Robert Li

I just literally then did a workflow test of my 664 with a red one mx we are going to use tomorrow on an ad + ambient master slate. Camera is continuously jamming to a lockit box, It is consistently out by 1 frame, no drifting after 5 minutes... hmmm... rejammed it twice and ran through work flow each time (ingest into edit). Wierd... edit: nvm did it with a dumb slate as well and it's bang on, just the display on the 664 is out by a frame oooooo display latency

This might sound stupid, but as part of the workflow test could you set the internal tc of the 664, jam the varicam to it (always been super iffy about using varicams anyway), do the 5 minute test that marc suggested then tether the 664 for the varicam and check it against the internal tc with the built in checker? Or is that pointless and the drifting has to do with the ingestion into fcp? edit: nvm lol

omg, this thread is so entertaining, corey just keeps giving! Is this still going? Or has the network canned it?

he says no flat day rates or rentals... does that mean 19$ hr is the whole cost? My goodness............

I dont really do post but I guess this is related seeing as I now do research at a university and i sit at desks writing for very very long periods. I now write with a pressure sleeve on my right forearm because of RSI, and I highly recommend you get onto an ergonomic chair quickly, I highly recommend the Raynor Ergohuman, saved my bum quite literally.

Resting the boom pole on the head during or between takes. Between takes, then bravo for dexterity, during takes, I would say, errr... Mind what you're doing there sonny, you need to aim that mic properly and i can hear that friction from the top of your head. Between takes I rest the boom pole on my shoulder mostly, I like the fact that it's rapid action to get it back up again. If someone is struggling with holding it over extended periods of time, time to work on some technique and endurance. I used to do boom excercises with weights at the end of my old aluminium boom pole at extension for jollies no joke Obviously for 20 minutes sit down interviews a stand is fine EDIT: I have been in situations on some doco shoots where they have continuously rolled for 30+ minutes at a time, at that point you just kinda have good technique, grin and bear it, and continuously mouth to the AD "when are we going to cut?!"

hard drives aren't necessarily infinitely reusable and degrade over time. Why risk it? I backup everything to reasonably small drives and then leave it archived, charging the cost to the production, and most are happy to foot the bill (it's not even 100$)

i didnt do the 48 hr this year after having done it for the last 3. I'm in contact with a pretty cool producer re: these things and he works out a way to "creatively pay me" a decent rate, but on the last gig the director was a bit of a nutter, and the lead actor was a douche. We had a great sound team of 3... which would have been awesome for 1, maybe two cam setup... but there were 4 units shooting simultaneously... yes... it did not make sense to me either. Safe to say, the end result was a mess. Too much footage and a schizoid final cut, it never made it to screening, even with the massive "creatively paid" crew.

Had no training watsoever in business management from the two universities i went to, but i've learnt the hard way and i just think its smarter, if you don't know, to ask business professionals i.e. my lawyer or solicitor or accountant, rather than screwing myself with shoddy contracts and ineffectively vague statements. I never do a job without consulting them if it gives me the heebeejeebees

as sean connery in family guy once said "25 no's and 1 yes is still a yes" haha, anyway, i've learned that eventually a producer who keeps saying no to quality technicians because of cost eventually has to say yes as the collateral starts mounting (extra work in post, unhappy clients etc), so, just keep asking for the right rate! you deserve it!

I rang through again this morning and guess what... the admin person who told me she would find the right person to call me back apparently never did... argh!!!! miscommunications! but here's the thing, should that be my fault? if the situation was reversed and the ad firm were billing my company as a client for work they had done, would they accept the excuse of "oh sorry, the person you sent the invoice to forgot to forward it onto accounts"? I am not so sure about that one. Either way, I will keep talking to them, no point breaking out the baseball bat just this moment.

nice post michael I am in the same boat, not a lot of experience, but, I found a really good attitude on set gets you a really long way. It especially helps me because I am pretty fastidious on set in terms of coverage, and being friendly with the grip/gaffer is awesome because they let you borrow all sorts of mounting equipment, and being friendly with the dp means you get some leeway in terms of lighting or any other sort of visuals I am a bit of a plant mic fiend haha typically run 8 channels even when theres little to get. and I always keep in mind runner / PA could be my boss next time so it's always good to cultivate good relationships laughing a lot on set also helps keep the work rolling over enjoyably

