Better Call Saul

[Olle Sjostrom]

Been following this show and the podcast. A great show! The shots are great, and it's always compelling and great acting. And then of course the sound is great, courtesy of Phil Palmer. Great work! Couldn't have been easy either. Very wide shots and very often never cut very much. Great job. Just a tip...

[Marc Wielage]

Fantastic show top to bottom -- excellent cinematography, brilliant writing, amazing performances... and the sound is first-rate. This last week's episode was a real surprise. I'm only sorry they only did 8 episodes for the first season. But the quality level is really high.

[Olle Sjostrom]

You sure? Pretty sure the last episode was 109 and that wasn't the last. I'm watching it on Netflix (new ep every tuesday) and I believe the next one is the season finale.. Could be wrong of course

[DanieldH]

The upcoming 1x10 "Marco" will be this seasons finale.

 

http://breakingbad.wikia.com/wiki/Season_1_%28Better_Call_Saul%29

[Karl Wasserman]

I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned the Mylar blanket that McKean wears. Crinkly AND a reception killer.

 

Big fun!

 

Phil?

[Olle Sjostrom]

I was about to ask about that, but more specifically in the last episode (spoiler alert) where he keeps it under the suit, if the actor wanted to wear it under there for real,you know for the right feeling of whatever. Silly thing to ask probably... But still. Actors get ideas sometimes.

[Michael Miramontes]

I agree. Great show and great job on sound. Way to go Phil!

[Marc Wielage]

You sure? Pretty sure the last episode was 109 and that wasn't the last. I'm watching it on Netflix (new ep every tuesday) and I believe the next one is the season finale.. Could be wrong of course

 

You're absolutely right -- 10 episodes for season 1. 

 

 

 

I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned the Mylar blanket that McKean wears. Crinkly AND a reception killer.

 

Doh, what a nightmare! And I imagine McKean's character wouldn't want a transmitter anywhere near him. Maybe a wired boom is OK. 

[Karri]

Wasn't the character wearing semi-baggy college pants etc in the blanket scenes? So a smaller transmitter could've been hidden to his leg or whatever, of the blanket was actually causing signal trouble.

What I'm surprised they couldn't hide was that one crewmember reflected in the final shot of one ep where Jimmy is leaning against the empty office's window wall. The figure is fairly clear and I instantly thought "crewmember"... but then the crewmember moves and it's super-obvious, since there's nothing else in the shot but Jimmy and the window. I would think they could've at the very least mask it in editing (with tracking if necessary) so that the figure stayed in place instead of moving. Oh well, goofs happen of course.

That little thing aside, I love the show! Odenkirk's voice as Jimmy's "assistant" always cracks me up, learning more about Mike is great, and for video gamer it was fun to see Michael Mando pop up - he very well plays a psychotic bad guy in the video game Far Cry 3, with mo-cap, face-cap (at least with the face modeled after him) and so was very recognizable.

[Phil Palmer]

Hello everyone.  Thanks so much for the kind words.  Great to hear from your peers when it comes to the work we strive so hard to deliver.  The first 10 episodes, yes season 1 is 10 eps, were filmed last year in Albuquerque in many of the same locale as it's parent series Breaking Bad.

 

As for the Blanket...  It was a combined effort by myself and the prop department to make this happen, with the support of our producers, specifically Nina Jack, who understood the challenges as soon as it was on the page.  They had similar difficulties with the "hazmat" suits in BB, so this was not unfamiliar ground.  They came to me in prep of EP 102 and gave me a heads up.  I contacted the folks at Silent Bags, the prop master who makes all sorts of silent material and let him know what we were trying to do.  At his suggestion we ended up taking a "new", unwrinkled as best as possible, blanket and adhered it to a sheet of clear vinyl.  This took away the crinkly sound substantially, and gave the blanket some added body and weight so it would stay put.  Michael was very aware of the situation and it was a collaborative effort among many to make the scenes work with the blanket.  And, it did.

 

Thanks for dialing into what was a very interesting challenge.  It was a team win for sure.

 

I can't go without saying Larry Benjamin and his post mix team at Smart Post as done an absolutely stellar job on the show.

 

PWP

[Olle Sjostrom]

Well, I smell Emmys. Every department of the show is doing a great job. Art direction is awesome, and well, everything just feels very tightly knit and well executed. Love love love the tone of the whole thing. The podcast is worth a listen too. Can't wait for season 2.

And thanks for sharing this Phil. Always inspiring!

[Simon Hayes]

Phil your work is incredible.I am enjoying the show AND the dialogue recordings.Best Wishes.

[Todd Weaver]

+1 on the Emmy smell.

[Matt Martin]

+1 on the quality of the show in all departments. Congrats and I'm excited for the ride ahead!

[Karl Wasserman]

Watched the season finale tonight. Yup, +1. Nice work, Phil and your crew.

[Olle Sjostrom]

http://www.asoundeffect.com/better-call-saul-sound/

[Olle Sjostrom]

Sad to see this show coming to an end. But very happy with the end result and that it didn’t disappoint in any way shape or form. Just brilliant. Again, Phil, amazing work. What a show!

[VASI]

I have to watch again S5 for recap and then start the last one. One of my favorite shows! After finishing S1 - I was said: What a challenging show with these angles and frames. 

[tourtelot]

7 years later!

 

And no doubt that Mathew Price is one of a few top-shelf PSM working today.  He works on challenging shows and the results are sublime.

 

D.

[VASI]

S6 is over. One of the best shows in television history among with Band of Brothers, The Wire and many more. Congratulations to all people in sound dept. and all departments. Top notch!