Martin Kittappa

Oh yes I can just imagine trying to justify that purchase to my wife...

They want everything in block 22 and they all have to be SMV? I would think that even those of us that have the number of wireless required available would have different blocks to have more bandwidth to find clean RF, and different types of transmitters to accommodate different situations. Why would production even care what blocks sound uses so long as the audio is clean? I think they will struggle to find someone with that specific gear even if they were paying a decent rental. I know I would have to sub rent in extra block 22s, so if that's the rate including gear being offered, then the sub rental that I would have to eat myself would mean that this job would end up costing me money. Another case of unrealistic expectations.

It does seem weird to me that Disney would consider using someone from outside of the locality they are shooting. I was booked on a Disney job by one of my main clients slated to be shot in Hong Kong and Shang Hai this year. Legitimate job at their new theme park that is being built out there. The production company submitted the budget and a week before I was due to fly out they had prepared the carnet with all my gear listed, and were awaiting final approval from Mickey Mouse corporation to book the flights and hotels. Then some bean counter at Disney decided last minute that they would only allow the producer and DP to fly out and they had to hire a local sound guy in China instead of bringing me out. I was pretty annoyed because I'd turned down a ton of work due to the fact I was pretty much certain I would be out of the country. The producer who I've worked with loads was very apologetic, but she couldn't do anything to change the minds of the powers that be. So much for the happiest place on Earth. It's sad, but one of the reasons I got into this line of work was to work and get paid to travel, until a few years ago I was working on projects all around the world. It was great we'd travel as a crew and work like a well oiled machine. Now it seems that budgets have got so tight I hardly get to travel on productions any more. They all want to hire locals. All the DPs that I work with say that they would rather keep the same sound guy than keep being matched up with different people with different gear everywhere they go. Many of the editors I speak to hate having deal with different peoples work, but the accountants insist on traveling as few people as possible and more often than not sound has to be a local hire.

It's not this show is it? or is it some copy of the same by another network? Either way it's new low for reality TV

We don't know who took the $500 all in job or why, but there are times when this could be a life saver. Not all of us have been around long enough to amass a huge savings safety blanket and life does deliver some hard knocks sometimes. Even those with savings could lose it all due to a major misfortune. If work has been dry for a while then $500 might be a chunk off the mortgage or rent, pay for that car repair, or get some supplies for your kids. I know that I have been in situations where even a lower paying job like this would have been a life saver for me. I'm sure others could also say the same.

The new iphone multi cam app. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/movie-set/id656381616?mt=8

I would imagine that if forced calls were illegal then most productions wouldn't risk them for fear of legal repercussions. (Though there are unscrupulous companies that pull all kinds of illegal stuff if they think that they can get away with it). I had one show where every day was forced a call. They had figured out staggering the actors call times to keep SAG happy. We had complained to the line producer a few times but nothing changed. In the end most the crew had enough and banded together. One night after a 15 hour day the call sheets came out with 6 hour turn around. Grip, Electric, Camera and my sound department made a decision to not show up for work until 12 hours had passed. Make up and art didn't want to rock the boat and so they didn't join us. The next day much ranting and raving and threatening to fire the entire crew, then the realization that to replace the entire crew would be cost prohibitive, things actually changed from that day on- we always got at least 10 hours and our days became shorter to accommodate the turn around.

I tend to think of the location scout being different to the tech scout. On the tech scout I'm going to detail the location and make a plan to deal with issues, because then the location is pretty much fixed. I am pretty much always invited to the tech scout. On the location scout I get to raise objections or concerns if that particular location is going to be big problem for me- I don't often get invited to the location scout, and when I do, I find that 99% of the time my concerns are noted and then ignored.

Yeah it's always nice to be invited on the location scout, but I often wonder they bother. Usually they've already picked their location based on look / availability / price (not necessarily in that order). Then the producer asks- 'Will that construction site / airport / other noisy environment, be a problem for sound? My standard reply is 'If you hear it then the mic's gonna hear it' 99% of the time it never changes their decision to shoot there anyway.

One thing about quotes is you are not going to list everything- lav bullets cables, connectors etc etc. Even if you go to a rental house more often than not the cables and accessories are just part of the package and not listed as itemized inventory. I think most of us would factor in the cost of all the accessories when figuring out the rental price for the large line items. And yes it's all in the negotiation. I liken quoting for a job more like dealing for a car where the price isn't fixed and hopefully you'll get to fair figure that both production and you are happy with, rather than going to the grocery store where you are just rung up at the register. The issue comes when you make a quote that you and the production agrees on a price for a package, and then afterwards you get a call asking for a wireless hop, or some other additional expensive piece of gear and they expect you to just throw it in for free. At that point you do have to draw a line.

