Marc Wielage

Avid loves to change things. 😣

More details on Deadline.com: Crew Member James Emswiller Dies After Fall On Set Of Tom Hanks’ Mister Rogers Film; Sony Laments “Devastating Tragedy” https://deadline.com/2018/10/you-are-my-friend-sound-technician-critical-on-set-fall-mister-rogers-1202481413/

Astounding sound -- very clean singing (for the live stuff) and every line perfectly audible. I think there were some issues with story, edit pacing, and timing, but acting and sound were nearly flawless. Beautiful color, too.

Good general book on the entire post process: picture, sound, VFX, color, final delivery... https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Post-Workflows-Techniques-Filmmakers/dp/0415747023/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1538191784&sr=1-1 I've been doing this stuff for decades, and I discovered there were still a few things to learn in this book.

I think multiple microphones might be a better way to go. Maybe a U89 close-up, and then a wider omni a few feet away in case it gets really loud.

I just did a spit-take all over my computer display. 😂

Thought @Jeff Wexler would appreciate this: They've having screenings of HAROLD & MAUDE at the Nuart Theater in Santa Monica all weekend, including the Jaguar hearse parked in front of the theater: This is a nutty, weird, wild, wacky film.

Kodak 7219 is pretty standard for Super 16mm shooting (at least, I know of a couple of TV series shooting on that stock), and I would put that right in the middle of that list. As Mr. Perkins says above, the automatic timecode syncing systems are not that reliable. Was the o.p. ever able to find out from the post people how syncing was going to be handled? When we were using Aaton (and the competing Evertz) system in the 1990s for telecine, it could work in real-time in telecine, but the problem is that most film dailies systems these days are all done with non-real-time scanning and data files. In other words, the whole "timecode-on-film" thing is like a 1993 idea, not one that is necessarily practical for 2018. I think this is a solution in search of a problem. Just tail slate it and don't worry about the film timecode. That would be the easiest solution. (But I also think a lot of producers and directors overreact to the idea of a slate at the head -- good actors disregard it and don't necessarily get upset or let the slate throw off their performance.)

Note that the Aaton timecode system is not necessary -- there is also a competing system from Evertz (from Canada) that works very well. However, quite a few companies doing telecine dailies these days convert all the film to data, then they sync the sound to the data files as a second step. Tail sticks are no problem in cases like this. I would use caution and do tests to make sure this works. I have seen film timecode systems fail in post about as often as they work (maybe 50% of the time), due to alignment problems, developing problems, and mainly because the camera crew is not paying attention to the timecode cable. When it works, it's flawless and perfect and pretty amazing.

Here's a link to an instruction manual to the Nagra III: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/mbrs/recording_preservation/manuals/Nagra III Instructions Manual.pdf I agree with the others who point out that finding parts for these machines to keep them running today is a challenge.

I believe the patent details are at this link: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9336307B2/en

These words should be engraved on a brass plate and mounted above the doors to every "film school" and college in America.

That DemerBox is a very clever idea.

Yes, I agree with what Jay Rose says above. I recently took a class by a post manufacturer designed to "train the trainer," informing us how to teach. Some of the people with me in the class were pretty lackluster as to how much they knew about the software, but when it came time to do a "teaching demonstration"... wow, they really knew how to teach. It's sort of like the difference between a guitar technician and a rock star: both can play the guitar, but only the latter can put on a performance. I had much more respect for the people who could teach after that experience.

Arri has finally introduced a 4K version of their popular Alexa camera. Note they are quoting the exact same specs for audio and timecode as the original Alexa cameras. And for sound, note the noise levels: Sound level ≤ 20 db(A) while recording LF Open Gate ProRes 4.5 K 4444 @ 30 fps and ≤ +30° Celsius (≤ +86° Fahrenheit), measured 1 m/3 feet in front of the lens Industry reports have it that Arri finally yielded to requests from users who needed to provide original programming to Netflix, Amazon, and other services that demand 4K (or better) material. Details here: https://www.arri.com/largeformat/