Simon Koelmeyer Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Hello All, Came across this article which resonated deeply. http://www.dailymail...-inaudible.html No idea who recorded it, but I've got a deep suspicion it was an excellently recorded shoot featuring mumbling and whispering actors ? Wondering what kind of psychology you sound mixers are employing these days to coax more level from actors - or to get directors to ask for more level from actors? Currently recording a 2hr 1850s period drama for British tv which is often a 'whispering contest'. On at least 30% of scenes I'm running Audio 2040 radio booms with the TX pack on '7' and the AD149 gain pot at around 3-4 o'clock to get dialogue occasionally peaking at PPM 4 (for those unfamiliar with the kit - i'm saying that i'm at the absolute limit of what the kit can do) On one hand, I realise its none of my business to ask an actor to change an artistic performance for me - but on the other, as a recordist on set, I'm simply a service provider with responsibility to the persons paying my wages and it's incumbent upon me to deliver them the best product I possibly can - and If I have to upset an actor's ego…..so be it. On second thoughts, perhaps it is, quite literally, my BUSINESS (which is at risk)?? There's a fine line to be walked between those two areas and I'm interested in opinions from overseas as to how you approach this problem, which, I'm sure, is worldwide. I've taken to trying to explain that if the actor is using 10% of the available dynamic range - then the rest of the dubbing/re-recording mix must subsequently be bedded in under it - it all becomes a strain to hear - consumers/the public turn up the volume on the TV - (and additionally as a result the public then complain the adverts are therefore, comparatively too 'loud' - {cue discussion on 'loudness'})...….and sometimes articles like the one above are generated which reflect negatively upon their product/programe. Here, the audio has taken a beating - and the audio team, of course, are probably not actually responsible. I guess (again) that perhaps it's a case of the director not listening to the pleas of the mixer for 'more level'…... I don't work in movies where the dynamic range of the performance can be exploited in a proper listening environment. I work, generally, in (low end) TV, where the programme is watched on a 32 inch TV in the corner of the room. All input appreciated. Hope all busy SK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonicparticle Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 I've stumbled across exactly the same problem: I was booming on a film but the main character was a seasoned TV actor. What I deduced from the experience was that TV actors are used to be radio mic'ed 99% of the time, hence the dynamic range has never been a consideration, at least to this actor. What I did was to immediately make the director aware, I made sure that he is radio mic'ed all the time and I carried on holding the stick. But also, I appreciated the actor's vocal nuances of the character and his use of dynamic range. It's all part of the performance and my thoughts were that I my role has to cater for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pindrop Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Very interesting questions, I agree about a 'whispering contest' where one actor can set the consequent level for several others, and in a less than perfect location whispering means the background noise, traffic, planes, generators etc. obviously become increasingly obtrusive. I think it's nearly always not necessary to whisper at such low levels and that intimacy, lethargy, fear, timidity etc. can often be assisted in being communicated by body language, looks, pauses and timing etc. without risking the dramatic effect by simply not being heard. It is drama after all and the intention is to communicate something to an audience (the actors could even be saying pardon!, speak up a bit! if they didn't know the script already and it was real), and if the audience is struggling and finding it frustrating to actually hear what is being said then something is wrong. The article in the Daily Mail might have some use in raising the profile of the issue perhaps- "Viewers of the BBC2 adaptation of Parade’s End have complained that they could not make out a word the actors said in pivotal scenes." ‘I couldn’t hear what the main two were saying 80 per cent of the time. They barely moved their mouths!’ this really cannot be the result of a very experienced sound department listed on IMDB doing a bad job I would have thought ............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 " sound mixers are employing these days to coax more level from actors " not too many, since this would be directing! the OP is correct in implying we need to get the director on our side... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toy Robot Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Have to have the director on our side for sure. Can anyone say Comtek? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundmanjohn Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 I've been away from home for a while, but recorded Parade's End and watched the first episode last night. Personally, I had no problem at all with the dialogue or with the M&E balance which can often be off-putting. The cast is packed with first-rate actors, many of whom I know well from my theatre work and all of whom have excellent projection and diction. I suspect that part of the problem is that the dialogue is written extremely naturalistically, but is quite dense in content, this being a Stoppard trait anyway, and the book is, by all accounts, also fairly intense. Probably just too many long words for the average Daily Mail reader... John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syncsound Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 What I did was to immediately make the director aware, This. All you can do is make them aware to cover yourself. Though I've often wondered about directors who have declined to ask for more level, because they think it would "change the performance." If it's too low to be adequately captured, you'll be changing the performance by looping it. Or, my other favorite, "No, because it would be unnatural." We ask actors to do things all the time that are unnatural. We use fake sunlight, have them wear clothes that aren't theirs, answer to a name other than their own, say words they don't think up themselves, and walk up to a tape mark and pivot a certain way to catch the light better. The entire process is unnatural; talented actors make it feel natural. /rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 " I've often wondered about directors who have declined to ask for more level, " this is the sciences part of the motion picture arts and sciences... aka the part they think they don't need to know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBlimp Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 I watched some episodes of Parade's End and not being a native speaker, I understand all of it. The sound quality seems outstanding to me. My guess is that people are just accustomed to being yelled at all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henchman Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 Yeah, if you can't hear an actor, then the re-recording mixer has done a crappy job, and mixed way too dynamic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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