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What is the sound mixers responsibilities?


Peterpete

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Yeah, I wonder why Sennheiser doesn't make a G3 receiver with TC generator for 500bucks. I think that would sell like hot cakes.

chris

Maybe because Zaxcom is already making one for a bit more than 500 bucks? Referring to the ERX here of course, which should be perfect for running solid audio and and reliable TC to the camera in a small package.

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14 minutes ago, Constantin said:

Maybe because Zaxcom is already making one for a bit more than 500 bucks? Referring to the ERX here of course, which should be perfect for running solid audio and and reliable TC to the camera in a small package.

yeah lovely unit.
But I'd also have to buy a zaxcom transmitter while I usually have a spare G3 TX around.

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On 01/03/2017 at 10:53 AM, RPSharman said:

There is no function for a scratch track other than for PluralEyes to sync. But why not send the best possible track? These "scratch tracks" get used more than you would believe. If camera has time code, there's no need for scratch track. Your sound should be synced right away. If they start editing with camera audio, matching back your recordings later is a huge ordeal. So they may simply stick with what they edited with. If that's a "scratch" quality track, then it gets used. 

Given the availability of quality hops, sound sent to camera ought to always be broadcast quality. Even if the camera doesn't record at broadcast quality. 

Just my 2c. 

Out of curiosity. What if someone wants to book you and tells you they want a scratch track. Do you tell them no just sync my files or do you just do it anyway because they requested it. Lately everything I have been on has asked me for timecode. Even small crew indie narratives.

 

Thanks again for all the replies guys. I see that every situations different and everyone handles things differently. 

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I'll do what I'm asked. But I won't run a scratch track. I'll run a proper feed, and I'll advise them that if they plan to use my audio and not camera audio, that they should sync it right away before editing. I also tell them I'll charge for the camera hop. That usually changes their mind about camera audio. TC to camera is a standard these days. Lockit boxes are routinely thrown in the camera package, so I jam it and hand it off. Or I rent them mine and do the same.

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2 hours ago, RPSharman said:

I'll do what I'm asked. But I won't run a scratch track. I'll run a proper feed, and I'll advise them that if they plan to use my audio and not camera audio, that they should sync it right away before editing. I also tell them I'll charge for the camera hop. That usually changes there mind about camera audio. TC to camera is a standard these days. Lockit boxes are routinely thrown in the camera package, so I jam it and hand it off. Or I rent them mine and do the same.

Awesome thanks! I didn't know they would usually throw the lockit boxes in the camera package. Good to know. That will help me when I ask them to rent mine. And help even more for mounting to camera.

Again, I'm sure I'm at a lower level than most of you but I feel like I can barely get to that conversation about post and what to do with my files. Today I spoke to a director about not overlapping dialogue. In this instance it was really ruining the edit. And it just seemed like it's not even close to the importance of the position of the keno that took them 20 minutes to tweak.

At a higher level does this disregard for sound decrease or do these bigger projects get the same treatment? I know this is way off topic now but maybe I'm just venting. Haha sorry!

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At a higher level does this disregard for sound decrease or do these bigger projects get the same treatment? I know this is way off topic now but maybe I'm just venting. Haha sorry!

To roughly translate something that we say here in Germany: the fish stinks from the head down.

The head is the production company, not the director. They pay for everything, so it's their movie. So if the head stinks and production doesn't care about sound, everything else will stink, too, and nobody else will care about the sound.

But if the director repeatedly ignores you and if you are certain that it will cause ADR, you should talk to the production company about it. Do that as soon as possible. That's not snitching on the director or whatever, production needs to know if they are incurring additional costs and you need to protect yourself by making sure they know it's not your fault. They can then talk to the director or do whatever they please.

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4 hours ago, Peterpete said:

At a higher level does this disregard for sound decrease or do these bigger projects get the same treatment? I know this is way off topic now but maybe I'm just venting. Haha sorry!

We had big overlap on a cable show and after I said to the established director, "I know you know how this overlap will limit your options in editorial. Just a reminder," he said "Yeah, I know but performance." Happens a lot. I don't take it personally and make a note on the sound report that this is what the director wanted. The followup to the post super i usually a, "Sorry. How did it go?"

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12 hours ago, Jan McL said:

We had big overlap on a cable show and after I said to the established director, "I know you know how this overlap will limit your options in editorial. Just a reminder," he said "Yeah, I know but performance." Happens a lot. I don't take it personally and make a note on the sound report that this is what the director wanted. The followup to the post super i usually a, "Sorry. How did it go?"

Exactly! 

Our job is to gently advise (or delicately advise in the case of experienced directors) that they may be painting themselves into a corner. Accept the answer and sit down with a smile. Often times, if you feel the edit really won't work, or you haven't managed to get the words clean and similarly somewhere else for a dialog editor to grab, then it's not unreasonable to ask for a "clean" take, even if it's just for the dialog editor to grab a syllable or two to unstitch an overlap that doesn't work with the cut. "Wild lines" on camera, if you will. 

How you present things to directors is something only experience will teach you. One of our directors doesn't care about lighting or sound. Barely cares about performance. Often won't wear headphones. He's efficient and fast, with a healthy ego. I found a way to play directly into it. He'll allow me anything if I can find a way to do it without costing him time. 

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I've just escaped a wonderful debacle!

Brief from Producer:

1/2 day shoot / stage production dress rehearsal / 3 cameras / 30 actors / 2 hour running time

Small budget (not defined) / we cannot afford a sound assistant / we want a high quality recording

Can you use radio mikes or slung mikes?

My answer - "No thanks"

mike

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1 minute ago, mikewest said:

I've just escaped a wonderful debacle!

Brief from Producer:

1/2 day shoot / stage production dress rehearsal / 3 cameras / 30 actors / 2 hour running time

Small budget (not defined) / we cannot afford a sound assistant / we want a high quality recording

Can you use radio mikes or slung mikes?

My answer - "No thanks"

mike

Good answer. So...was he asking for thirty wires? Or was that just the number of actors on stage at one time? 

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Ha! Filming Theatre shows is my core business. If it's a Musical, they might have the 30 wireless for the PA already, but if they can't afford an assistant for half a day, they certainly can't afford the Post sound editing & mixing on that! If it's a Play, you can get quite reasonable coverage from a few well-placed mics, but well-placed puts them in the shot or casting shadows, so you can't win. Sounds like they're unfamiliar with the subject matter.

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