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How to silence a leather jacket


Christian Spaeth

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I'll be working on a series where one of the regular actors often wears a leather jacket, classicmotorcycle/Ramones style with lots of zippers that make a lot of noises. There's usually gonna be a lav on him so I'm wondering how to best get the zippers silent. Does anyone have a tip?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

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I'll be working on a series where one of the regular actors often wears a leather jacket, classicmotorcycle/Ramones style with lots of zippers that make a lot of noises. There's usually gonna be a lav on him so I'm wondering how to best get the zippers silent. Does anyone have a tip?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

If you mean noises from the zipper pull tabs then tape them down on the back side. Other than that you'll need to explain what noises you're concerned about.

Eric

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I did mean zipper noises. I'll try taping but on some of those zippers the piece that you pull on when zipping is very long (like on the wrist end of the jacket) so it might look weird when I just tape the thing?

If you mean noises from the zipper pull tabs then tape them down on the back side. Other than that you'll need to explain what noises you're concerned about.

Eric

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I think a conversation with your Producer, which includes the 1st AD and DP (at least via email) should be had.  The jacket is obviously a character choice, and is not likely to be changed or minimized.  If all the players know about this problem, you can have it established that "wide and tight" for this character will be difficult due to lav issues, etc.  Try to boom often.  Also talk to costume supervisor and ask if they can treat the leather in any way, or distress it in any manner, to make it softer.  As others have posted, a little Joe's or Topstick on the back side of the zipper to keep it rattling will help.  Or perhaps remove the metal zipper tag or replace it with a leather one.  If this is a hero costume for a lead character, modifying it shouldn't be an issue.

Robert

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The leather itself has been my biggest issue, but a jacket like you describe often has so much detail on its surface (zips, studs, tabs, epaulets, pockets etc) that you MIGHT be able to figure out a way to hide in plain sight, at least some of the time.  It would be a good investment for all concerned to have a little "sound fitting" with the jacket ahead of time, and see what the director, costumer and actor will allow.  If the show owns the jacket then lots of mods are possible....

phil p

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Wow, thanks all, awesome tips! I think I would spend half an hour with the costumer and the jacket and see what can be done to that nasty jacket. On this show there is a need to rely on lavs because they shoot 8 to 10 minutes a day and the boom op often has to deal with glass/car window reflections, lights from all kinds of angles etc that makes it impossible to boom sometimes in a wide shot. Obviously so far they didn't mind the jacket being noisy but I do, so thanks for all your help.

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Wow, thanks all, awesome tips! I think I would spend half an hour with the costumer and the jacket and see what can be done to that nasty jacket. On this show there is a need to rely on lavs because they shoot 8 to 10 minutes a day and the boom op often has to deal with glass/car window reflections, lights from all kinds of angles etc that makes it impossible to boom sometimes in a wide shot.

Obviously so far they didn't mind the jacket being noisy but I do, so thanks for all your help.

How pronounced is the "noise" in the mix? If "they" don't mind it then don't fix it, it's not broken.

Eric

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How pronounced is the "noise" in the mix? If "they" don't mind it then don't fix it, it's not broken.

Eric

I dont know. They might not even notice it but I do and I have this motivation to try and get my sound as good as I can, plus it wouldn't cost me more than half an hour maybe to at least reduce the clackering and clicking sounds.

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Eric Toline:How pronounced is the "noise" in the mix? If "they" don't mind it then don't fix it, it's not broken.

Christian Spaeth:They might not even notice it but I do and I have this motivation to try and get my sound as good as I can...

This issue of trying to fix problems that others might not even be aware of is a matter worthy of some attention and thought.

Work to control issues that go unnoticed by others often makes sound people appear fussy and difficult to please. There are definitely times when it's best to just hang back and accept some noises as a natural part of the scene.

Often it isn't so much that a particular sound is objectionable in itself as it is that the noise occurs frequently. A squeek or click that goes unnoticed the first time becomes a distraction on the third or fourth occurrence.

This can apply to noisy locations as well. I often will consult with a director about a scene to ask what precedes and follows it. I can read the script, of course, but may not have a good sense of where the scenes are to be shot and how the director intends to handle them in editing. It's OK to have a scene on a noisy street corner or in a bar full of patrons if the dialog can be plainly heard above the background. But the audience invariably must focus attention in listening to separate the words from the context. If one noisy scene follows another and another, the cumulative demand on the audience becomes wearying and they may let attention drift.

It's almost always worth a bit of effort to control or minimize distracting sounds. But it's not necessary, or even advisable, to try to strip the scene of everything but the dialog. This is why the work is really more about being perceptive to the function of a scene and the dramaturgy than it is about microphones or recorders.

David

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It's almost always worth a bit of effort to control or minimize distracting sounds. But it's not necessary, or even advisable, to try to strip the scene of everything but the dialog. This is why the work is really more about being perceptive to the function of a scene and the dramaturgy than it is about microphones or recorders.

David

Nicely put, David.

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Correct David...the thing to remember is the audience will only get to hear the dialog once....if I don't hear it when I'm recording, neither will anyone else...so it must be clear.....the worst thing is to be in an audience and hear people around you asking....."What did they say?"

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I see your point, David, but to me doing my job doesn't only mean satisfying the client and audience, but also delivering sound that I myself would enjoy listening to later. Of course there are many things most people in the audience won't mind or even notice. But I enjoy challenging myself to making scenes not only sound acceptable but in a way that makes me think "yeah!". Maybe that's because I haven't been in the business for very long, but it would sadden me to not have that satisfaction in my work life.

By the way, to me the challenge is not about trying to eliminate all sounds except from dialogue. Instead it's getting a scene to sound natural and good. And some noises just disturb my ears (like the leather jacket's), others I like.

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