Hey guys, I'm not the greatest with all this business stuff, so I thought I would ask you guys for advice. The situation is this I am pursuing payment of an invoice for a new client (this was the first job I did for them). I checked late payment of commercial debts legislation in Australia and there doesn't seem to be any sort of legislation regarding how much to charge, or when it is appropriate to charge late fees. My terms of trade on the invoice state payment within 14 days and recurring interest thereafter to 28 days, after which I issue a letter of final payment. Is this unreasonable? Anyway, basically, I got this job from this production company/ad firm after being recommended by a fellow soundie, who they initially contacted. They made a big hullabaloo that I charged too much and that they could typically get a soundie for less that 250 a day, but I stuck my ground and ended up with 325 per half day basic kit included (this forum teaches you well although half day rates aren't ideal). All well and good. Or so I thought. On the day of the shoot (and it was a pretty simple one at that, but, hey including unloading gear, shooting and bumping out, it was still like 4 hours) it was pretty cruisy, but they made it well aware to me that they were paying me more than they would normally pay, nothing seemed awry and I issued the invoice that night. 10 days later I sent a polite email telling them that the due date for payment was about to elapse, and a production assistant got back to me about talking to accounts dept pretty quickly. due date elapses and I send another email telling them that late fees were about to be incurred. no response. call to the office and I get a "the right person will call you back" fob off, but the call was not forthcoming. It is now 28 days and I have never been in this situation before, as most of my clients are pretty good about paying me (I make it pretty clear upfront about the situation). They are a decent sized production company/ad firm, so I expected some delay, but they have less than 100 employees, so they can't be that massive, right? Am I being unreasonable/too harsh? Is the course of action I have taken too quick and severe? What should I do? I hate burning bridges. PS I still have that letter of final payment standing by, which is being checked over by the solicitor as of now

I am in love with my MBA 2011. First time ive loved a laptop since i've had a thinkpad x100. i have really specific wants, but for me the MBA is just the right size and lightness for me to carry around and use all the time, like an ipad, has enough grunt for basic audio work, and, with apptamer, gives me like 6 hrs of battery on the go, which is plenty (i usually only open it up during breaks). I have a mac pro at home for more heavy duty stuff, but that seldom gets used these days.

Too true... Just came off a set where cam dept had 6 people, I had myself and a rotating roster of inept boom operators because they were too cheap to hire my preferred boom op for the whole shoot. It didn't help that the DP... how can I say this... was a complete arse. He refused to talk to me regarding the two massive smoke fans he had placed on either side of the set 5ft away from what was being shot, to the point where on the second day, after telling the writer/director that this would be a very difficult post for sound, he avoided us altogether if the topic ever came up. He also liked to combine shots without telling anyone mid-take and turn a simple tracking shot into wide, deep, long, and overly complicated shot that required re-blocking on the fly, because, apparently, you should just go with camera when it (or he, really) is "in the moment". ok, rant over haha Hmmm... I try not to participate in camera sound wars, it works better when everyone is cohesive. Better spending a few seconds at the start of production explaining the menu system to an inexperienced AC than having that AC telling everyone else what an arse you are.

i wants to go to there - liz lemon might be too busy though booked out like crazy. hi rob! say hi to nat for me... im jealous of her boompole grrr

