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notes from a shoot this past weekend


rcoronado

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Hey good people,

Just thought I'd give a quick postmortem to a shoot I had this past sunday because this kind of thing is therapeutic for me.  :)

 

For background I'm a studio guy about 80% of the time, so when I go out into the field its not my primary area of expertise.  I'd consider myself an intermediate production sound person.

 

Had a shoot yesterday where the idea was to present some season ticket holders for a local sports franchise with a package of swag and a surprise visit from one of the team's star players.  There were three locations, and in each spot I was going to end up pre-set in and around the lucky fan when the player arrived.  Cameras were DSLRs, and were doing simple clap-slating for sync before walking in the door.  No ref audio or timecode to cameras. Breaking frame was not going to be an issue, as they wanted the look to be a little raw.

My basic rig was a 788t in a petrol bag and harness (because that's what I had available to me - I would have chosen a 633 if I weren't out on rental), two channels of lectro wireless, an MKH60 in a rycote blimp on a boom, and a sennheiser g3 to use as a feed for producer ears (since all of my comteks were out on rental as well).  that g3 rig was not ideal for several reasons, but it ended up working well enough to get the job done.  

At our first location I got ahold of the player and wired him with the first channel of lectro and a COS-11.  He was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, with his glasses dangling from his collar.  He was fairly accommodating and I did my best with regards to bedside manner - explaining everything that I was about to do and being very careful.  I used a vampire clip to attach the mic to the inside of his t-shirt collar, and wen to my rig to take a listen while the producer talked with him.  After a short while I started hearing a cable crackle - not as though his shirt was rubbing, but as though a connection was in a fragile state and was coming into and losing contact.  I had tested both wireless rigs before the shoot so I was surprised to hear this particular problem.  I tried reattaching the mic to his body pack, but that didn't solve the issue. I swapped to the other channel on the body pack and still heard the problem.  finally I swapped the COS-11 out to the other mic I had with me - a countryman B3, and that solved it.  The B3 was actually much easier to place - I just gaffer taped it to the inside of his collar, and I had no other issues with his lav for the remainder of the shoot.

Within 60 seconds of the problem being solved our first fan approached the location.  I strapped on the bag, lifted the boom, and we rolled for about 10 minutes as he presented the gift bag and took selfies with a VERY excited fan.  I relied on the lav to cover the player and left the boom position focused on the fan the majority of the time.

With that location covered, I left the mic on the player but switched off his body pack while we got in the cars and headed out to the second location.  My producer also kept his headphone rig during transit.

In the second and third locations we I fed my boom over the G3 to the producer's headphones.  The producer and the player were stationed outside while I was inside with the camera crew and a ticket sales rep.  When the sales rep mentioned to the fan the name of the star player, the producer outside would hear this as his cue to knock on the door and surprise the fan with the player himself.  In one location that G3 had to throw downstairs and outside, but that worked out fine.  

At the end of the third location I collected the lav and headphone rigs from the player and producer, loaded up, and headed back to the studio.  In the studio I dumped the files to a backed up hard drive, labeled them a little more descriptively, and emailed the editor a link.

-----

In the end everything went very well.  I brought two channels of wireless as coverage and I'm glad that I did.  The G3 unit worked well enough to get the job done, but I don't like the fact that the producer doesn't have easy access to volume levels and that the G3 throws noise if I switch off the transmitter.  It was a hot and physical day, but in the end we get to be out there doing what we love, so there's that.  

 

Any thoughts on setup or technique are welcome.  thanks for taking the time to read!

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A  Comtek instead of the G3 would solve the problem of the volume control for the producer as it has a volume control that is easily accessible and is also the industry standard. Having said that I used G2s in exactly the same way back in my early days before I acquired all the gizmos that I own now. Apart from the volume control issue it worked fine for the job.

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In the end everything went very well.  I brought two channels of wireless as coverage and I'm glad that I did.  The G3 unit worked well enough to get the job done, but I don't like the fact that the producer doesn't have easy access to volume levels and that the G3 throws noise if I switch off the transmitter.  It was a hot and physical day, but in the end we get to be out there doing what we love, so there's that.  

