BOOM OPS

[backfocus]

Thank you everyone for the continued professional discussion on this topic.  I like hearing all the different perspectives on the why and how you are accomplishing the task at hand.  

[Fred Salles]

Hi, for once I totally disagree with you Philip. You cannot judge a boom op non professional and downright stupid because he/she is not wearing heaphones! 
The choice of wearing headphones is for the boom op to make and the practice is I guess cultural and also generational. 
In France for a long time boom op were not wearing headphones and were actually often disregarding the ones wearing some as “unprofessionals” 😅 

A very experienced boom op does not need to ear what the mike is picking to know if she/he got it right. Just as experienced focus pullers of previous generation did not need video monitor to know if they had a soft or not. 
Same as Louw I was trained to boom without headphones (although comteks already existed though quite bad) for not only all the reasons Louw gave but also because the boom op need to focus on his/her movements in space, the movements of the actors and the camera, the lights, all the sounds that can occur on set, wanted or unwanted, and so on… And having to listen to something in an earphone can affect that focus. 

Focusing on what is recorded is the job of the sound recordist! 
You can practice and begin working with an earphone if you still not master your skills as a boom op but you definitely do not need it when you have experience!

I know in USA it is a big thing and when I worked as a boom op on my first american tv feature the recordist made  me wear headphones and head mike, plugged in an intercom box on my belt that was plugged to an insanely thick cable 🤣 It took me a while to get used to it but was happy with the ability to communicate with him so easily!

 

That said I do ask my boom op to wear headphones for communication purpose, espescially nowadays that regearsals are things we need to fight for and therefore scarce so i need to give instructions whenever camera zoom change frame during or between takes for example… 

All the young ones are used to it anyway, but from time to time, an experienced boom op would prefer not to wear it during the take. If i do not have to complain about his/her job then I am fine with it as long as she wears it when I need her to hear what i have to say if necessary (sometimes  eyes contact is more than enough!)

 

Anyway all that to say that some of the best and more recognised professional boom ops here in France were, and sometimes still are, not wearing headphones, and we are very happy with their job!