BOOM OPS

[backfocus]

I work mostly on smaller docs and commercials, so I rarely have a boom operator or a second.  After looking through a lot of behind the scenes videos and photos at the start of the year, I am seeing most boom ops not wearing headphones, earbud or anything in their ears.  Are boom ops not listening to what the mic is picking up anymore?  What about communicating with the mixer?  I have gear such as a MM1 etc, for a boom op, It just does not get used much, but I was finding it odd to see people booming and not listening to what it was picking up.  

 

[JesseF]

Tho it does appear to happen on rare occasion, I have personally never worked with a boom op who didn't wear headphones.

[Jason Nicholas]

This sounds like some form of avant garde movement where the sound people don’t listen to what’s recorded and the camera op doesn’t look through the viewfinder and…they just get what they get. 

[Axel Mishael]

34 minutes ago, backfocus said:

I work mostly on smaller docs and commercials, so I rarely have a boom operator or a second.  After looking through a lot of behind the scenes videos and photos at the start of the year, I am seeing most boom ops not wearing headphones, earbud or anything in their ears.  Are boom ops not listening to what the mic is picking up anymore?  What about communicating with the mixer?  I have gear such as a MM1 etc, for a boom op, It just does not get used much, but I was finding it odd to see people booming and not listening to what it was picking up.  

 

A lot of the boom ops prefer in ear type of monitoring like the shure's and perhaps by far they don't seem to have any headphones...

[Philip Perkins]

They all have headphones or buds on every shoot I've ever been on in over 50 years in the business.  Many years ago it was somewhat customary for Euro and non-USA boom ops to work without headphones, since the equipment in use might not have had a good 2nd monitor feed.  With current equipment at all levels there is no excuse for this any more.  Booming without being able to hear what the mic is getting is unprofessional and downright stupid.  Mic positioning is a game of inches, exactly where the mic is pointed when is what separates the great boom ops from the amateur hacks.

[Johnny Karlsson]

4 hours ago, Philip Perkins said:

They all have headphones or buds on every shoot I've ever been on in over 50 years in the business.  Many years ago it was somewhat customary for Euro and non-USA boom ops to work without headphones, since the equipment in use might not have had a good 2nd monitor feed.  With current equipment at all levels there is no excuse for this any more.  Booming without being able to hear what the mic is getting is unprofessional and downright stupid.  Mic positioning is a game of inches, exactly where the mic is pointed when is what separates the great boom ops from the amateur hacks.

+1Billon

[dennismarc1uska]

8 hours ago, backfocus said:

I work mostly on smaller docs and commercials, so I rarely have a boom operator or a second.  After looking through a lot of behind the scenes videos and photos at the start of the year, I am seeing most boom ops not wearing headphones, earbud or anything in their ears.  Are boom ops not listening to what the mic is picking up anymore?  What about communicating with the mixer?  I have gear such as a MM1 etc, for a boom op, It just does not get used much, but I was finding it odd to see people booming and not listening to what it was picking up.  

 

Every single commercial set I've been on, I've seen the boom op wearing headphones or some sort of in-ear monitor. It would be a disadvantage to not hear whether you need to make minor adjustments.

[DanieldH]

Headphones (and most IEM) prevent you from localizing unwanted sources of noise and catching up relevant information from crew, directors, etc. During take, in noisy ambience they may be necessary to follow the dialog. They may be helpful as a feedback to position the mic or avoid rumbling noise. From what I have seen in 2 decades, at least on old shows, in studios or with experienced boom ops HPs are an option but not standard.

My somewhat standard setup is a BBI Stereo Sidekick, because of its transparency, with a very faint prefader boom signal and a significantly louder private line comms from the recordist to get the frameline or cues.
During setup change, I might put the boom in the set, so I can hear command routines while hanging out at the sound cart, coffee table or somewhere. During text rehearsal, I might listen into a lav mix. There are some situations, when I listen to program mix or a (more-than-one) boom mix, but most of the time, I do not "monitor" any mic when booming.

