Production Sound Mixer Video Interviews

Underneath all this typing it's sometimes nice to have a few videos to just watch and listen. Some of the rarest to find in the masses and masses of rubbish on youtube are some interviews with sound mixers (there the guys with boom operators) and sound recordists (they do both)


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Heres another great one from Vimeo,

5 More Pre Production Location Sound Recording Basics (Part 2)

As I am a generious guy I thought I would bash out part 2 of pre production basics (meaning essencials and at the very least)
read part one of 5 pre production basics part one

6. Double system 99% of the time
Unless this is a run and gun documentry or live broadcast location news then you probably have the freedom to easily slate and thus easily sync sound from a seperate sound recording device. The double system gets its name because you have one system for visuals and one for sound (according to my understanding)
This has many advantages such as easier capture for wildtracks, better quality recording due to higher quality specific sound recording electronics and wiring, more flexability to be out of the cameras way and less interference from longer cables, balanced or otherwise.

7. Order of priority
Equipment wise, your only as good as your weakest link and many other metephors a side, the equipment is of this importance as it works in a chain, obviously if anything in this chain is terrible then bring that up to the level of the others.
Your first link is the microphone/s its self, this will determine the amount of electronic current that needs amplifaction, the quality of the frequency response and how much other sound outside the polar pattern will be discrete (blocked).
Next is the mixer of some sort (please not just your camera!) Where it will be able to amplify the microphones electric voltage differences to acoustic energy and the better the pre amps and limiters the better the signal to noise ratio and the less your likley to peak and distort any unwanted, un expexted loud sounds.
Finally the recording device which is last because thankfully you have a good mixer doing most the leg work, dont you :-), this allows the freedome of the double system mentioned earlier.
Also dont forget to get balanced cables (refer to glossary) and the fewer cable to cable connections the lesser the chance of interference and noise being amplified with any recording. along with a good support for your microphone on a boom pole so you limit handling noise.

8. Information is only potencial power
Grab as much information on storyboards and floor plans and sizes of rooms and whats near by the location referring to the script. This could save you loads of time on the day in regards to descision making and mike placement, we both know its never exactly like the plan but better to have a guide!

9. Be ahead of the game
Referring to the edit, before hand you can draw up lists for wildtracks and sound effects which could be benificial to the troops in the edit. On another small note: REMEMBER ROOM TONE/ATMOSPHERE RECORDINGS FOR EVERY LOCATION. It's kind of useful, do at least 15 clean! seconds

Finally Number 10. Fail to plan, plan to fail
Not all these elements might be relevant to the situation but it does save you time in the long run and sets a good solid foundation for the edit. After we are part of a bigger creative team to achieve a great end result and just by reading articles like this you know it's more than a job but a lifestyle especially in independant low budget projects. :-) happy days.

Thanks.and comment or share below

Matt Price

The camera that changed the world

Film Link: Camera That Changed the World
Only available for the next 5 days.


This is a quick post about a documentary availible on the BBC iPlayer that shows the evolution of the portable camera and how important it was to the documentary genre. At around the 45 minuite mark there is a short section on the importance of the Nagra and sync sound. So if you can spare an hour over the next 5 days it's worth a watch.


Thanks,


Matt Price

Film Job Sites

Hey all,


This is a quick blog with a couple of big job sites for films and a bit about them.


Mandy.com (worldwide)
Since 1994 this site offers jobs as postings such as classifieds for used equipment. It covers jobs around the world and with your own profile on the site you can be found by others. This enables you to get work from abroad as i have where the projects are in the UK. 
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Good: Free to apply to all jobs
Bad: Lots of expenses only student projects


Film Crew Pro (US, UK, Canada)
"Film Crew Pro was setup in late May 2009 to make the life of crew just a little bit easier. Although we can't guarantee you will get paid work or even tell you about every opportunity, we're going to do our best. We've combined the Blue Compass technology with feedback and advice from hundreds of film and TV professionals. Film Crew Pro is the result, a site which alerts you to upcoming employment opportunities and plugs you into the UK Film & TV community." - Film crew pro's own description
This also has forums and postings in classified like anywhere else and they are very useful, but more people should post in them to get them interesting.
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Good: Lots of proper paid jobs by need to pay £12 a month subscription (no fixed contract)
Bad: very good website but i guess you could complain it isn't free