Any thoughts on setup or technique are welcome.  thanks for taking the time to read!

Working with documentaries and reality shows, I do a lot of run and gun, and over the years I upgraded my bag to make the job more manageable and comfy. :-)

I have a Sennheiser SK2000 transmitter sending a mono mix to the main camera - hooked up with an EK2000 receiver. On the same channel I have a G3 IEM receiver that I give to the reporter - the volume knob comes in handy for volume changes and the built-in limiter enables me to package the mix a bit. I also enable the treble boost in the IEM receiver, it's a bit harsh but makes the dialogue more easy to hear in noise environments. When there's a second camera - usually a DSLR with added handle, XLR-connections and shotgun mic - I put a G3 receiver on it, set to the same channel. The second camera man always appreciate to hear what's going on, even if he/she is filming "off angle".

First of all, the mono mix is a backup if my recordings are faulty, and it enables the producer/editor to get to work right after we've finished shooting without having to wait for my sound files. Secondly, I think it's quite beneficial for the camera men to wear headphones and listen to my mono mix. That way, they can pick up interesting dialogue and better know what's happening in a crowded or noise environment (without me having to tell them).

I also record the mono mix in my SD664, making it easy for the editors to use PluralEyes to sync the video footage of the DSLR.

A bit overkill, I know, but for the main camera I use a Time Code Buddy system which enables me to receive the TC from the camera (in Rec Run mode) and automatically start recording when the camera is rolling. I know some of you prefer to be the master of the recording, but I find it a bliss not having to press REC/STOP in an unscripted situation. The sound files are exactly as long as the video footage, they line up perfectly and post loves it, I'm told. :-)

I get one beep in my headphones when the camera starts rolling and two beeps when it stops - during long days of shooting it's quite comfy knowing when the camera is rolling and when to relax the boom just a little bit. And educational too. I thought the camera was rolling WAY more than it usually is (filming documentaries).

I plan to get another G3 IEM and give it to the camera man, that way he can wear a coiled ear-piece all the time and hear what's happening even when the camera is off, and I can use talkback to get his attention.

Anyway, just the way I do it.

What can I say, I like to pamper my clients. :-)

 

Cheers

Fred

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that's a really nice souding setup.  I have the hardest time getting cameras to wear headphones.  They just don't even want to know that it exists.

I hear ya!

As soon as there's a soundie around, camera men have a tendency to let go of the sound - which they, in a way, can do when we're there to ensure proper sound quality.

When there's no soundie around, most camera men wear headphones to ensure that the sound is okay. They learn to do that, the hard way, after delivering one or two recordings with inferior sound. Nobody wants to deal with a grumpy producer, right...

With that in mind, I always invite camera men to wear headphones despite the fact that I'm there. I think the main problem is that bulky headphones like HD25's and such, can get in the way of their work, so they find it relieving to leave them in the bag whenever they can. That's why I'm planning to give the camera man an ear-piece and a receiver. I got my camera man to buy a Voice Technology ear-piece, because that's what I'm using on TV presenters, but the cable was too thin for field work and broke on the second day. Telex makes an ear-piece with a coiled cable that's rather rugged, but this time I guess it's my turn to buy the ear-piece. :-)

Bringing a pair of headphones that are smaller than HD25's might also be a good way to lure them into wearing them. Filming documentaries, the difference in workflow is quite significant when the camera man hears what's going on, especially at a distance, making him/her much more alert.

 

Off to bed

Fred

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Don't understand why you didn't like G3. Apparently, it the job it wasn't even designed for rather well. Except for the volume knob. Range was good, too, you said, so...? Just the channel switch thing? 

As was mentioned, the G3 IEM has the volume knob and more and there are low-cost options to turn a regular G3 receiver into an IEM receiver...