[syncsound]

21 hours ago, Philip Perkins said:

They all have headphones or buds on every shoot I've ever been on in over 50 years in the business.  Many years ago it was somewhat customary for Euro and non-USA boom ops to work without headphones, since the equipment in use might not have had a good 2nd monitor feed.  With current equipment at all levels there is no excuse for this any more.  Booming without being able to hear what the mic is getting is unprofessional and downright stupid.  Mic positioning is a game of inches, exactly where the mic is pointed when is what separates the great boom ops from the amateur hacks.

 

Also, I need to be able to talk privately to my boom ops, especially to have them repo the boom if they break frame, throw a shadow that I can see but they can't, etc.

[Philip Perkins]

4 hours ago, syncsound said:

 

Also, I need to be able to talk privately to my boom ops, especially to have them repo the boom if they break frame, throw a shadow that I can see but they can't, etc.

Well, that's always the hard part, the communications!  Not so hard for 1-way (mixer>boom op), a lot harder for that plus boom op>mixer.  There are many solutions out there, you might check in with one of the pro audio dealers about what is currently available off the shelf for this purpose.   You very well may find that you have to modify something to suit your gear and working style, especially if you want your boom op to be 100% wireless.

[VASI]

I can't find a reason someone not wearing headphones while working in sound department, especially the first assistant (ie. boom operator), where only four (or six) pairs of ears actually hear. Seriously. Especially in 2025 where mixers - recorders has private line and boom microphone can be routed pre-fade in an output. I cannot imagine a PSM comes to set and start talking while there is a communication between director and actors. This is basics.

[backfocus]

I am glad I am not the only one that believes that a boom op should have something to hear what they are recording.  As I stated, I have seen several behind the scenes photos of ops not wearing anything while recording or going through the scenes.  The one that really got me was a BTS of Carry-on for Netflix, , it was shot in New Orleans mostly, but there are many others films I have spotted this as well.  The ops have no packs, radios ear pieces, etc., they are just booming with the wireless attached to the boom.  That would never fly on something I am mixing on, mic placement is too important and as stated by Philip "Mic positioning is a game of inches".   

[Mark LeBlanc]

The boom op that worked on Carry-On uses Etonic Custom Fitted earbuds... Many boom ops at the highest level are now wearing in ears that make range of motion easier.  So you can retrack your previous statement at least in regards to Carry-On..

[backfocus]

1 hour ago, Mark LeBlanc said:

The boom op that worked on Carry-On uses Etonic Custom Fitted earbuds... Many boom ops at the highest level are now wearing in ears that make range of motion easier.  So you can retrack your previous statement at least in regards to Carry-On..

I am just saying there were no earbuds in on the shots that I have seen.  Maybe they were just doing run-throughs????  I have searched for the Etonics and have not found them yet.  I am curious to learn about newer gear if it is available.  Any links???

[Mark LeBlanc]

bad spelling on the type Here's the link.

https://www.etymotic.com/

[backfocus]

12 minutes ago, Mark LeBlanc said:

bad spelling on the type Here's the link.

https://www.etymotic.com/

Thanks I will take a look.  

[Derek H]

Backfocus, do you have links to these photos and videos of boom ops without headphones/IEMs?

 

 Is it possible that in the photo given the angle you’re just seeing the ear they don’t have The IEM in?
 

I only boom with one ear on and suspect that might be common. I might be in the minority but I still prefer HD25s over IEMs or other buds. 

[Catgut Sound]

Yes! Please, show me pictures of this boom op not wearing headphones. 

[backfocus]

On 2/21/2025 at 8:57 PM, Derek H said:

Backfocus, do you have links to these photos and videos of boom ops without headphones/IEMs?

 

 Is it possible that in the photo given the angle you’re just seeing the ear they don’t have The IEM in?
 

I only boom with one ear on and suspect that might be common. I might be in the minority but I still prefer HD25s over IEMs or other buds. 

