Q

1) It sounds like the mic doing the recording is not actually attached to either of them, so this might have nothing to do with the sound team. 2) Live TV is not controlled like the narrative stuff most of the folks on this board work on. 3) Spies?

If you just need the occasional extra channels, 7000 series machines can daisy chain together and be rolled from one machine. I have noticed some good deals lately on 702t and 744t machines. This will make your rig much larger, but that might not be an issue if you are on a cart.

If you can find a table pad there is no need to drill holes in the table to run wires. With a table pad under the table cloth you have both a place to run wires and a method to quiet table noises.

I believe it was Duke Ellington that said, "If it sounds good, it is good."

Very nice!

They are commonly called "crutch tips" or "chair tips" depending on the size.

Once more ... it depends on the device. I have set up many that are precision machined bases with precision bearings, nylon guides, spring bumpers, tension adjustments, etc. I have also seen some that are nothing more than skateboard wheels on a couple of pipes. The good ones are very expensive, and very quiet.

It depends on the device. In my grip and dolly days I set up many that were silent, or at least much quieter than the camera fans.

You can bet he will plead to the court to allow him to work shortly after he gets out. Will probably claim some sort of hardship, inability to provide for his family, yada, yada ...

I put one on a dog. We wanted sounds of the dog barking and whining but all he wanted to do was attack the boom.

Basically, the National Weather service gives names to hurricanes to make them easier to track. They do not name winter storms. The Weather Channel started giving names to winter storms in an effort to increase ratings. They realised their ratings go up when a tropical storm gets a name and they are hoping the same will happen with they give a name to winter storms.

Here's another vote for the MKH 50. If you are patient you can find used ones, but they don't come up very often because folks that have them don't seem to want to get rid of them. Don't forget to budget for shock mount and wind protection.

We saw the movie a couple of weeks ago, and really enjoyed it. Great job to all who were involved.

They don't have timecode, per se. But, didn't I read that they have the ability to set time on one unit and then sync other units to the same time? It isn't frame accurate, but close enough. I suspect that is the "virtual multitrack" part of the equation.

I was production manager at a Fox affiliate a few years back. They wanted all reporters to shoot their own stories. I can't count the number of times reporters came back with crap audio because they refused to mess up their hair with headphones!