Talent Circle (UK)
"Talent Circle launched in May 2003 with the simple aim of trying to help people working in film achieve more. The site was designed to be fresh, innovative and offer a real alternative to the other commercial offerings. Today, Talent Circle owned and operated by ScriptPlus Limited, which also runs the London Screenwriters Festival and the London Comedy Writers Festival as well as other workshops and events. ScriptPlus Limited is owned and Operated by Chris Jones." - Talent circles own description

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Good: Nice layout, some decent jobs

Bad: Most features aren't running like the classified ads.

Any more popular ones you use for jobs? then comment,

Thanks,

- Matt Price

Parabolic Refectors

A Parabolic microphone is a microphone with a parabolic reflector fitted to it. This collects and focuses sound on the microphones head like a TV dish picks up satellite signals. This has many advantages for picking up and amplifying distant sounds that you want to isolate from the rest of the environment. A classic example is bird song because parabolic reflectors are very good at picking up high frequencies. this is also used in sports broadcasting, eavesdropping and espionage. 

The high frequencies are picked up more due to the direct physical laws of sound waves. This is because they only focus waves with a wave length much smaller than the diameter of the parabola. To obtain hi-fidelity sounds including the lower end frequencies (down to 20Hz) you need a parabola around 17 metres. This is because if we say the speed of sound is 342 m/s through the air (speed of sound) 342 ms / 20 Hz = 17 metres. Parabolic reflectors will sacrifice the lower end frequencies to be more manageable sizes.

Representation of how a reflector works with microphone facing the central point  for maximum pickup.

Thanks,

- Matt Price

Q+A: Getting Paid In The Film Industry....

This is a rough guide that to be honest is mainly common sense but sometimes the simplest route is the right one.

Who you are...
This is important because you are working with other people in what usual at times becomes very stressful and tiring. This is the most important aspect for getting a job in the first place (paid) and getting referral work, which is like gold dust. The qualities you need such as team work and patience etc.. come from real life, though they are improved a lot after a few years of filming. Generally i like to believe if you are a good person to work with, it will get you a long way.

What do you know?...
Its all very well being the most patience person in the world but not everyone else is when you don't know what your doing, in fact they will have no patience!!. So learn your equipment and the area you are interested in. This is one of the inspirations for this blog because i hope it becomes a massive resource for people to understand more than they need in life and there job but all provide you with better ways of overcoming solutions and instilling confidence in people you are the man or woman for the job.

I have a degree....
This doesn't mean much if you didn't take anything away from it and your dissertation was on an obscure aspect of your field of expertise that has no real relevance to what you do day to day. My personal experience was since i was not keen on the written (ironic now i'm writing a massive blog) but instead focused on the equipment and gaining experience.

But i have no or little experience....
Well what did you learn? this is very important in establishing your skills and knowledge of your field and with you being that good person i'm sure if things went wrong and you learned something then being that good guy others forgave you because you did your best with what you had and you can get referrals.

But everything so expensive...
Loads of people have set up business with much bigger debts than £30,000 of sound equipment for instance and after all its all tax deductible haha... but seriously, getting on the ladder with expenses only films gives you at least a break even balance sheet and if you prove up front you are the best person for the job then you can even get an extra £50 here and £50 there to get your apatite going. I believe only people that truly want to work in this industry get there because its a lot easier to get better at things that don't matter like packing boxes at amazon.

So it's going to be easy now?!?!...
No, sadly not, but it makes it all the more worth while when you get that first job or you get that new microphone and see progress, even seeing that new job for £1000 a week can get you going. (if it doesn't forget everything above) Even to work on films there are no set hours and people expect a lot for not much money on most productions and for everyone to get along and be happy.. BUT i wouldn't want to be doing anything else!!

My success equation is: ((BG * K) * EQ = £) * Reinvestment + Referrals + Testimonials = "successful career"

BG = Being Good Person        K = Knowledge              EQ = Equipment         * = times by

Best of luck and Thanks,

- Matt Price