oh olle, bless. you sound a tiny bit depressed i started out basically doing anything on set, just to get my foot in the door before I settled into a role within the sound dept. I think its a good idea to know at least a little about all the roles on set just so you can appreciate the effort and the importance of everyone within the team. Means you don't take even PA's for granted (who, in my experience, tend to get the rough end of the stick sometimes). Of course, different jobs call for different personnel, and that has to be gauged when discussing the project with whoever your contact for it is (I accidentally went a little overboard with a corporate gig I did today just because we didn't communicate so well, me and the producer... oh well still got to charge for everything and it's better to overcompensate than undercompensate). In either case, my rule of thumb is that after I'm set to go, I ask other depts whether they need help before helping (sometimes it can be a hindrance for them, more than help), just in case, or I am asked first. Above all, while there is somewhat of a hierarchy on set, I treat everyone with respect. Case in point, the PA I met from a short film last year turned out to be the producer for the corporate gig I did today you never know where anyone will end up! oh, and btw, napoleon complex camera guys like the guy you described orion don't last long in this tight night world of ours (I can already think of one in my local market who is starting to get less and less work because of a similar attitude, despite the quality of his work... and he just bought an epic )

what the what?!!!!! screwed sound and its not even edited properly, oh hey lets cut every half second with no relation to the pacing of anything. THIS is the state of the media industry in Australia and fairfax and news ltd are STILL set to drop hundreds of jobs... basically, we are turning into the most uninformed developed nation in the entire world because of decisions made by higher ups like this: (producer 1) "Hey lets churn out cheap, crap and shallow content." (producer 2) "hells yeah! that means we don't need to hire skilled workers" (producer 3) "and we can still bung in advertisement revenue, because when everything is crap on the telly and internet, timeslot doesnt matter!"

lol this is amazing! how do i get one?

I think the idea is, its much more difficult to work your way up than you think. Once a precedent is set, and the word gets around that this is "your" rate, it will be very difficult for you to work up from that because a producer contacting you will assume that was what you will typically work for. You will have a tough time getting away from that assumption, as will the producers associated with you will have a tough time not assuming they can find sound recordists who will work for rates like that (which is where it starts affecting others). Typically, I make it clear up front when someone is discussing a project with me that the rate I am quoting them is such, and while they are trying to get a production up and running for as little money as possible, I am trying to keep my equipment in order and feed, house and clothe myself. They might be able to relinquish themselves of that production (although i dont say this to them), but I cannot relinquish myself from living essentials or my livelihood. This is especially important in these quiet times in my market and with anemic union support, as there is little left to erode and once it is all gone... it is gone. I am fortunate that I have been able to keep relatively busy lately while still charging full rate, so it is not like there isn't a client base out there, you just work your hardest to maintain it, and give them the best product possible so they understand, "ahhh, so that's why I pay this guy". I understand where some people come from when they say they dont have a choice, but I suppose consider charging more for less projects than killing yourself and charging less for more projects, or if you don't want to charge full rate because you don't think you can do justice to the work, then don't call yourself a sound recordist, and shadow someone until you safely can.

i think this was a case of tripping over dollars for dimes again but blergh what can u do, u work under the conditions u get and do your best! at least I had fun

So I just got off the set of a week long night shoot (argh my body clock is scrooooood!!) and every night there was a generator. I thought, fine, have to work with it, hide it behind some things, obscure the noise, get my big boy mic out, whatever I can to get as a clean a signal from the dialogue as poss (lucky I was good friends with the gaffer so he was more than happy to put it far far away from anything and get one of his boys to keep an eye on it, or put it in random places to obscure its noise). So, last day of the shoot and I walk onto set and think to myself, "oh boy, the generator seems a bit louder today for some reason". Turns out, they had to turned in the big 10k one and brought in three dinky 2k generators in... three!!! and because we were shooting in wide open spaces that night they were literally all over the place, you could not point the mic in another direction because you would just pick up the other generators! argh!!! (at least the crew was good natured and the upm was a warm drinks zealot, POWER ON!). My question is: what would you guys typically do in post to salvage this situation, just short of ADR? (although I told them ADR will probably be on the cards, the producer was, happily, understanding of it) PS I recorded a lot of it on the senny mkh8070 or 8060

Agree. My ambient boompole is built like a brick truck and rigid as a rock, but the locking mechanism leaves much to be desired. Got to try out my boom ops new panamic boom pole (she got for free... what the hell?!) and its pretty amazing. love the locking mechanism , and the thought putting in adjustable end stops.

When did the producers get it into their head the deferred payment is workable? I can't live on hope

... I would buy that