Jan McL Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Wiring = epic? Yes in the sense that wiring someone is in my fantasy world an operatic event: adjective op·er·at·ic \ˌä-pə-ˈra-tik\ 1: of or relating to opera 2: grand, dramatic, or romantic in style or effect Opera contains the maximum possible artful layers: orchestral works, song, dance, sets, costumes, stories, technical stuff galore. Much like motion pictures. Have been thinking more critically about how I conduct wiring sessions toward sharing some things I can only assume from artist and costumer feedback don't always happen. All of the following assumes you know your gear intimately, how to quickly troubleshoot, and maximize your particular electronics particular value. Awareness. Each moment of the process requires awareness and the collection of data points for future study. Time to study. Replay the game films. For me it's a kind of meditation on the process. What went smoothly. What could be more elegantly achieved whether sonically, logistically, or politically. Create openings for feedback loops by proving I remember what my colleagues prefer. Mental Confidence. From awareness and time sprouts mental confidence that engenders trust. Physical Confidence. Think of how people groom horses, how doctors and nurses are with your physicality. The physical confidence while placing a microphone was improved for me by means of an early and long connection to dance. Graceful dance. Predictable. Rhythmical. Respectful. Our process is certainly nowhere near an intimate as a prostate exam, but there's no reason I shouldn't treat our physical connection with the same clean, respectful and proven professional intimate touching technique. My wiring psycho-physicality lives somewhere between the dancer and the groomer/OB Gyn: once I move where they can't see me, I maintain contact with their body with at least a forearm as I move around mounting a transmitter and/or dropping a cable. Continued contact with the wire-ee especially important during ankle mounts, kneeling with hands out of sight. There is an economy of movement. I say in advance what I want to do. "With your permission I plan to run the mic in through this armhole, right to the middle and onto the fabric of the Spankx, then to the transmitter that will fit smoothly under the jacket on the waistband. Let's make sure we don't see it on your waistband before we get too far." When I'm finished, I always tap them twice so that if they're in conversation or saying lines they know I've finished without distraction and can relax. There are hand signals I train AD's to recognize, # of wires among them. Communication. "Welcome to my cart-away-from-home where you are an honored guest," is what I endeavor to convey with body language, especially someone's first time at the cart. Beyond the introduction I'm a chick of few words at first. Furthermore, I become in my head a restauranteur: the professional host. Learned to quickly and accurately read customer mood from college and high school years as--ultimately--a high-end waitress. Private? Silent? Modest? Small talk? Philosophy? They have props/drink/sides? Vanna White shows them, "You win! This is YOUR cupholder, this your personal shelf. Jacket here. Let me make you comfortably at home." So much fun. Psychology. Every time we do the thing it gets better. I think about it. Refine the process. Call their attention to significant improvements with a Twitter-length sentence. The moment of pointing out the plant mic is something I enjoy almost as much as their playing to said mic. I serve plant mics up like a 5-star chef presenting the entrée to POTUS. Sound cart as refuge. Cart placement is generally far enough from the fray that it feels significantly less hectic than near camera. It's a calm space. Quiet, positive space. When practical, I clear extraneous people away in advance of an artist's landing. Sacred Trust. Given the microphones, I consider that connection with the artists a sacred trust; I endeavor to illustrate that reverence with every word, movement and action. Respect. I'm never finished wiring until I've put on the costumer's hat and given 'em the once over. I put that costumer hat on when I'm evaluating a new costume, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 OK, Emmys today….a Pulitzer tomorrow! Ground-level advice poetically put! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Spaeth Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Excellent as always, Jan. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinmplocher Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Fantastic read. A manifesto! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Sjostrom Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 It's always a pleasure reading your posts. I agree with all of this. Even if you didn't mean to start a discussion, I concur totally with everything and I try hard to hone these skills on every job. Although it is very tempting being much more burduse and insensitive with all the other brutes around. Some might call these feats feminine, but I would like to call it common sense. Actors are sometimes looked upon as sheep and they just need herding or whatever. One thing I might add is maybe ground for further discussion and that's ; do you wire everyone before rehearsals or after? This is always a tricky one I think. If course it depends on the shoot, but let's say the director wants to rehearse as soon as heshe can, would you rather let herhim do that and learn the scenery or wire everyone before and go with the flow later? I tend to go with the latter. Often times actors (over here at least...) tend to like to just get it over with and get into a flow and not get interrupted with technical things. Great topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McL Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 34 minutes ago, Olle Sjostrom said: It's always a pleasure reading your posts. I agree with all of this. Even if you didn't mean to start a discussion, I concur totally with everything and I try hard to hone these skills on every job. Although it is very tempting being much more burduse and insensitive with all the other brutes around. Some might call these feats feminine, but I would like to call it common sense. Actors are sometimes looked upon as sheep and they just need herding or whatever. One thing I might add is maybe ground for further discussion and that's ; do you wire everyone before rehearsals or after? This is always a tricky one I think. If course it depends on the shoot, but let's say the director wants to rehearse as soon as heshe can, would you rather let herhim do that and learn the scenery or wire everyone before and go with the flow later? I tend to go with the latter. Often times actors (over here at least...) tend to like to just get it over with and get into a flow and not get interrupted with technical things. Great topic. In answer to your "wire everyone / when" question, in NY we tend to block, light, rehearse, shoot. Brendan and I know what wires we will likely need following the blocking rehearsal. We stick to that 98% of the time. Occasionally and rarely, when we've been deliberately conservative asking to wire someone 'cause of known/anticipated set/lighting/camera/location issues and the issue goes away, we will cancel (or add) a wire should something unexpected like a construction crew that won't work with us pop up. The key is to be that 98% accurate in your initial post-blocking assessment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constantin Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Thank you Jan, that was a wonderful read. When it comes to wiring, I see myself and behave like a service provider, but you have added so much depth to it. Olle, it depends, of course. On the actors, director, the whole flow of the production. If you wire everyone all the time, I will now try to get to their trailer and do it there. It's warm there, they are at ease, and no one else is around to distract us. If I wire from scene to scene, then there really is no rule of thumb, although I try to do it soon as possible, once I've got all the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek H Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Jan, sounds like you choose to personally do the wiring in most cases? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McL Posted January 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 8 hours ago, Derek H said: Jan, sounds like you choose to personally do the wiring in most cases? Yes, Derek, I do, for many reasons, not least of which when I've given it over and it's noisy I get aggravated with the person who wired and I want to avoid that within my team. The first reason is I want to know exactly where the mic is so when an issue arises I can best evaluate and employ a solution and mix with that precise knowledge. The mics live at the tips of my fingers on the faders. Not knowing exactly where they are borks my mix mojo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
José Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 I always struggled to express myself artistically in what I do as a sound mixer. I have been only able to express myself technically. Thank you Jan for showing me that it can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Wilkinson Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Beautiful Jan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 No Borking of Mix Mojo! A T-shirt! Agree 1000% about personal wiring when possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Sjostrom Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 No Borking of Mix Mojo! A T-shirt! Agree 1000% about personal wiring when possible. I echo that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al mcguire Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 sign me up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 Oh, yes. I love how Jan's posts make me look inward and assess my corresponding techniques -- some similar, some different, but thinking about it from the perspectives she presents takes me deeper into the process -- what a special gift! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 Jan's posts are always a wonderful gift to us all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 Thanks Jan. Well written CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berniebeaudry Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 Beautifully communicated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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