No doubt the producer is adamant that lavs must be hidden.

Talk about tripping over dollars to save pennies- Just did a shoot today. Between the Mexican border and Canadian border there is 2000 miles of beach on the United States west coast to choose from. I get the call sheet and notice that they have picked Dockweiler Beach Los Angeles for their location. It must be because there is something visually specific to the shoot I think to myself, as I prepare for a a challenging day, because no one in their right mind would want to do audio on a beach that is right underneath the take off paths of LAX airport which has 73 aircraft movements every hour would they? Talk to the line producer- why this beach? Answer- Oh because it's the cheapest beach in LA to get a permit to film on!!! Really! I wonder why it's so cheap to film here. Idiots! Guess they can use the money saved on the location as a down payment on their audio post production!

This is a common scam with electronics, but first time I have heard of it with professional gear as I would have thought that most of us would be buying from known reputable sources. How the scam works is that an ebay store (Usually located overseas) sells fake stuff for cheap. even if 70% of the buyers return the fake object they still make a ton of money from the other 30% and because they are offering full refunds to anyone who spots the fake and returns the item it doesn't raise any flags with Ebay. The returned items will be re-listed for sale and eventually they'll sell to someone who either doesn't realize that they have a fake, or someone who just can't be bothered to ask for refund on such a cheap item. Why would a professional who relies on quality gear risk buying from a grey market seller? I have bought products on Ebay before, but the things I have bought have been from known sources that have an Ebay presence and not some random person / store that I have never heard of.

I have the Zaxcom stereo hop and on occasion I've had the same issue- in fact I started a thread about this very thing a year or two ago. The call went something like this- Production company: we have this shoot in a shopping mall. The camera operator has requested a wireless hop, we see from your web site you have one. Me: Yes I can add that to the rental Production Company: Oh I thought you'd just want to supply it as part of the original quote doesn't it make your job easier? Me: Yeah, but it's a $4500 piece of equipment. Production company: Well from our point of view it doesn't matter if you go hardwire or wireless as long as it sounds good. I then posted a similar question to yours to the JW group as I was thinking and feeling the same as you. See link here for the thread. As you can see from most of the discussion the consensus is that you shouldn't be giving away an expensive piece of gear for free as it will set the precedent. In the end I put the hop in my car and when I got to the shoot set up a hard wire breakaway on the camera. The camera op wasn't happy, but when I explained that production wouldn't pay for it he got on the phone to production and they agreed to pay a rental. (Tho I must add that haven't worked for that company since either, but I have got a ton of work that has come through recommendations from the camera guy so make of that what you will). The learn here was don't give give gear away and as long as you are professional and pleasant you can most likely get camera to fight in your corner with you.

Don't steal this guy's idea or he'll get VERY upset..... anyone feel like offering some sound help on this one? Hi everyone my name is Daniel and I have a reality show idea that will blow other shows out of the water. But, I need your help LA to make this happen. I need producers, writers and different people who are willing to work with me to make this happen, also will need someone to put up a small budget to make this happen. The show is a reality show called "The Shelter" where 7 homeless men or women who are recovering addicts or have potential/funny mental problems from the Skid Row area will live in a house for one month and their lives will be taped. On top of being taped the 7 candidates (I like to call them candidates) will be made to do household chores, interact with farm animals (not sexual), and even look for jobs. I would like to rent a nice house in the Hollywood/Silver Lake area too make this happen, and post the show on YouTube or even try and get it to the Fox network. I would ask that when you call me you would call with an open mind and as well DO NOT try and steal my show idea, I'm copyrighting this thing so please show some respect. My phone number is (213) xxxxxxxxx or email me xxxxxxxxxxx.com but please call or text, email if you can help out. Thank you and your generosity is appreciated.

Something to be aware of when updating the firmware is that many of the factory defaults get reinstated. I just got bitten in the arse after performing the update- I had left my 788 at frame rate 23.98fps from my shoot the day before, updated the firmware in the evening of that day and didn't realize that that the update caused my recorder Frame rate setting to revert to 30fps. Next day I thought I was recording the frame rate I'd left it at the day before, worked a whole day and uploaded to DIT before noticing that I had been recording 30fps all day. I then had to make a very embarrassing call to the producer. Thankfully I had the solution to my mistake by converting the TC rate using wave agent and then uploading converted files to post production's server. Of course production had to notify post to make sure that they used the correct version of the files (extra work for everyone). I think they were happy that I had taken it upon myself to fix the problem, but would have been better if the issue hadn't happened in the first place. Note to self- Never assume anything, double check all settings at the start of each day even if I know that I haven't changed anything since the day before. Always be learning from your mistakes.

