Richard Ragon Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Well. I think that I have found the worst place to film as far as wireless goes.. The helo-pad in elysian park. A beautiful near 360 degree view of downtown, LA shooting range, Dodger stadium, the Hollywood hills, etc. A virtual nightmare for wireless. Lucky to find 3 freqs, and the thought came up that I might have to drop my wireless boom in order to sacrifice to a lav. Shortly after sweating all the wireless issues, then came the news helicopters.. They enjoyed just circling the spot, probably to show morning news watches, wow..look something we've never seen before, a film crew.. Thank gawd it's $50 bucks a minute to stay in the air, or they would do that all day. Had to boost every lav to 150, raise the antennas, switch out packs over and over, and cross my fingers, these guys are not taking second shots for lost sound. Then it started to rain.. oh boy. I would say a great runner up for worst in 2nd place, would now be Disneyland, or Pasadena on Tuesdays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeheel Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Hey Richard, There's only 360 degrees in a full circle. I thought I'd mention that before the Senator got to you... Sorry about your day of wireless hell... I'm in the Yukon this week and I'm luxuriating in the blissful glow of empty Lectro 411 RF scans. But I feel your pain from three thousand miles away... Cheers, Brent Calkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 What block?(S) CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Ragon Posted July 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 21 and 22, first scan.. solid to the top, all the way across. only 2 or 3 small dips.. in which I tried to get into. -Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonG Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 I feel your pain sir! I've worked on a number of projects where I have experienced the same hell in the same blocks plus 25, and after the first experience pleeded with other productions to choose somewhere else to shoot, but to no avail. Another horrible place is in la crescenta. Right up against the mountains next to those radio towers that Elysian park has a perfect view of as well. Key West Florida isn't very pleasant either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Ragon Posted July 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Funny thing is.. the production doesn't even know how close it was to not having any wireless. I try not to alert anyone unnecessarily... or at least till there's a really big problem. kind of like the Cuban missile crisis.. the public is on a need to know thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Funny thing is.. the production doesn't even know how close it was to not having any wireless. I try not to alert anyone unnecessarily... or at least till there's a really big problem. kind of like the Cuban missile crisis.. the public is on a need to know thing. Good man. philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lightstone, CAS Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Not sure of the shot dynamics, but was there a possibility you could have remoted your receiving antennas and possibly had your utility "walk" them closer to the actors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted July 13, 2013 Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 Not sure of the shot dynamics, but was there a possibility you could have remoted your receiving antennas and possibly had your utility "walk" them closer to the actors? That's the way we had to do most wireless shots in the old days... CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al mcguire Posted July 13, 2013 Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 Eric Tolines first wireless set had a dynamo that charged a capacitor, they had to wind it up before each shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted July 13, 2013 Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 That's the way we had to do most wireless shots in the old days... I just watched a demo tape for WTVT in Tampa that I worked on around 1976, and I remembered a flashback of a PA walking with a Vega receiver just out of the shot while the talent walked forwards, towards camera, for about 20 yards. The range of the units we had I think was maybe 30-40 feet, tops, and the batteries ran maybe a couple of hours. Those were not fun days. There's a lot of "black art" with RF where interference is unpredictable and mysterious. I once went on a shoot in a downtown LA building where we were stellar for the first half of the day, and then suddenly after lunch, I began to get some hit (block 19). I did a scan and was stunned to see giant bricks of interference throughout the band. I found a few places to poke through, but it was hit and miss. At another location a block away, the band was damn near wide-open. Go figure. Military bases and aircraft carriers are among the worst I know of. I also once had a bad experience right next to one of the main AT&T buildings downtown, but that was on block 21. 22 in LA is iffy, in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted July 13, 2013 Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 That's the way we had to do most wireless shots in the old days... CrewC Often. philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Ragon Posted July 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 Huge wide shot.. again.. They did go in for close ups. This was their close up lens.. No.. I'm serious. that was their close up lens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrd456 Posted July 13, 2013 Report Share Posted July 13, 2013 Close up lens ?-------Boy,haven't styles changed ! J.D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted July 14, 2013 Report Share Posted July 14, 2013 Aren't all the Angenieux Optimo lenses zooms? Why use a zoom lens? Hey, it's the Red Camera: it's the best camera! It has 4K! It needs the best lens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Ragon Posted July 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2013 No Mark.. it has 5K.. its the best camera.. p.s. also.. no subway here.. I had steak 2 nights in a row. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 p.s. also.. no subway here.. I had steak 2 nights in a row. Damn you! We're getting nothing but fish tacos and burnt burritos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Ragon Posted July 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 As weird as this sounds.. I'll never get sick of pizza. I used to work in a pizza place in high school.. You'd think Id be sick of pizza.. nope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morantzsound Posted July 15, 2013 Report Share Posted July 15, 2013 Shot at the helipad at Griffith Park last week, same situation. Antennas facing downtown, RF nightmare block 21,22 removed the antennas and we were fine, luckily needed only 4 freqs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aristotle_kumpis Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 Man, that stinks Richard. I worked on top of a very tall building in downtown L.A. once. Block 21 was so congested. So I took the receiver out of my quad box and placed it right next to the talent. That did the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 There's a worse one. Top of Mount Wilson. Wireless Hades. There are more antennas than trees up there and every conceivable frequency. Had to stand next to the actors with a remote antenna and even then it was hit and miss, so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 Doh! I hadn't considered Mount Wilson. That's got to be an absolute nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Doh! I hadn't considered Mount Wilson. That's got to be an absolute nightmare. It is.... By a much less degree, Pasadena n Altadena area can get strange hits and the range is diminished up there, which for those outside of SoCal, are located just below Mt Wilson. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Karlsson Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Yeah, spring of last year I was in line of sight of Mount Wilson, but way south of it, still had serious range issues. That was also on block 21. Up in Los Feliz/Griffith Park close to the observatory - same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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