I did not save any, I had saw a behind the scenes for Carry-on and noticed it in a fight scene then saw a few more photos.  So I started looking at other films I have seen recently and I have seen the same on a few of those behind the scenes photos and videos as well.  It is possible that one side was hidden, but it did not appear they had packs or anything on.  As I stated, I don't have a boom op very often, but when I do, they are monitoring the boom and have communication with me as well.  So they will have stuff in a pack or on their belt, depending on how they want to work.  I am not familiar with the IEMs very much, or at least what is newer on the market.  I will need to do some more research in my next downtime.  What do you typically have on your person while booming?  

[Derek H]

I keep it very minimal. Lectrosonics’s R1b on my belt and HD25 headphones. I don’t wear any pouches or anything that tend to get snagged on stuff. 

Oh, also we use a talkback system to communicate privately so I have a Lectro LT transmitter in my front pocket with a lav up on my collar. 

[Wandering Ear]

I have been mixing on Etymotic in ears with custom molds for many years. Once I started, I never went back. 

 

My boom ops wear their headphone of choice, fed by a Zaxcom URX100. Most of the time that's in a pocket or inside a jacket so you wouldn't see it in BTS photos.   Usually the cable is routed inside the clothes too. 
 

in between takes i also only wear a single ear, which would be really easy to miss on bts.   

[Louw Verwoerd]

When I was training as a Boom Operator, my Mixer insisted that I don't wear any headphones (likely also due to a lack having the gear some 25 years ago). I learned to operate using hard line cabled poles. Anton's advice was to rather concentrate on technique ('hydraulic arms') and finding the line of the frame with relation to actors and lens. There are a lot of spatial factors to become aware of when you've never done it before. By adding 'ears', now you also need to learn to compensate your navigation of the set by throwing your auditory balance out with how ever long the pole is. I encourage  the approach to train-train-train your muscle responses and spatial orientation before adding ears. The Boom Operator is not in charge of quality control. On the floor you have too many stimuli and obstacles to overcome without adding handling noise to the track. The Boom Operator is completely in charge of mic placement in a dynamic scene. Provided your depth perception and dialogue queues are sharp, you can do a great job without earphones. When I'm called to Operate the pole nowadays, I prefer using my Sennheiser HD-26's. Swivel ear is open for set observations. I find 'In-Ears' obtrusive and impossible to shake off if for whatever reason the signal starts melting my brain. Each to his own.

[Jason Nicholas]

I’ve started doing some training with a very experienced boom op here in Australia; she wears monitors now but, decades ago, did learn it by eye. It’s her take that one, ideally, needs to know how to boom both visually and aurally; it’s both/and if for no other reason that it gives you a split second advantage when swinging the boom to set up on another actor before he/she starts speaking or if someone looks like they are about to improvise a line, etc. Also, the actor might deliver a line, then move across the room and wait for a moment before the next one while you are tracking with them on mic. I suppose, akin to using a tape or laser measure when focus pulling, it’s a double confirmation; yes, I can see that it’s in focus on the monitor but I need to prepare for the mark here and here and here through the take. 

[Derek H]

I agree with Louw, I dislike in ears because they throw your spatial senses off so much. I like HD25s which are easy to have one on one off or even have them kinda half on. Usually I keep the ear that faces the actors on and the away ear off to maintain some sense of my surroundings and especially what’s behind me. 
 

Also very much agree that you need to be perceptive and watch for small clues from the actors that no one else sees in order to time your cues. And you’ll still miss sometimes. 

[Philip Perkins]

You can train your muscles all you want but at the end of the day a boom op needs to be able to make a judgement about the sound they are pulling in.  It takes some experience to understand how to feather a mic between multiple speakers in a group scene, while continuing to "pattern-off" an interfering sound.   If this is done merely by eye then all you are doing is guessing about whether or not your mic placement is working.  In modern dramatic scenes with multiple actors the mixer might be managing and monitoring a large number of lav mics and plants at the same time as a boom or two.   As the mixer I can't keep my monitor feed only on the poles all the time, so I rely on the boom ops (with cans) to tell me how they did on a given take.  I also need them to report to me about problem BGs with info on whether or not that noise is on-axis enough to their mic that we need to get help with it.   Out on the set an AD is going to hear a possibly problematic sound issue and ask the boom op if they are picking that up.  The boom op needs headphones to be able to give a good answer.