps, and cables for sale. Danny's also been working on some moniters and he also has thoughts about boards. Standel, of course, has been around for ages (Danny bought the company) and offers amplifiers that guitarists seem to love. You can check out both companies at http://www.requisiteaudio.com/ The point of this is that while talking with Danny I asked when he…
Last reply by Sara Glaser, -
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The series I am currently working on is block shooting episodes. They would like it if I kept the shooting days in seperate folders. For example day one on episode 601 may only have two scenes and then we move to episode 602. If I only use 1.2 gb in a 4gig folder I am waisting allot of hard drive space. Has anyone tried the new variable folder software and are you having any problems with it? I am on 2.27
Last reply by Sound Intuition, -
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I'm sure Wolf is but anyone else? Which will lead me to my next pint... errr... point. Larry
Last reply by Sara Glaser, -
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Welcome to Sara Glaser. I should know these things since it is my Discussion Group, but it Sara our first woman on board here? I remember Louisa signing up but I am not really sure... in any case, welcome! - Jeff Wexler
Last reply by Sara Glaser, -
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Hi. So, I'll be interested to hear what folks have to say about this: We're loosing our RF space every day, and I guess we'll loose almost all of it by 2009 when the good old FCC makes 1125 lines of Vanna White (digital, for those of you who haven't heard my rant) mandatory. I'm currently on a show in Van Nuys. Last October we shot at this location and I was able to find decent space for all 7 of my block 27 and my 2 block 28 Lectros. Came back this past week and did a scan and, lo and behold, most of the space was GONE. I called Lectrosonics for help in coordinating the 8 frequencies I needed but found that three of the 8 were almost unusable. I've finally…
Last reply by Jeff Wexler, -
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Although the US military has never had a 6th star (5 stars are for Fleet Admirals and General of the Army of which there are none now) the French have the 6 Star "Marshall" rank. So if it's OK for the French...I propose that we award Jeff Wexler a 6th, Honorary, Star for all his educational work. BB
Last reply by Philip Perkins, -
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I have removed all of the posts regarding the need for a "sound consultant" posted here. I do not believe there was any malicious intent with the original post but the subsequent postings by others seemed to get way out of hand with escalating misunderstanding and misrepresentations amongst the participants. I felt the best thing to do was blow it all out, let the dust settle, and then if the topic is brought up again we'll see how it all plays out. Thank you for your understanding Sinceely, your host, Jeff Wexler
Last reply by larry long, -
- 36 replies
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I think we can agree that ALL of the equipment that we use on the set is important, and it is of equal importance that we fully understand how everything works and what to do if any of it stops working. I came into this industry and specifically into sound, not through any formal training in electrical engineering, audio or acoustics, and pretty much had to learn all the technical stuff "on the job." Even to this day I fall into the category of someone who knows and understands a whole lot of technical stuff but from the perspective of its practical use. Don Coufal, my boom operator for the last 28 years (actually, for almost the whole of my career) spelled out what he…
Last reply by larry long, -
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I am hoping someone might be able to clarify the intermodulation specs that Lectrosonics gives with it's wireless systems. Is it only an issue when blocks are next to eachother(ie. block 21 and 22, block 26 and 27)? or would it encompass ALL the blocks in a bag(ie 21, 26, 27)? I have one in block 21, two in block 26, and one in block 27. When coordinating frequencies among these blocks, am I only limited to the actually presets that Lectro has in their Frequency Chart? This seems to narrow the frequencies available down to only 8 usable frequencies in a block. Only 32 available according to this concept, negating the other 224 available frequencies. I am sure I am not und…
Last reply by SoundHound, -
- 3 replies
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Yesterday on set I was booming two actors and started hearing this ticking noise. At first I thought it was one of the actors watches so I asked for it to be removed. Still hearing the steady tick tick tick I was a little stumped before one of the actors mentioned that he had a artificial heart valve, but had never had a problem with a boom picking it up before. He said sometimes that lavs did but that could usually be fixed by placing it on the other side of his chest. Unfotunatly with the time availiable I couldnt really try any other options except moving the mic, which didnt help cause I was still picking it up when micing the other actor 2-3 feet away. After we…
Last reply by SoundHound, -
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Do mixers who work in film or television face situations where an actor or personality wants to use a particular microphone because it flatters his or her voice? Do you ever proactively decide to experiment with microphones with an actor to see what might be most flattering? Are there other things that you do, at the recording rather than post stage, to model/flatter a particular voice?
