Dave Pullmer

I may have the opportunity to record the audio of a First Nations sweat lodge ceremony on a documentary Ive been working on, and wanted to see if anyone has advice for what mics to bring for these conditions. The lodge is about 9ft × 9ft, a dome structure built with branches and covered by tarps. There's a pit in the middle that is filled with red hot rocks, and eventually water is poured on it creating alot of moisture in the lodge. We participated in the sweat lodge ceremony our last time up, but didn't document it. I've seen in this thread people have had success letting their mics warm up with the room, but I still feel hesitant about leaving 416 in there with the amount of moisture that is released. I'm leaning towards a waterproof solution, or perhaps non lubricated condoms over the shotgun... Any suggestions would be welcome, as recording in a sweat lodge would be a first for me.

Copy that! thanks everyone for weighing in on this

To clarify - are you suggesting bill the overnight flight as 1 travel day (full rate) and the shoot day as usual - totalling 2 days?

This seems like a fitting thread for a question I have on travel days. How do you bill your travel days with overnight flights or travelling the same day as shooting? A client of mine may have a 1 day shoot where we'd take an overnight flight (5 hours), arrive at our destination in the morning - shoot for a few hours and fly back in the afternoon/night. Im used to breaking it down when a travel day is its own separate day, but this one's got me a bit confused. Any tips?

Shooting a doc up in Alert Bay, British Columbia. It's supposed to be summer up here but we've got high wind and rain!

Appreciate the responses. Funnily enough I daycalled on a show yesterday and the mixer had a pair of the 550s - I took a good look and the size didn't bother me at all.

Ah cool. Yea I've found the 7506s to be 'harsh' at times aswell. Seems like there's a little trade off with size/weight but that may be well worth it for the ears.

I've been thinking about switching up to a new set of cans. Im using the 7506s for bag and assist/utility work, but have been interested in the ultrasone 680s or beyer dt250s after reading people's experiences of less fatigue on the ears after a days work. Was curious if you had any insight on how bulky the ultrasones may be compared to the 7506s. I've seen a few on different mixers carts but I'm curious if anyone's putting them to use for bag work. Going to try and track some down locally, but any insight would be appreciated in the meantime!

Hey Cian, look into applying as a permitee for our unions IATSE 891 and ACFC West. Feel free to message me when you arrive if you'd like to grab a coffee. Cheers.

I think it's common practice to do so, if that's what best suits wardrobe. Often I'll check with talent to see if they have any preferences of what tape is applied to the skin as a courtesy. As far as chests with a bit of hair go, I've still had success going to the skin... For REALLY hairy chests I've been meaning to add a chest strap to my kit as a 'hail mary' if nothing else works, or carry some under shirts along to go between layers. I worked on a show last summer where one of the actors had alot alot of hair, so our make up dept would prep an area on his chest with a gel of some sort (I cant remember exactly) that we could apply the wire too. Yay teamwork! I like to take it case by case and try to gauge what they're comfortable with.

This is great! Was trying to find out how to make customizable shortcuts on the 744 then stumbled upon this. Perfect.

I got a pack of hush lavs a while back but I never find myself grabbing them out of the wiring kit. Perhaps because of their size. I've preferred using an overcover for the same effect. Ive been meaning to try a hush lav on the TX antenna for separation from the skin though!

More of the same over here. Keeping this little go case in the bag with me. One thing I can't do without though is chewing gum (not pictured!). I'll always pick some up before a gig and when working with other mixers I'll keep a stash in the wiring bag.

Nice work! This looks awesome

+1 Totally depends on the AC and their preferences. Though I've generally found on smaller shoots when working as a omb, camera ops are happy to give me a few minutes to set up tc / hops (I'll always refresh myself w/the camera manual beforehand). Working as an assist on union shows Ill just hand our tc boxes and jammed slates to the camera dept. I try to make a habit in double checking that the tc readout on camera matches the slates just to be sure. The main thing is to be flexible :-)

Shooting by the water tonight here in Vancouver. Enjoying the last hour of sun!

I don't think the product came to fruition. Saw this on their FB page a week ago - https://goo.gl/2mXBQ8

I've been a happy tentacle user, fits my needs at the moment. Havent had any issues with them. The camera dept loves how light / small they are, but its looking like alot of the current tc options have that covered now :-)

Hey Philip - I pm'd you with some options. Hope that helps.

Using the 744T onboard power at the moment with Sony L batts. It does the job just fine with battery changes at lunch, but I've been looking at Audio Root for my first BDS system to give me room to grow, and simplify power management down the road.

Copy that - thanks. Thanks for the info Rachel! It sounds like the 49Wh will definitely cut it. I am planning on upgrading to the 633 when the time is right, but for now it's helpful to know I'll be covered either way - and can lighten the bag a touch.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. Yep, I find myself taking the 302 out of the bag when I can (even if it's just for a couple scenes), and really enjoy working with only the 744 in my bag. This is good food for thought.

Hey Philip, Wanted to see if you could point me in the direction of any outboard accessories you mention with the 744 I could look into for improving workflows. I've been through the manual several times and have found the machine's output and track routings to provide a good amount of flexibility for my needs at the moment (using a 744/302). I'm sure I'll find more ways to modify the set up as gigs call for them, or as I dive into the manual again haha. Would be interested to hear from your experience.

Hey Rachel, I'm curious as to what type of bag you're planning on powering with the half size 49Wh batteries? I've been thinking about going with the Audio Root system for my documentary kit (744, 416, 2 wires), and would also lean towards the lighter 49Wh option if they would suffice.

+1 for the 744. It's bulletproof. I went with a used one for my first recorder purchase and couldn't be happier with its performance. Sure, you may need a higher track count at times - but I've found the 744 to satisfy a high percentage of jobs I've been taking on, and have been renting a 633 when it's necessary.