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Nice Post on Craigslist Advocating for us Soundies


michaeleaglehall

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http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cwg/3452849709.html

Found on craigslist today. Thanks to whomever posted this, I find myself wanting to explain this to people on almost every set I'm on! I might not go so far ast o say that sound is more impt than picture, but on the whole this poster gets it right. The following is the text:

Sound mixers get a bum deal. We have to invest over $10k to get decent gear and enough of it to be able to handle the demands of what production wants. We provide a valuable service that is even more important than your picture. Your film has dialogue, people want to hear it and hear it clearly. We try to do that for you despite poor locations, poor wardrobe choices, and sometimes, ridiculous shot composition. A camera crew is exactly that, a crew. Operator, 1st AC, 2nd AC. If there's no 2nd AC then there's damn sure a 1st. Sound mixers are apparently expected to do the job of two people and get paid peanuts for it. In the LA area, the absolute minimum for our services should be $350 per 12 hour day with $100 for a kit fee. Base minimum.

Any asshole with a DSLR can call themselves a DP and show up on set and get paid decently because they have a camera. A 744t recorder is nearly twice the cost of a 5d markIII and a 788 is more so. On top of that, producers want at least 2 wireless, a shotgun mic with great rejection, and comteks so they can hear and complain.

We help people want to watch your movie. A film with terrible sound and a gorgeous picture is still unwatchable, a film with mediocre picture and excellent sound will be watched in its entirety (provided the story is worth it).

Don't insult production sound mixers or boom operators (two separate jobs, by the way) by wanting to pay $150 for a 12 hour day, subway for lunch, and no equipment fee. $350 +$100 kit fee is minimum. If we really really like you, we might do it for less if we're bored. But don't insult us by calling it a job.



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Sound mixers get a bum deal. We have to invest over $10k to get decent gear and enough of it to be able to handle the demands of what production wants. We provide a valuable service that is even more important than your picture. Your film has dialogue, people want to hear it and hear it clearly. We try to do that for you despite poor locations, poor wardrobe choices, and sometimes, ridiculous shot composition. A camera crew is exactly that, a crew. Operator, 1st AC, 2nd AC. If there's no 2nd AC then there's damn sure a 1st. Sound mixers are apparently expected to do the job of two people and get paid peanuts for it. In the LA area, the absolute minimum for our services should be $350 per 12 hour day with $100 for a kit fee. Base minimum.

Any asshole with a DSLR can call themselves a DP and show up on set and get paid decently because they have a camera. A 744t recorder is nearly twice the cost of a 5d markIII and a 788 is more so. On top of that, producers want at least 2 wireless, a shotgun mic with great rejection, and comteks so they can hear and complain.

We help people want to watch your movie. A film with terrible sound and a gorgeous picture is still unwatchable, a film with mediocre picture and excellent sound will be watched in its entirety (provided the story is worth it).

Don't insult production sound mixers or boom operators (two separate jobs, by the way) by wanting to pay $150 for a 12 hour day, subway for lunch, and no equipment fee. $350 +$100 kit fee is minimum. If we really really like you, we might do it for less if we're bored. But don't insult us by calling it a job.

This is currently being discussed in another thread...

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" Link? "

search

something about 'the person who wrote this (being) awesome'

Nothing coming up. Would love to read the debate though to learn what the vets have to say, apparently I've stepped on a touchy (or perhaps over-wrought) subject. Obviously those of us nubes struggling to get fairer rates out of mandy and craigslist jobs would appreciate the post more than connected vets who consider $350 a half-day rate. And that I certainly get.

The other thread discussing this is here:

Got it. Thanks.

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" Nothing coming up. "

be sure you are searching: "forums".

" Obviously those of us nubes struggling to get fairer rates out of mandy and craigslist jobs "

I just posted a response to someone in another thread who asked what mic to use... I pointed out that an experienced pro would not be asking that question, -at least that way- and noted these frequent discussions about newbies being insistent on rates for experienced Pro's...

I keep saying this stuff: CL, and Mandy are not where experienced pro's go to look for professional gigs (or even amateur gigs with professional rates) it is where newbies go to get gigs for experience, and often the experience they get isn't really good experience, as the wanna-bees don't really have a clue!

folks regularly getting $350 plus equipment have already moved beyond CL.

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be sure you are searching: "forums".

I was, not sure why it didn't come up but the link worked.

"frequent discussions about newbies being insistent on rates for experienced Pro's..."

Concur. Also concur with posters (like Blankenship) who pointed out that the hostility towards other departments was unprofessional and inappropriate. Reposting the "Open letter from the sound department" would probably have been more effective. Naturally an amateur shouldn't insist on pro rates, much less on low/no budget jobs. And as you repeatedly state, the marketplace dictates rates.

What I think the original CL poster hits at nicely, however, is the unrealistic expectations of low/no budget producers. They want to pay $150/day and get one person to do the work of 2 or 3, and often don't provide the greatest environment in which that can be achieved. I keep doing these jobs because I love the work despite all those challenges but was heartened by the fact that there are others struggling the way I am. You're right that the experience on those jobs often isn't great--that's what's frustrating!

Naturally many of the 695/CAS guys here on JW are in a whole other league. That's why I'm here. I know guys who are lucky enough to boom and third under such luminaries but for those of us not so well connected we must trawl these forums, do the Mandy and CL jobs, harass the staff at Coffey and LSC, and bug sound mixers on jobs that we PA on. Still, I've met my share of grumpy sound vets, so perhaps there's something we have in common after all? We all hate tuna, do we not? Pollo Loco, anyone?

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Still, I've met my share of grumpy sound vets, so perhaps there's something we have in common after all? We all hate tuna, do we not? Pollo Loco, anyone?

The last shoot I did, I spent about half the time barking at the crew to shut up! I felt like I had become "that grumpy guy" on that shoot.

As for food, I actually love Subway Tuna and El Pollo Loco! Far better than the tripe we usually get...

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