It's the Little Things...

[Cory Kaseman]

I mostly work from a bag, and I got tired of tripping over my boom cable and constantly having it get tangled in stuff.  One day I was browsing B&H and found some coiled XLR cables meant to replace the interior cables in K-tek poles.  Now I'm positive I'm not the first person to come up with this, and for all I know it's a well-known trick among run and gun guys... but I don't know any others personally and have learned everything I know as I go.  I was damn happy with myself for finding it, and best of all is no more tangles.  I bought one that stretches from 1.5' to 9' and it's been perfect.

Also I am right handed, and always hold a boom with my right hand at the end and my left supporting the weight.  I got tired of having to stretch the cable across the front of the bag, so I got a right-angle xlr plug and built an extension cable.  It plugs in to an input on the left-hand side of my 552, runs through the bag right in front of the mixer, and comes out with a jack on the right-hand side.  Velcroed in place so it doesn't bounce against the mixer and make noise.  Now I don't have to worry about snagging that bit of cable on things or just generally being annoyed by it.  Am I alone in wishing that the input and output sides on SD mixers were switched?

I've been entertaining the idea of building an attachment for the headband of my cans.  A sort of cradle that will go on the top part of it, and be well cushioned and made of a quiet material, so that I can temporarily rest the boom on top of my head in order to adjust faders/knobs/misc settings/scratch my nose with my left hand whilst still booming the action.  It will swivel so I can follow.  I'm sure it would look silly as hell, but many is the time (especially during LONG-ASS SCENES and shots with unpredictable noise levels), when I have wished I could either temporarily take the strain off my supporting arm or fiddle my faders.

Once upon a time I saw a product that was similar, basically a pole with a cradle at the top.  It clipped on your belt and allowed you to rest the pole on it, freeing one hand while still being able to swivel and follow.  Anybody know what I'm talking about?

[Marc Wielage]

Once upon a time I saw a product that was similar, basically a pole with a cradle at the top.  It clipped on your belt and allowed you to rest the pole on it, freeing one hand while still being able to swivel and follow.  Anybody know what I'm talking about?

You might mean the Kit Cool from ATS:

http://atscomms.com/Sales/Products/CoolCam/Kit_Cool/kit_cool.html

--Marc W.

[Cory Kaseman]

That's exactly it; thank you.

Does anyone here have experience with them?  I'm worried the cradle and rotating mechanism would introduce handling noise when you move it.  Also seems like it would be awkward to use with a dual-shoulder bag harness, which I prefer.  I can't help but think they have some major drawback to their use, otherwise why wouldn't they proliferate?  You'd think every run and gun guy on the planet would be using it, but I've never seen one outside of the internet.

[Peter Mega]

I've tried using one and what I found was that its a bit cumbersome. Once you've got yourself sorted, it actually works quite well but its a slow process. When I say slow, I mean that its not like quickly grabbing your kit and pole and start shooting. It takes a bit of time to prep yourself.

I think its a great solution for a boom op, but with a harness and shoulder kit, its fiddly.

The cradle works well and I didn't notice any noise from it but I'm going off memory from years ago.

What sort of mixer/recorder are you using? Maybe you could use a remote boom pole fader like the SD CL2 for the 788T?

Cheers

Peter Mega

[Cory Kaseman]

I've considered a CL2 but that only helps to adjust the boom.  If I'm running 4 lavs as well and need to make quick adjustments then I'm out of luck.  In the near future I'll be doing a lot of stuff involving conversations happening around loud cars and motorcycles, people constantly shifting between normal speaking and yelling, etc.  I'm sure I'll made do with what I'm running currently but it's always nice to think about options.

I also do a lot of stuff where I am constantly having to put a hand on the camera op's shoulder to guide him and keep him from running over things and people.  I can usually manage to hold the boom in one hand for that but it gets tiring after a while.  Would be nice to have it supported and also be able to run the pole longer than would be possible if I needed to one-hand it.  This seems like a good solution.  Now if only I can find someone who owns one and would let me play with it before I try and buy my own...

[Kevin Sorensen]

This stuff sure seems to be much more sticky than Joes sticky stuff. Double faced carpet tape.

[TimPitot]

I carry one of these little guys in my bag, it is great for directors to hear whats going on if we are shooting from far away or outside a building looking in.

They stay charged for ages and are very light, so no hassle to carry round until you need it.

[Eric Toline]

I carry one of these little guys in my bag, it is great for directors to hear whats going on if we are shooting from far away or outside a building looking in.

They stay charged for ages and are very light, so no hassle to carry round until you need it.

That is so cool. Thanks for the heads up. The link for it is, www.x-mini.com.

Eric

[JDirckze]

Just received my X-Mini II. Love it! I've been looking for a small portable speaker to take with me on interstate and overseas gigs, as the speakers on my laptop just don't get loud enough. Love the fact I can now just plug in my iPod and relax in the hotel room with some tunes.