When starting out look at the kind of work you'll be doing. Nothing wrong with renting gear in the beginning to get a feel for what's out there and what fits your style. If you drop $$$$$ on buying a piece of gear then you are pretty much stuck with it if it isn't quite working out for you. As for wireless, nothing wrong with starting out with G3s- You'll be able to afford more channels of wireless, and later when you can afford to upgrade to Lectrosonics, Zaxcom or 2040s you can re-task the the G3s as camera hops or wireless headsets so the money won't be wasted.

If your work is varied then you'll probably use the CS3e and the MKH50 in equal measure. The 50 is usually, but not exclusively my mic of choice for indoors, my CS3e is used mostly outdoors, but sometimes I'll swing it indoors- usually in a big conference hall where I'm going to need a little more reach. In my opinion, (and this is of course very subjective as everyone's work situations are different), I would probably purchase the MKH50 first, not as a replacement for the NTG-3, but as an addition to it. The NTG is a shotgun mic and would do an adequate job outside, and you'll have something better suited for indoor work. After that I would then look to get the CS3e as an upgrade to you NTG-3. In fact that's similar to what I did- I began using exclusively a Sennheiser 416 for everything, then I added the MKH50 to give me a range of choices and then bought the CS3e. I kept the 416 as a backup and I actually still use the 416 from time to time as my first choice as it is a great mic, particularly in humid or extreme conditions.

Amanda, Hi, You're also going to have to keep reminding people that you are here and available to work. Example if I had something big enough right now then maybe I would have invited you to shadow me for a couple of days. At the moment it seems I'm mostly on one man docs and reality and am not on the type of show where I am able to bring someone on, but In a couple of months time who knows. However the honest truth is that in a couple of months time if I do find myself on a show where I could have a trainee I am most likely to have forgotten that you are out there ready and willing. It's nothing personal, the movie business is such a transient line of work and people come and go all the time and so it is very easy to fall out of the loop.

Portabrace are very approachable. A quick email or phone call to their customer support and they'll give you all the options that fit your equipment. I'm sure that Petrol would be just as accommodating, though I can't comment as I have never dealt with their customer service.

I would guess that the issue would be in the cables that you 'jury rigged' I had a similar problem a couple of years ago on a show where I didn't have the appropriate cable to jam lemo to the Deneke SB-3 sync box that they provided for me (The one with the 1/8" socket to jam with). All T/C devices I own are ambient with the 5 pin lemo. I ended up jury rigging something similar to you and low and behold it didn't work. After the show I went to Wilcox sound (one of the usual suspects in LA) and had them custom build me a lemo to SB-3 input cable just in case I have to use that particular sync box again. (I haven't had a chance to use it yet- All my recent shows have used my ambient box). Anyway the point is you'll probably have better results in your iphone endeavour if you get a custom built cable- It actually wasn't that expensive either. The advantage with this is you have one connector at the source and one connector at the output and that's it. No mish mash of connectors and cables to check to figure out where the signal is being disrupted.

The Invision has three posistions for the lyres to be attached. I have found just adding a third lyre in the middle is a good way to support heavier mic/ softie combinations. It's worked so well I figured I'd just keep all three lyres on the invision mount all the time so that I have the option to slip the softie on and off at will and not worry about the weight. The extra lyre makes no difference to lighter mics without softies. I get little or no handling noise with it no matter what mic, foamie or wind protection I use.

Yes I saw this posting too on Staff me up. The sad thing is that this site used to be realitystaff.com and the postings were normally fairly well paying reality show gigs. Now it's been taken over by Staff me up, the level of service has gone down. When it was realitystaff there was the ability to customise cover letters etc for free, but now those features are part of a paid for add on premium service. Also I'm finding that now that there are an increasing number of crappy 'Subway Tuna' gigs appearing. It will probably end up becoming yet another CL or Mandy

There are a few things I've done where I wish I hadn't seen the finished piece.

Richard... what 168s have you done? - I did Stained, Up in the air and Refuge. I think I'm pretty much done with 168s now though- time for something different. Also thanks for showing off your cart at the CAS event- Great set up!