Last reply by SoundHound, -
- 3 replies
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OK you geeks, Jeff This forum rocks ! Better than Ramps for me. I've seen some great peeps here, lotsa good folks, Great info. I'm so grateful that we as sound people in all fields can share info without a cut throat mentality. I know many people in all different aspects of film that are so envious of us , that we have forums that we can share information with each other and the manufactures first hand. Is it because we are sound guys? and girls? We are true geeks? No one has this kind of open forum. I guess RAMPS started it all for us. Anywho I'm about buzzed and all of my professionalism has been drinkin' really heavy white Russians. …
Last reply by larry long, -
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hi,  i am mostly into doing production sound for Docs and Televison and gradually moving into doing production sound for films  would like to know from all whether it is very distinct, as in some people do only production sound or post or both,  are you expected to do both(production and post) or may do only production and not do post  i was told by some friends(who work in both) that the post crew are not very accomodative of production sound guys and try to run them down,  hope they are wrong  how does the production sound guys tackle these issues (with the directors and post people etc),or any similar people in the post chain   what are the adva…
Last reply by Philip Perkins, -
Pay rates
by Guest repete86- 8 replies
- 2.1k views
I'm just a beginner in this trade with a little experience and not alot of gear, but I think I'm getting better. In addition, I know some people who want me to record on their sets. So far I've only recorded no/low budget student films and one no-budget feature, but the project that's coming up this summer looks will be a paying gig (hopefully unless the finding falls through). How much do you think I should charge as a competant but not great non-union sound mixer? I will rent some equipment if the budget allows, but does anyone have any advice as to how much I should think about charging? Thanks, Pete
Last reply by Bartek, -
- 3 replies
- 1.4k views
Hi all, A quick question here...I was watching Garden of Good and Evil recently, and in the courtroom scenes it looked like they were using a Schoeps 641 as the podium mic for witnesses. On thinking about it, I thought this would be a great idea, because the mic is very well placed (or can be) and gives another fairly clean audio source. So, what I'm wondering is, in general, does sound approach the art department or does the art department approach sound in a case like this? Thanks! Phil
Last reply by SoundHound, -
- 3 replies
- 1.6k views
There are a lot of 442's & 302's out there and I'm wonder how all of you are using your limiters. Where do you set them for digital vs. analog cameras (yes analog is still used)! I understand that SD used a 20:1 limiting ratio which is pretty much a brick wall peak limiter, where as the typical reality Wendt X5 has a soft knee limiter which begins limiting at +8dbu and can still clip the mixer or recorder if pushed too hard. How are you guys peaking with your SD mixers in relation to your limiter settings ?
Last reply by SoundHound, -
- 2 replies
- 1.2k views
I was working on a scene last night on a Indy feature where the actress had a very very soft spoken line of dialogue. I was using a 416 overhead no more than 2 feet. I had to open the mic up far more than I wanted to just to get the meter barely moving, hearing a lot of system noise. I guess my question is should I be opening up the mic that much to get more level on a quiet scene or leave it be low and have barely any level registering on the meter ? Im new to the more dramatic and intricate dialogue of feature work. Rob
Last reply by SoundHound, -
- 0 replies
- 1k views
hi,  i am mostly into doing production sound for Docs and Televison and gradually moving into doing production sound for films  would like to know from all whether it is very distinct, as in some people do only production sound or post or both,  are you expected to do both(production and post) or may do only production and not do post  i was told by some friends(who work in both) that the post crew are not very accomodative of production sound guys and try to run them down,  hope they are wrong  how does the production sound guys tackle these issues (with the directors and post people etc),or any similar people in the post chain   what are the adva…
Last reply by soundwiz,