Thanks for the recommendation!

Jase

[Matthias Richter]

when working off the cart with 12V smthin like this might come in handy to charge the x-mini:

http://www.pro-car.de/en/produkte/pro116.html

matthias

[John Moore]

Anyone have a US outlet for this? I've tried searching for the part number & description without any luck.

John

when working off the cart with 12V smthin like this might come in handy to charge the x-mini:

http://www.pro-car.de/en/produkte/pro116.html

matthias

[johngooch]

just fixed two zippers on my mixer bag.  Splendid.

http://www.zipperfixer.com/

[img alt=both-final_large.jpg]http://jwsound.net/SMF/webkit-fake-url://C2893661-74A1-4080-B27B-5FB42A347322/both-final_large.jpg

[Bob Marts]

I use Lectrosonics IFB's (w/ attenuator cables) for my 5D and 7D reference audio hops. I found some little plastic furniture leg tips to cover the knob collars to keep the knobs at the same setting and prevent them from accidentally being turned off - Same idea as the switch protectors some folks use on TC slates.

[Jan McL]

Quiet, rubberized 'paper' shopping bags.

Just ordered a few for the kit, having been burned over the winter with a prop team that didn't have 'em on hand.

http://issprops.com/expendables/products/bags004

I hear they also make quiet plastic shopping bags, but can't find 'em on Google.

Anybody?

-- Jan

[Eric Toline]

At $20 each I hope you can get production to pay for them.

Eric

[ProSound]

Quiet, rubberized 'paper' shopping bags.

Just ordered a few for the kit, having been burned over the winter with a prop team that didn't have 'em on hand.

http://issprops.com/expendables/products/bags004

I hear they also make quiet plastic shopping bags, but can't find 'em on Google.

Anybody?

-- Jan

Jan,

Please let us know  how these work out for you.

[LarryF]

Hi Bob,

Great idea. Will work on a Lectro version that will keep the little nylon nubbin that protects the metal plating. Wish we had thought of it.

Best,

Larry F

Lectro

After losing a couple of the tiny screws from the SM wire clips, I went to my favorite hardware store in Seattle (Tacoma Screw Products http://www.tacomascrew.com/ ) and fitted little thumb screws which have made things much easier when removing the clips - plus I don't need to have a tiny allen wrench to remove it.

[Zack]

when working off the cart with 12V smthin like this might come in handy to charge the x-mini:

http://www.pro-car.de/en/produkte/pro116.html

matthias

I love this about my Powerstar v2.0

[WhyOne]

I vote this the most enjoyable thread in the forum!

Thank you all,

Jay P.

[Jan McL]

I vote this the most enjoyable thread in the forum!

Thank you all,

Jay P.

Thanks, Jay. Pleasure to 'meet' you. See your name everywhere and delighted you've returned to posting on the forum.

Here's another little thing: an automated Comtek delivery / return system.

Not exactly the item pictured in the video that I got at the Container Store, but this is as close as I could find online:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/closet/shoeStorage/hanging?productId=10022388&N=65218

-- Jan

[Jan McL]

@Whitney, here's a video of the quiet paper bags.

Worth every penny.

Again, here's the purchase link:

http://issprops.com/expendables/products/bags004

Still await news of "quiet" plastic bags...

-- Jan

[Olle Sjostrom]

Reviving this one with an item that probably a lot of you already know of or use, but I still think its pretty neat! Awesome for all you baggies!

It's a small tackle box. Amazing! Absolutely love it. Like $10 or something.

[johngooch]

http://www.funwithwi...00&idparent=171

Kite ends for treatment of ladies' heels. Idea from boom op Julie Stalker-Wilde.

I keep handy scissors (to cut 'em shorter), Joe's Sticky Stuff, and Topstick for those that don't quite fit tightly enough. If you get enough sizes, you can usually find one that fits very tight. No complaints, even from the stiletto crowd.

Ordered the 2nd product listed, #'s 07 - 14. That was a good starter bunch.

-- Jan

Hi Jan, this is a great tip (PUN) I am a little confused regarding which actual items you ordered. I do not see #'s 07 thru 14. Could you clarify? Sorry if missed something obvious.

Thanks! John.

[Jan McL]

Hi Jan, this is a great tip (PUN) I am a little confused regarding which actual items you ordered. I do not see #'s 07 thru 14. Could you clarify? Sorry if missed something obvious.

Thanks! John.

Ha. Pun-ny.

Hi, John!

Guess FunWithWind re-did their site.

Took a screen shot of my original order (thankfully) and include it here:

Hope this helps.

[johngooch]

Thanks again Jan! Glad they redid their website, i was having a hell of time trying to decode what you indicated that you purchased against the data on the page.