In search of a quiet set.........

[Simon Hayes]

Thanks Gentleman,

 

I will ask the camera assistants why 3 perf is noisier today,and we will also be shooting 4 perf so i will report back.

 

I will also ask that the camera rental house sends a technician to tune the movement for Fuji,if this hasn't already happened.

 

Thank you for all the great input and advice.

 

 

Simon

[Simon Hayes]

n from the set-

We have a camera rental technician with us.he says that 3 perrf is noisier because the piece of film that is being exposed is smaller which means that the pull down claws have to do a larger movement in less time.

He has also said that every roll of fuji souns different and apart from doing a 'general' fuji setting to the camera movements

There is nothing more they can tune (the cameras had been set for fuji)

The 1st AC's do a pitch check on every reload to fine tune for each roll.

We have now gone 4 perf (my team have been doing the same

'Neoprene' process before shooting this morning with the new camera bodies.

The camera team say the cameras are definately quieter but I will report back here when

When we have shot.

I have also asked the producer to assess the new camera noise with editorial and if there is a significant decrease in noise to consider staying 4 perf for the rest of the show.

[Marc Wielage]

All the American sitcoms I worked on in the last 15 years (with few exceptions) were 3-perf, starting with Friends in 1994, and I can agree that 3-perf movements are absolutely noisier than 4-perf. Maybe not drastically so, and we couldn't hear the difference on a big set with 350 audience members on the stage. In a small room with just cast and crew, wide angle lenses, and cameras very close to actors... I don't doubt the intermittent movements will be audible. But: I bet this is quieter and more easily removable in post than some digital camera fans.

[Simon Hayes]

The change to a 4 perf movement has resulted in an estimated 80% reduction in camera noise,and with the neoprene sound proofing

and blimps we built i am now confident the Arri LT's running Fuji are as quiet as Arri ST's running Kodak would be.

 

Basically we do not have a camera noise problem anymore.

 

I have spoken to Production and sent an email to Production and Editorial expressing a recommendation that we stay shooting 4 perf for the rest of the show.

 

I will keep membership here informed.

 

 

Simon

[studiomprd]

Teamwork... love it!

[Varga]

In the past, on a few occasions, I was able to convince the DP and operator to switch from the LT to the studio on quiet interiors. But that kind of cooperation is rare.

[Alexander Burstein]

I'm day playing on a show that's shooting film at the moment and there's no noticeable camera noise. Next day i'm on i'll ask questions.

Tomorrow is also the first day i'm meeting with a producer and possibly the DP for an upcoming feature. No other departments on board yet, and i'll be present for location scouts. So far the stars are shining in sounds favor.

I'll be sure to update.

[Malcolm Davies Amps CAS]

Fantastic prep work Simon. What kind of material exactly is the sound blanket that you put inside the blimps?

Just in case Simon is too busy or missed this question the material is just normal sound blanket and  it looks like a piece of the ones that I imported from China and supplied to him.

[Simon Hayes]

If anyone needs sound blankets Malcolms are the best!

[Alexander Burstein]

After speaking with the director/producer in person I have a feeling he'll be searching for someone else to take on the roll of production sound mixer. Unrealistic expectations and not enough money to do it correctly. It was such a great script too...

[Simon Hayes]

That's a real shame but if you can't do a great job there is no point doing the job  IMO

[Christian Spaeth]

Just in case Simon is too busy or missed this question the material is just normal sound blanket and  it looks like a piece of the ones that I imported from China and supplied to him.

Thanks Malcolm. I might be interested. Do still have some of the blankets and would you ship to Germany?

[Malcolm Davies Amps CAS]

Thanks Malcolm. I might be interested. Do still have some of the blankets and would you ship to Germany?

 

 

PM sent

[Simon Hayes]

[Simon Hayes]

We found a lot of noise with the Arri LTfuji combination was coming from the Lens,so our 1st AC's who are amazing let us use sound blanket 'lens wraps'.They are using follow focus so rarely need to see the lens once they have calibrated their handheld units.

[Simon Hayes]

 

[Simon Hayes]

The pictures above were a set up we used this week to reduce the background noise on an interior car 2 actor dialogue scene on green screen.The car was in a rain storm and we had rain fx being blown onto the windscreen by wind machines.The rubber backed carpet on the bonnet and roof was 'decoupled' from the vehicle by sandwiching folded soundblankets between the car body and the carpet so we would not hear the rain drops 'drumming' on the rubber.It worked out really well.

[Simon Hayes]

If you look carefully at the lighting frames you can also see the 'cup and bungee' trick being employed to stop the diffusion from blowing noisily in the wind.

[atheisticmystic]

Live, drop-in, master class with Simon Hayes.

Doesn't get any better than this, sisters and brothers.

thanx Simon

[Simon Hayes]

Hey Steven,thanks for the nice comment but not a masterclass,just another sound guy trying to get clean dialogue!

[rb1138]

Hey what do you guys do for windows? I mean when they're in frame. At a location. Is there anything that can help but also be in frame? 

 

Note I did see a thread about "acoustic tape" somewhere around here. 

 

I'm also aware of double/triple paneling and thick, vinyl windows or studio glass. But I just mean something you can bring to set. 

[Nathaniel Robinson]

That cup and bungee trick is going right in my back pocket! Sloppy, floppy diffusion has been an issue for me on a few shoots lately.

[old school]

The cup n bungee or gaffers tape thick on a gel is old time grip logic that has been around as long as I have. Gotta ask for it most times as no one else seems able to hear the rattling rigs except the sound man.

@ Simon, nice rig you guys did. Good logic.

CrewC

[Henchman]

 

Just to follow on the story,i asked for some of my dailies to be sent to sound post for assessment and they came back saying the camera noise was filterable but they would obviously prefer not to have to filter so aggressively.

I recently mixed an indie film, with lots of quiete delicate scenes. Of course, they didnt get the most experienced sound guy.

So I had a bunch of these intimate quiet scenes with a racket of noise depending on the angle. Which I filtered and noise reduced, to not kill the scene.

Then the director asks why the dialog didn't sound natural. So I said "Hold on". And bypassed all the stuff I was doing.

I told him, the nay way to make this sound smooth was either with how it was originally mixed, or add more noise to mask the angles.

Pretty much the only response was "oh".

Why oh why do people try to cheap out on one of the most important thing?

[thelza30]

Cup in bungee trick? We call them bismarks here in Austin. Look it up in urban dictionary but probably the way a way worn sound mixer felt after listening to flapping gels all day.