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Desperate Measures, or 12 Hours On A Ladder


Philip Perkins

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Frances and I just did yet another oddball job, this one for a comedy website on the elections called "Left vs. Right"  (http://www.leftvsright.com/).  For many reasons too tedious to go into (but fully understood by everyone here) we ended up booming the whole deal, following the (very funny) actors as they improv-ed their bits in front of a (wait for it....) green screen.  (Let's just say that "interactive" industry people have different ideas of audio-picture aesthetics than movie people.)  After much tantruming I got a boom op, but only one, so I became the 2nd boom, while mixing the show as well.  Hence the first picture ("view from penthouse") of the wacky bag rig we made to do the job and My Friend The Ladder, another showing me and the rig taken from camera during a (short) break, and a shot of Frances on her ladder across the way.  Long day.  My ass and back hurt.  Yes, I was wishing for 2 Fishers all the damn day long.

Philip Perkins

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In ultimate contrast, I did a follow-up testimonial shoot for a weight loss infomercial on Saturday.  They begged me to do it alone.  Boom in a C-Stand.  I refused originally, but gave in 2 days prior after much promising that the subjects would stand on a mark and not move an inch.  First time for me putting a boom in a stand.  I used 2 knuckles with 2 loosely applied maypher (sp?) clamps with napkins to keep from scratching the pole.  The mark and lights never moved, and neither did each of the eight participants once they stood on it.  Only adjustment made was for height differences.

The original shoot was two booms splitting the room of people listening to the radioed weight loss "guru".

Robert

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In ultimate contrast, I did a follow-up testimonial shoot for a weight loss infomercial on Saturday.  They begged me to do it alone.  Boom in a C-Stand.  I refused originally, but gave in 2 days prior after much promising that the subjects would stand on a mark and not move an inch.  First time for me putting a boom in a stand.  I used 2 knuckles with 2 loosely applied maypher (sp?) clamps with napkins to keep from scratching the pole.  The mark and lights never moved, and neither did each of the eight participants once they stood on it.  Only adjustment made was for height differences.

The original shoot was two booms splitting the room of people listening to the radioed weight loss "guru".

Robert

You should get yourself a fishing rod holder from a local sporting goods store. The boom pole fits right in the holder and stays where you put it. The holder clamps right into a standard C stand grip head. Total cost about $20 and small enought to keep it with you. Not being a mix & boom guy, I have an Avenger 661 rolling light stand with a rod holder from RAM Products for just that type of job. It makes life easy and I can sit and mix.

Eric

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Welcome to my world, Phil. Been there, done that - numerous times. Hard work but I'll bet it sounds wonderful.

Kudos to the both of you.

Me too, and all the rest of us--I think my joke was how typical a situation this was for a lot of us: some help but maybe not quite enough.  I did the first series of this gig alone w/ lavs and mixed booms far enough off to have a bigger sweet spot but still sound good.  The "interactive" guys were unhappy because they were expecting a (not very good) stage to sound like a dead VO booth.  So we got "active" this time.  (Physical therapy this morning!)

Philip Perkins

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In ultimate contrast, I did a follow-up testimonial shoot for a weight loss infomercial on Saturday.  They begged me to do it alone.  Boom in a C-Stand.  I refused originally, but gave in 2 days prior after much promising that the subjects would stand on a mark and not move an inch.  First time for me putting a boom in a stand.  I used 2 knuckles with 2 loosely applied maypher (sp?) clamps with napkins to keep from scratching the pole.  The mark and lights never moved, and neither did each of the eight participants once they stood on it.  Only adjustment made was for height differences.

The original shoot was two booms splitting the room of people listening to the radioed weight loss "guru".

Robert

Mafer clamp

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Mafer clamp

I actually would recommend against a Mafer for boom holding--I badly damaged two booms with one--the jaw is too small for a long pole and if you get it really tight (like outside w/ wind or w/ a long pole) it will crush the pole.  I've used a Cardellini Clamp a lot, and it has the advantage of gripping the pole securely w/o damage, but the grip-pressure will make it hard to telescope the last stage of the boom.  The easiest thing on the pole is the boom holder Trew and others sell that is actually a cradle and a hook.  It's on my wish list.  In any case the whole concept of this job was "active" booming, not set and forget.

