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

[Marc Wielage]

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.

 

Brilliant solution, Simon!

[Henchman]

And this is why people like Simon work on projects that win awards.

Caring.

[Christian Spaeth]

This is why people like Simon win awards.

[Henchman]

This is why people like Simon win awards.

Yep.

Budget should never make you dictate how much you care.

If you take the gig, you always put in 100%, regardless of what you accepted as payment.

[old school]

Yep.

Budget should never make you dictate how much you care.

If you take the gig, you always put in 100%, regardless of what you accepted as payment.

Exactly.

CrewC

[Simon Hayes]

 

This week we have been testing the DPA 4060 PZM fitments against the Schoeps' in a car scene.

 

On this shot it shows the shot we all hate,where you have to pull the schoeps from the sun visor due

to a wide angle from the trunk of the car.We repositioned them right on the edge of the frame as far forward as we could get them,keeping the actors completely on mic when they turned to look at each other which is the moment the shot will be used.

The DPA's because they were low profile could be kept a bit deeper.

[Toy Robot]

^ That's awesome.

[Jeff Wexler]

Simon, you've pointed out one of the other great thing about the Schoeps and its amazingly smooth polar pattern. I have had to place a Schoeps in much the same manner in a car, where it actually looks like the mic is behind their head. The head turn (to eachother) obviously helps, but when you say they were "on mic" I think if it were not a Schoeps it would not have sounded as good. Give us a quick run down on how the DPA Faux-PZM worked out.

[soundslikejustin]

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

Here in Aus we use a tennis ball (cut open - normally used to protect location floors from stands) on the end of a c-stand arm pushing into the gel/diffusion to the same effect.

[atheisticmystic]

This thread just gets better and better.

(Maybe Crew pulls out a guitar and Simon, Jeff sing a cowboy song?)

 

[Simon Hayes]

Jeff,i agree completely about the Schoeps,they are an amazing mic and can remain 'on mic' when they look 'off mic' to the eye.

 

Regarding the DPA PZM fittings.I am not finished testing yet,and the only reason we are even running the test is in anticipation of those kind of hand held wide lens shots where the schoeps just isn't low profile enough.I'm not talking low loader stuff where even in those situations you can find a decent edge of frame that will work.I am talking about that crazy kind of vehicle to vehicle stuff with an operator sitting in the passenger seat and the driver talking in a car chase type situation with the camera bouncing around.

We are testing the DPA's for that kind of scenario where we need something really low profile.

 

Initial tests are as i thought- They sound OK,kind of 'nice' UNTIL you listen to them up against the Schoeps and they don't even come close.

 

Its like listening to Hi-Fi, a system can sound really great until you listen to it in an A/B comparison with a superior system!

 

But,what i can tell you is that we also had both actors mic'd up with nice lav positions with 4071's and the DPA PZM system sounded as good as those,as close and rich but without any clothing rustle,so i would say we have a nice compromise.

 

I will post my sound sheets from that scene.

[Simon Hayes]

I send in 2 sets of sheets with my dailies- The Zaxcom PDF's,but also my old school handwritten sheets which i keep copies of and also hand straight to the dialogue editor at the end of the movie incase picture editorial have 'misplaced' their copies.

 

My old school sheets contain small notes to editorial that don't fit on the PDF's although all the track labelling is on the PDF's.

 

Editorial can see what my preferred mics were due to what i put in their 'mix' tracks i.e. the tracks which will sit on the avid timeline.

 

This sheet is from the scene in the car.As well as being a 'test' for me,it also gives the dialogue editor a choice in a scene that had a lot of background noise due to wind and rain fx.The good news about the scene was that the DP agreed to shoot the side angles with the windows closed,putting the lens up against the glass and a floppy behind camera to stop reflections,so all angles were shot in a 'sealed' car which obviously gave us much better results than if they had opened a window.

 

[mbois]

Congrats Simon on lesM and on this next one. What a fun experience to be able to use an array of mics. By the way in the car rig why not use schoeps with a GVC swivel?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Simon Hayes]

A collette cable allows a lower profile rig than a GVC swivel,the capsule is a lighter package to attach to the roof of the car,and their is no quality loss from using a collette cable,so really i would ask you- why use a GVC swivel?

[Constantin]

By the way in the car rig why not use schoeps with a GVC swivel?

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Also, Schoeps build a flat boundary mic, too. It's only slightly thicker than the DPA rubber thingy (if that's what you're using, it's hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks like the white mount DPA offers)). And DPA have got a proper one, too. I'm curious why you didn't use one of those?

[mbois]

Thats true Simon... You are the teacher

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[Simon Hayes]

Constantin- it would be great to get the opportunity to test every product available but,for this test,we were interested in the lowest profile mic available.

[Constantin]

Of course, I understand that. I just thought that the Schoeps BLM was more low profile than a capsule with a colette cable, but the white DPA thing was probably much easier to hide still and of course the best mic sometimes is the one you have available

[rb1138]

Of course, I understand that. I just thought that the Schoeps BLM was more low profile than a capsule with a colette cable, but the white DPA thing was probably much easier to hide still and of course the best mic sometimes is the one you have available

 

I don't think the BLM is all that directional. Might be a reason not to use it. 

[sergiofucchi]

This one seems to be smaller and therefore more easily concealed: http://www.dpamicrophones.com/en/products.aspx?c=Item&category=195&item=24098

 

 

Sergio.

[Boomboom]

Just as a sidenote, another possible ''contender'' one could probably mount in different ways too :

 

[Simon Hayes]

Sergio- your link is exactly what we are testing.

[sergiofucchi]

Good. It is just what I just ordered.

[studiomprd]

" It is just what I just ordered. "

now your movies will sound just like his. 

[Simon Hayes]

After a few days and a few scenes i have come to the conclusion i am not super impressed with the DPA fitments but they are low profile......