Marc Wielage

Cardioid lavs are kind of a specialty device and not used that often for dialogue. They're more susceptible to wind noise, and there's also the problem of the talent moving their heads during normal conversation. I haven't found they necessarily keep out more noise than other mics in noisy environments. I did find that they're sometimes better for resisting feedback in live stage situations, but only "somewhat," depending on actor's position. Audio-Technica, Countryman, DPA, Sennheiser, and Shure all make cardioid (and even super-cardioid) lavalier mics, but my advice would be to test them before committing to a purchase. You may find that noise-reduction in post or ADR are more practical solutions for noisy locations.

BTW, as an update, I delivered the "Get Well" card that dozens of attendees signed at the RAMPS/JWSound dinner at NAB a few weeks ago. (And thanks again to Michael Carmona for arranging that.) The Senator was very pleased and touched by the sentiments. He's still going through some health challenges but is getting regular care and is getting around on his own to a degree. I've encouraged him to consider commenting on JWSound directly and will continue to do so.

I will relay the messages! He is fairly chipper and I hope will be back to his irascible self soon.

I've been reading more and more about people using MIDI keyboards to "play" foley footsteps and other sounds for basically low-budget (or short-turnaround) projects. Obviously, nothing can beat actual foley performed and recorded by humans, but a keyboard-triggered sample is an interesting idea. Here's one company doing that: https://www.uvi.net/en/soundfx/walker.html

I can now report that Senator Michaels is fine. He had some health issues over the last few weeks (nothing major) and is now being checked out by physicians. The Senator should be back home early next week and will be able to respond to emails and phone calls.

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.