Philip Perkins

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I think FSBELLA was just correcting the spelling ;)

But your point is spot on as far as Mafers vs. Cardellinis vs. boom caddy/fishpole holders

Brian

B.

You are right about the spelling. I would not suggest the mafer for the reasons Philip described. however, the boom mate and remote audios are the 2 best on the market today.

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Same boom holder that Trew sells, $12.99 at Bass Pro Shops!

Here we go again... It is not the same as sold at Bass Pro or WalMart or the other fishing departments. It is made by the same metal shop in the same jig but with differences specifically for Remote Audio for clamping into a C-stand knuckle.

Like Scott, I also prefer the BoomMate, but mostly because it is easier to get the boom pole on and off without first adjusting the C-stand. But for easy of travel and compactness, the BoomBoy wins.

Glen Trew

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I really like K-tek's boom cradle.  It is a bit pricey but it works very well.  I used it on a documentary last year and one of my favorite things about it is the ease you can remove the boom from the cradle if you find yourself needing to boom.  It can also be used "upside-down" if you needed to mount a plant off a grid.

Tim

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Anyone else here using Boom Audio's Kit Cool boom pole holder when in the field? It's allowed me to keep booming when I'ld otherwise have to go with lavs.

http://www.boom-audio.com/kitcool.htm

I thought that's what your head is for.

...easy to transport, and ...in some cases... is a multi-purpose device.

JB

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey, You have a Tascam HD-P2. I love that recorder. I still use mine all the time. Have you ever used it in desert conditions? The first time I took it out to the desert after about 4 hours I would hit record and nothing would happen. I would hit it again even harder and still nothing. I would have to hit the button really hard like 3 times to get it to start rolling. I didn't even notice there was a problem until I looked down to hit pause after a take only to realize it had never rolled. The fun part is, we were shooting a close up of Martin Landau doing a monologue. I, VERY DISCREETLY told the director (Alain Zaloum), "Ummm, Father Alain. I have a confession to make."  He laughed and gave me a little mock blessing and said, "No worries my child. Try not to screw this one up" I also let scripty know but No one else was the wiser. It was a 16mm shoot so there was camera track either. Once I got the recorder back to civilization it was fine and I've even taken it back to the desert on other shoots and it's fine. I was just curious if you had the same kind of problem.

Cheers,

Chris Howland

310-713-9210 Mobile

LASoundMixer@mac.com

AIM: thenewmuse08

http://www.myspace.com/LASoundMixer

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1983811/

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Hey, You have a Tascam HD-P2. I love that recorder. I still use mine all the time. Have you ever used it in desert conditions? The first time I took it out to the desert after about 4 hours I would hit record and nothing would happen. I would hit it again even harder and still nothing. I would have to hit the button really hard like 3 times to get it to start rolling. I didn't even notice there was a problem until I looked down to hit pause after a take only to realize it had never rolled. The fun part is, we were shooting a close up of Martin Landau doing a monologue. I, VERY DISCREETLY told the director (Alain Zaloum), "Ummm, Father Alain. I have a confession to make."  He laughed and gave me a little mock blessing and said, "No worries my child. Try not to screw this one up" I also let scripty know but No one else was the wiser. It was a 16mm shoot so there was camera track either. Once I got the recorder back to civilization it was fine and I've even taken it back to the desert on other shoots and it's fine. I was just curious if you had the same kind of problem.

Cheers,

Chris Howland

310-713-9210 Mobile

LASoundMixer@mac.com

AIM: thenewmuse08

http://www.myspace.com/LASoundMixer

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1983811/

I've had it pretty hot in the bag, but no, no real desert work.  I'd suggest cleaning the "go" (record) button contacts?  Mine has A LOT of hours on it now--still seems to work quite well.  (Love the "no moving parts" thing.)

Philip Perkins

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