Sound related goofs in films

[cmgoodin]

I was watching the great film "Stand By Me" again tonight as they ran it on ION on it's 25th anniversary.

Good film and great sound by Bob Eber and Doug Arnold. However I did notice something in the scene right after Corey Feldman plays "Chicken" with the train. As the kids all walk back up to the tracks after the train passes, Jerry O'Connel seems to be limping. As you look closely he has dislodged his Wireless transmitter and it can be seen clearly dangling from his left ankle and dragging the ground as climbs the burm to walk down the tracks.

These days little Faux Pas like this would be fixed with a digital touch-up or they would use an alternate take. Maybe because the train would be difficult to re-set they had to use this one but it is still funny to see un fixed after all these years.

Looks like a Tan Vega Dynex II transmitter if I'm not mistaken.



[RPSharman]

Saw the same thing on the "Nutty Professor" as Jada Pinkett (in heels and a short dress) chases Eddie Murphy across a grassy area. It's a night scene, but you can see the thigh strap sliding down her leg. It was a long shot, if I remember, with her running up and ending in an over. They probably loved the performance, and perhaps missed the flub until it was too late.

Thank goodness for the SM and Neopax or Coban.

[dfisk]

I love it when I see lavs under shirts. You see this buldge. I really only see that on television shows, and it's not that often. But every now and again, even my wife will say "hey, is that the mic under the shirt?".

[Tom Visser]

I could of swore I saw lav in plain sight on Leo in Shutter Island on a CU.

[Ian Thomson]

I love it when I see lavs under shirts. You see this buldge. I really only see that on television shows, and it's not that often. But every now and again, even my wife will say "hey, is that the mic under the shirt?".

on the flip-side, I've been amazed at the number of times I've been approach on-set by someone saying that they can see the bulge of an actors body mic on the monitor - and had to tell them that the actor in question isn't body-mic'ed... sometimes the wardrobe will bunch-up in an unfortunate way.

of course I've also been bitten by murphy's law - and improptu dancing/running/fighting has caused an otherwise solid mic-rig, to reveal itself on camera...

[RPSharman]

I could of swore I saw lav in plain sight on Leo in Shutter Island on a CU.

It happens.

I did a movie with an actor who couldn't leave his tie alone. We were shooting three cameras, multiple lavs and boom. I couldn't see it on my monitor, and apparently nobody noticed, all the way to the final print. But an extreme close-up, which held just below the tie knot up to a hair-cut, included at least 1/2" of lav. Someone can do the math, but on a 60' wide screen, that's a lot of lav.

[studiomprd]

If you know where and when to look, there are partially exposed lav's all the time; we used to hide COS-11's peeking out of the tie knots all the time on The West Wing

[Tom Visser]

It happens.

I did a movie with an actor who couldn't leave his tie alone. We were shooting three cameras, multiple lavs and boom. I couldn't see it on my monitor, and apparently nobody noticed, all the way to the final print. But an extreme close-up, which held just below the tie knot up to a hair-cut, included at least 1/2" of lav. Someone can do the math, but on a 60' wide screen, that's a lot of lav.

Yep, was in the theaters, and was pretty quick, but something that just popped into my head, but surely not noticed by a single other person in the theater. There is a chance that I was mistaken too, will definitely look for it if I ever see it at home.

[aristotle_kumpis]

I just watched Spreading Ground with Dennis Hopper. I could not believe this one, but there was a scene that was shot wide. And as Dennis leaves the the frame, you can see the entire boom pole and mic on the top of the frame! You can even see the boom op moving it back and forth. This is not a sound department issue (or is it), more of an editing issue. But I can't understand why the editor left that in. Crazy.

[RPSharman]

I just watched Spreading Ground with Dennis Hopper. I could not believe this one, but there was a scene that was shot wide. And as Dennis leaves the the frame, you can see the entire boom pole and mic on the top of the frame! You can even see the boom op moving it back and forth. This is not a sound department issue (or is it), more of an editing issue. But I can't understand why the editor left that in. Crazy.

Curious if you saw this movie 4x3. I have seen movies from 80s and 90s which are broadcast 4x3 or transferred to DVD "full screen" 4x3, but were simply transferred as full academy from film. On set, the boom may have been out of 1:85, but not out of TV safe. They may not have bothered with a "proper" transfer of a lower profile film.

[Nicole Hankerson]

I was watching House Party the other day and when the dad leaves Kid's room and he is wearing the white wife beater and khaki pants you can see the receiver pack that was suppose to be hidden in his pants. Its the clip and its bulky. Never noticed along time ago but did the other day.

Nicole

[Mirror]

Check out "As Good As It Gets". Near the end, Nicholson and Keaton are having an argument outside of a restaurant, in Paris I believe, and you can see about 4 inches of the beige tram mic on Keaton between her jacket and blouse. Left side, her right.

[aristotle_kumpis]

Curious if you saw this movie 4x3. I have seen movies from 80s and 90s which are broadcast 4x3 or transferred to DVD "full screen" 4x3, but were simply transferred as full academy from film. On set, the boom may have been out of 1:85, but not out of TV safe. They may not have bothered with a "proper" transfer of a lower profile film.

Hey Rob. The movie came out in 2001, and it was not wide screen format.

[Jeff Wexler]

I did "As Good As It Gets" and the scene is actually in Brooklyn. I did 5 weeks in New York at the beginning and then the bulk of the movie was shot here in Los Angeles. I believe the scene you describe was done during a 2 week reshoot for which I was unavailable. I'm not sure who actually did that part.

[Mike Ford]

On an episode of "Arrested Development" the Bluth family is having an emergency meeting about some possible leaks about family business. At the moment when Gob Bluth says "it's almost like they have a microphone in this room!" you see the boom intentionally dip deep into the frame...cracks me up.

[Marc Wielage]

I just watched Spreading Ground with Dennis Hopper. I could not believe this one, but there was a scene that was shot wide. And as Dennis leaves the the frame, you can see the entire boom pole and mic on the top of the frame! You can even see the boom op moving it back and forth.

Bad framing by the telecine operator in the video transfer. We usually fix this stuff. I've fixed a thousand things like this, even minor films on which nobody cares. But it matters to me, so I always fix it.

Theatrical films also have the problem of bad framing in the projector. If they're half a perf up or down, you can definitely wind up seeing more than you were ever intended to (with 1.85 films). Projection issues are becoming less and less of a problem, with the advent of digital projection and digital intermediates.

On films made in the last ten years, they can literally go in and paint out the boom mike, if they want to spend the money. It's a pretty trivial expense, too, depending on the background, the camera movement, and the framing.

--Marc W.