First Film

[Brain89]

I am working on my first film.  I have 1 scene with 23 people speaking at one time.....I am new to this.  My thought was lav everyone and chase with a boom which puts me at 24 total....I have a 664 so I know I have 12 channels there but what's the best way to handle this?

 

Do I need a second recorder 664 or 688 or scorpio?  Or, should I get a sound devices 970 and record them all to something like that?

[Jim Feeley]

Maybe get a Scorpio or something like it... And have the film hire a second soundie for at least that day (or days...how long is the scene?). And a couple more people for your crew. Tell them the alternative is having the entire cast and crew wait around for a couple/few hours while you get everyone wired and then get ready to roll. Or suggest ADR.

 

Sincere good luck with this. 

[Johnny Karlsson]

What Jim said... and hopefully (probably?) you are not shooting in the next couple months (for obvious reasons), so you will have plenty of time to figure things out.

 

[Jim Feeley]

50 minutes ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

hopefully (probably?) you are not shooting in the next couple months (for obvious reasons)

 

Good point!

[Trey LaCroix]

3 hours ago, Brain89 said:

I have 1 scene with 23 people speaking at one time.....I am new to this.

That is a tough scene if you are new to this or not. Getting 23 wires to sound good is going to be very difficult, plus be prepared to coordinate all those frequencies. Do you have a utility? I imagine that would be hard to pull off with a single boom operator.

[John Blankenship]

The best solution: a pair of experienced boom ops and a cooperative DP. 

[Zach R]

I’m curious about the scene. Is it a scene where all 23 people are in a wide shot talking about a single subject?

Or is it a party scene of sorts where people are murmuring in the background of the actual content?

Is there coverage of the people as opposed to just a wide of everyone at once or is(are) the camera(s) roaming around picking off people as it makes its way through the scene?

 

23 people speaking “at one time” in the same space would be a nightmare for post. So unless it’s a reality show or something non scripted, there’s a good chance it would be broken up in some way. 

 

I was once told we were going to do a shoot with 15 people talking at once - after the prep for it they ended up basically shooting 1 or 2 people at a time. I was ready for the worst but in the end It was quite easy to boom them one by one. So it could be something like that. 

 

If it does require 23 lavs - Jim is right. Make sure they get you more hands to help wrangle/lav and manage people and gear and that they plan for extra time needed. 

 

[Jim Feeley]

9 hours ago, John Blankenship said:

The best solution: a pair of experienced boom ops and a cooperative DP. 

 

Totally. But my hunch was a first film with that many speaking parts... Either the script calls for tons of overlap, or if sequential, the scene might roll in an "improvised"/nonscripted manner that makes booming difficult. Also: "Let's shoot the rehearsal!... What? You didn't get all that? Why not?"

 

It's not a sound problem. It's a script problem. 🤒

[daniel]

On 3/20/2020 at 1:26 AM, Brain89 said:

I am working on my first film.  I have 1 scene with 23 people speaking at one time.....I am new to this.  My thought was lav everyone and chase with a boom which puts me at 24 total....I have a 664 so I know I have 12 channels there but what's the best way to handle this?

 

Do I need a second recorder 664 or 688 or scorpio?  Or, should I get a sound devices 970 and record them all to something like that?

I ask this in the most humble way as i sometimes find myself on jobs with less than experienced creatives: Is there are chance this is not just your first film but also the director's and the producers' first film too and they don't really know what they are asking for?  I can imagine Camera department may have their concerns too but then thought to themselves it will be worse for Sound, let Sound manage the directors expectations (ie risk pissing them off). Aside from the extra time, crew and difficulty, 23 wires are going to cost a fair bit. Factor in some redundancy and a prep day this is over $4000 just on wireless rental. If you can cut a deal with the rental people and get a percentage then definitely say YES,')

Ah, I just remembered even if it's not everyone talking at the same time in 1 long take etc – if there are to be 23 different people mic'd in a day you will need to have (23) separate belt packs and lavs assigned to each cast member on the day. Still a nice earner and potentially not so hard on frequency coordination. Cost, time and difficulty making a good case for painting the booms out - have you suggested this?