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Improperly used mics in movies and TV


JonG

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I didn’t take pictures but I just watched a couple of movies where mics were totally positioned wrong and it really made me laugh. One was the Dalton Trumbo biopic and the other was the Chess records film. Both show side address mics repeatedly being pointed at the source as if they were top address mics. Not to mention that some of the mics pictured had not been invented yet in some cases. I thought it would be funny to start a thread for people to post a screen shot whenever they see something like that!

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No this guy had it upside down half the time, and was twirling it around. You could tell someone just handed it to him as a prop and didn’t explain what to do with it. Plus he’s not plugged into anything, no cable coming off the boom. This would be from 1996, unlikely that he’d be wireless. 

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22 hours ago, JonG said:

No this guy had it upside down half the time, and was twirling it around. You could tell someone just handed it to him as a prop and didn’t explain what to do with it. Plus he’s not plugged into anything, no cable coming off the boom. This would be from 1996, unlikely that he’d be wireless. 

If you replied me; I was joking...

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I would say he is in Spain, gathering swift sounds for a sound background.

 

(Several Spanish productions feature really conspicuous swift sounds, which is actually a nice detail because they are really loud in Spring and Summer) ;)

 

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On 6/2/2020 at 2:09 AM, JonG said:

I didn’t take pictures but I just watched a couple of movies where mics were totally positioned wrong and it really made me laugh. One was the Dalton Trumbo biopic and the other was the Chess records film. Both show side address mics repeatedly being pointed at the source as if they were top address mics. Not to mention that some of the mics pictured had not been invented yet in some cases. I thought it would be funny to start a thread for people to post a screen shot whenever they see something like that!

The Dalton Trumbo story was really interesting and the way it brought about the demise of the 'Blacklist' was really quite funny.

My favourite 'improperly used mic' film is 'Blow Out'. Most of the examples given so far have mics pointed in the wrong direction but mostly in suspensions and wind protection. In Blow Out, Travolta points the mic in the right direction but his fingers do all the suspension in windless exteriors. Certainly get 'A' full bodied wind effect for his producer - if not 1 we'd be proud of. But there's the Lav mic scene - and who us hasn't felt like improperly using a lav in such a way at some point ,')

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/XZz9W6coeiA7oVo67  

 

 

 

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15 hours ago, daniel said:

My favourite 'improperly used mic' film is 'Blow Out'. Most of the examples given so far have mics pointed in the wrong direction but mostly in suspensions and wind protection. In Blow Out, Travolta points the mic in the right direction but his fingers do all the suspension in windless exteriors. Certainly get 'A' full bodied wind effect for his producer - if not 1 we'd be proud of. But there's the Lav mic scene - and who us hasn't felt like improperly using a lav in such a way at some point ,'

 

Dan, mine too! Although I always thought of this one as an in-joke: it was a relentless take the piss of film sound (and in my mind should be what sound students should be studying rather than Apocalypse Now and The Conversation heh heh - hope De Palma is listening).

 

Jez

Note - there is some part of me that still after decades thinks that there are even MORE sound jokes in there that relate to Blow Up that I haven't been clever enough to spot. Yes, I truly rate this movie up there with greats of the time (and it is a time I consider great).

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On 6/27/2020 at 7:04 PM, Shastapete said:

You'd think a company making equipment for audio professionals would consult professionals... 

image.png


No, he's holding it right!. He's recording a seagull. As you know some birds know when you are looking at them. (Seagulls are famous for trying to steal food.)
So, he's not looking at the bird not to scare it off, and obviously the bird is circling above / behind them.
Bottom line, as always in film- tv production:

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

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On 11/26/2022 at 9:45 AM, Jim Feeley said:

When camera supplies the mic mounts...

(hat tip to someone on Facebook)

 

https://ascmag.com/podcasts/ac-manual-mullen-hummel-holben

Screen Shot 2022-11-26 at 7.42.25 AM.png

That reminds me of that hilarious job where I forgot a boom pole and had to boom with C stand arms. It was a big commercial in New York and I had to boom a dude singing around a fire and playing guitar. That thing was heavy! I was just starting out. When the crew looked at me sideways I simply told them that this was the executive model!

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