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Headphones with built in volume control and rewire the phones to mono. G2's were my swiss army knives before i bought comteks and erx's. I used them for ifb's camera scratch timecode camera returns etc. with the right cables they are quite versitile devices

-Ken

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^ yes exactly. Sennheiser once sold a set of headphones (maybe still do?) that came with a passive volume control and a mono switch. That's all you'd need to use a regular G3 receiver as an IEM receiver. Cheap and cheerful as one of my teachers used to say

Edited by Constantin
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Don't understand why you didn't like G3. Apparently, it the job it wasn't even designed for rather well. Except for the volume knob. Range was good, too, you said, so...? Just the channel switch thing? 

As was mentioned, the G3 IEM has the volume knob and more and there are low-cost options to turn a regular G3 receiver into an IEM receiver...

Well as I said they got the job done, and for that I'm grateful.  I don't think I meant to say that I didn't like the G3, just that they weren't my preferred piece of gear for that job on that day.  Really my only complaint was the lack of volume control for the producer, which I see solved in the posts above.  I'll certainly look into picking up a pair of headphones with integrated volume control for when I inevitably run into this in the future.  

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... you lost me at, "..using DSLR cameras for an ENG shoot.."..  DSLRs should NEVER be used for a ENG shoot!!  Hell.. I don't even think a DSLR should be used with a film shoot.. but hey, if you 'baby' the crap out of the camera, lighting, grips, talent.. it will work, but NOT a ENG SHOOT!!  :)

 

-Richard

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I don't like the fact that the producer doesn't have easy access to volume levels and that the G3 throws noise if I switch off the transmitter.

pilot tone?

Headphones with built in volume control and rewire the phones to mono. G2's were my swiss army knives before i bought comteks and erx's. I used them for ifb's camera scratch timecode camera returns etc. with the right cables they are quite versitile devices

-Ken

Add a low key headphone amp to a g3 receiver.

http://en-us.sennheiser.com/cl-1 cable or equivalent adaptor, coupled with the amp allows use with regular stereo headphones

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... you lost me at, "..using DSLR cameras for an ENG shoot.."..  DSLRs should NEVER be used for a ENG shoot!!  Hell.. I don't even think a DSLR should be used with a film shoot.. but hey, if you 'baby' the crap out of the camera, lighting, grips, talent.. it will work, but NOT a ENG SHOOT!!  :)

 

-Richard

not exactly my call there sir.  I work with the situations I'm given.

 

so the video is up and of course they took what I had given them and made it worse in post.  I'm embarrassed to post the link here.

Usually I end up getting to do post on these types of projects, but in this instance it never came back to me and just went out into the wild all unruly.  

tracks turned up in the avid and distorted, recordings of the player's lav unused, levels all over the place, etc.

ah well...

Edited by rcoronado
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tracks turned up in the avid and distorted, recordings of the player's lav unused, levels all over the place, etc.

ah well...

It's always a pain hearing your recording ruined by an editor or producer with zero knowledge or interest in audio.

For fast-moving EFP-projects like yours, they often use my mono mix sent to the camera, so I always try to make it as good as possible. My separate recordings are probably not even imported.

What can I say, the client is always right, even when they're wrong.

What do bug me is when I watch a show I've recorded and know to have been "sound mixed", and still hear that practically nothing has been done with the sound, except for fading music in and out. People scratching their lavs out of picture, comb filtering between three open lavs etc. Not to mention that zero EQ has been applied apart from my low-cut and the broadcast processing.

Ah well, I feel my blood pressure rising.

 

Cheers

Fred

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have a G3 IEM for the director and when i need a second headphone i use a regular G3 receiver coupled with a cheap headphone pre amp (http://www.amazon.com/TOPPING-NX1-Portable-Earphone-Amplifier/dp/B00HFMNR4M). I just had to solder both channel on the tip of the mini jack input of the pre amp to get the mono mix to both ear. Very cheap, batterie last for a very long time (i did a 4 day shoot without recharging the pre amp) and works like a charm.

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