ve7kjr Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 A few stills from my class last week,on days 2 and 3 my students all got to boom some scenes from the other workshops that were going on in the studio . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Heath Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Great photos, It would be fun to get the chance to take a class on a fisher boom. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Looks like a good group of students. Except for one of them.;~) Is it fun to teach them? CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ve7kjr Posted January 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Thanks Colin, CrewC, Yes I had a good time teaching them on days 2,3. They were like deer in the headlights when they went on the Fisher to do a scene, so I would go up to them between takes and point out what they were doing wrong, most had a depth perception problem,with a bad rake angle on the mic and not folllowing the script. !2 showed up for the introduction class on day one, and six stayed for hands on days 2,3. Overall,I would have to say they enjoyed themselves (free lunch) and learned a gread deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Is your 3 day Fisher Boom program a regularly scheduled event? Are there even longer (4-5 day) programs out there? It seems like lots of hands on time would be needed to get any degree of proficiency on them... like anything, I guess. I am always in amazement when I see a master at work. Fisher Boom ops should get an advanced scale, IMO... MF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 There are no 4-5 day programs I know of. In fact, I think there are no programs at all except the one Phil just did in Vancouver and the ongoing training Local 695 provides In Los Angeles. In L.A., we ran some group sessions but we saw that people really needed solid uninterrupted time on the boom so we turned it into one-on-one training to make it a more concentrated effort and to address the different abilities each person brings. As Phil notes, some have issues with depth perception and mic placement while others fight the eye-hand-coordination thing. And yet others take to it quickly and move on to advanced stuff so the one-on-one training works really well. We also spend time with the Model 2 boom and Model 3 base, which can find a place on episodic and features. Those of you in 695 can contact the Local anytime to arrange a training session... and that goes for Sound Mixers, too. It's amazing how many Sound Mixers know so lilttle about this tool and how it can help their crew deliver better tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Miramontes Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 I just bought one of these. It does need to be restrung though. Do you have any recommendations as to where I can send the unit? I'm assuming Fisher might be able to do this but I figured I'd ask in case there was somewhere else. I'm close to L.A. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Fisher is the only place you want to have it done. If you're anywhere near LA, it would be crazy to settle for less. The guys at Fisher, Reno and Chris, are great and, more than just restringing it, they'll make the boom handle like new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ve7kjr Posted January 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hi Mikefilosa, No the Fisher Boom class is not a regulary scheduled event at my studio, however I'm thinking of hosting one again after we finish season 3. It was put together at the last moment so I didn't have a lot of time to plan everything out. Other workshops were going on at the studio at the time with Camera training / Multi-cam overview / AD workshop / Script workshop / Directors workshop. My day one (introduction) consisted of me talking for two hours about the history of JL Fisher and the fisher booms, different configurations , safety, mechanical operation and how everything works, pre inspection before operating and any maintenance the operator should due. Questions from the students were taken as I talked about each item. Just about all that attended had more than ten years experience working the traditional fishpoles on a one or two camera shoot, so sit-com,4 cameras and large sets and a live studio audience were all new to them. I then show them some of our large sets and explained how with two Fisher 7s One with a 20ft arm mine with a 26ft arm could cover the whole set with a large cast and 7 page scene. There is a lot of walking and talking on my show and we have to do a lot of hand-offs and fast resets on the booms to cover the scenes, Two Fishers and two good operators working together is pure magic and sometimes I think we make it look so easy. Like Laurence said " others fight the eye-hand-coordination thing" you will or should get to a point where you shouldn't even have to think about what your arms,hands, feet have to do to put the mic right where you need it. My first introduction to a fisher boom was in 1980, 32 years ago when we were doing a musical show with Tom Jones. The Fisher was just used for the chit-chat with the guest star and Tom. The boom had an 816 at that time. When I got a call for "Mr. Young" from the mixer who was a friend, I jumped at the chance right away. Laurence was a great help with any questions I had . I took upon myself to know the tool of my trade and to be able to fix it if there was a problem, after all JL Fisher was a two hour plane ride away and we could not have a boom out of service even for 15 min: on a shoot day. I have restrung my boom twice, added the extension twice and replaced the actuating cable once (think open heart surgery) All my finesse has paid of many times over, the studio knows that if there is a problem I can fix it and down till will be nill and I have become more confident knowing the tool of my trade. I'm going to attach one more picture of our biggest set,"the Quad" the picture only shows half the set, my arm is out there 26ft so you can see how far the mic is away from me and the need for very good depth perception. If my base was another 4ft forward I could carry actors all the way out the door down to the bottom edge of the grass with a pull back on the base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted January 29, 2012 Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 Beautiful shot of the big set, really shows in one picture, for anyone who hasn't used a Fisher, how wonderful it is to put the mic so far out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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