What can I do about this audio problem on set?

H

harmonica44

My next shoot is tomorrow for someone else's short film. The location he chose has a sealing that is too low to fit my blimp in, which I use for wind protection. There's no wind indoors but when I boom the mic and swing it from actor to actor, wind gets in and causes static or interference. I use the AT4053b mic. Although the interference is only there when I swing in between dialogue, there is a chance someone will start talking before the interference is over.

So since I cannot use the blimp, does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do? Can I make a DIY device for tomorrow? I tried ordering a ball gag, since they take up less space, but it did not come in in time, and the shoot is next morning, if anyone has any advice in time. Thanks for the help :).
 
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Get out your sledge hammer and start making some room ;)

In all seriousness, this question has been asked and answered by you multiple times (with a slightly different scenario). It's all the same answer. Talk with your production people. Get the appropriate equipment you need for the jobs you accept and learn what you can do in those situations. A prod to the production team to get better locations may also be in order.

And I know, you're then going to go on about how they want to do everything in wide shots only blah blah blah. Stop getting involved with people who are xerox copies of yourself.
 
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Well they expect me to do a competent job in the locations given, and they will not change them. Usually in my experience once, a producer/director has chosen the location, I have zero say and that's it. So I will do my best with what I am given, but have warned them. Plus I wouldn't call them xerox copies of myself, as I would choose locations that would be suitable for the audio, and I would definitely let the PSM have more say.
 
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So why not boom from underneath? Or the side? Hell, in tight situations like that I've used a pistol grip.

When the situation is not optimum you have to adapt - we've discussed this many times in the past.

And I'm sure that your mic came with a foam sleeve. Stick it on the mic tonight and wave it around a few times to see if it resolves the motion breeze problem.

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I already suggested to him about the underneath booming but he wouldn't go for it, and says it gets in the way of the shots and the actor's movements.

He won't let me do anything else. This is the same guy who loves his wide mastershots. It did come with a foam sleeve, but the sleeve sucks and there is still wind interference when swinging the boom. I was told before, that I need something heavier, which is why I got the blimp before. I can boom from the side, but when I have done that before the mic, is at least 5 feet or more away, in the shots where actors are talking in the background, and that is too far. But I will do my best with what he allows.
 
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This is the same guy who loves his wide mastershots.
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You insist on doing projects where you KNOW there will be issues, where the film makers won't allow you to do your job properly. You know the popular definition of insanity, right?

he knows what he's doing.
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How has the audio turned out in other productions you've been on with him?
 
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harmonica44 said:
I already suggested to him about the underneath booming but he wouldn't go for it, and says it gets in the way of the shots and the actor's movements. He won't let me do anything else.
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Then in all likelihood he'll end up with a film which has nice shots/actor's movements but sounds like a home video. As long as you've informed him that's what he's going to end up with if you're not allowed to do your job properly, then you've done your job and he's made his choice. I still think you should be able to achieve a half decent result with a foam cover but if not and you're not allowed to employ alternative techniques, there's nothing more you can do.

G
 
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I do it to make connections and gain experience. Even if the director does not make the best audio choices, I feel that I want to make connections with everyone else in his productions. I do it for free, but it costs gas money and time to get to some of these far away, locations and I don't know if it's worth it anymore. Other people tell me I am likely wasting my time.

I could boycott the rest of his productions, however, these people are the only ones pretty much, making movies where I live. So if I do that, I would have to rely on strangers for future projects only, who I have no connections built with. I guess I figure people would help me out in future projects if I do the same for them, but if it's a waste of time, I would have to rely on help with no reciprocit, and I would have to make movies with boycotting all experience on the side.
 
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harmonica44 said:
Even if the director does not make the best audio choices ...
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Directors rarely make the best audio choices, that's just the nature of production sound and you're going to have to live with it. On the other hand, directors will make their choices based on the choices they're given in the first place! I would not have suggested to the director that you boom from underneath, I would just have done it. Providing your mic/boom is out of frame, it's just a technical detail which the director does not need to be consulted over. If the director stops and questions you booming from underneath, then give him 4 choices: 1. A budget for lavs (and a day or two's delay to get them), 2. A different location with a higher ceiling, 3. Booming from underneath or 4. No usable production sound.

G
 
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Sorry I should have been more clear. I didn't verbally suggest booming underneath, I just went for it, but he kept telling me it was in the shot, and had me go so low, that the mic was at the actors wastes. But that's too far in distance for a hyper, and should have gotten closer for better quality I figured. Also, another problem is, is that when the actors move their hands when they speak, they kept hitting the mic, causing interference. The director said not to boom underneath cause it gets in the way of the actors' craft. I understand that, and agree, but at the same time, we need better options. Oh well, we'll see how it turns out.
 
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My next shoot is tomorrow
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2 days ago.

we'll see how it turns out
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and today you say this.... You have a funny definition of the word tomorrow.

when the actors move their hands when they speak, they kept hitting the mic, causing interference.
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So you put the microphone where the actors hit it. Well done. You need to have someone tell you that's a bad idea? Common sense dude.

This is probably the 3rd thread you've written that has gone pretty much the same way. Do you plan to learn from past experiences or would you prefer to remain on the bottom rung forever.
 
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harmonica44 said:
.............I didn't verbally suggest booming underneath, I just went for it............
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If you would do this, in this order on my set, I'd take the boom and use it to beat you out of the room :P

Seriously: always communicate what you are going to do.
And if you did, than I'd say: always communicate clearly on IT what you are trying to say...

Anyway, the big question is: was he happy with the sound on the previous project?
If he wants it to be better, there needs to be room to boom closer.

BTW, how low is that ceiling?
How tall are the actors?
Do you know the mic doesn't have to be perpendicular to the ceiling? (This seems so obvious that it's stupid to mention in, but history teaches me to say it: when it is under an angle it takes less vertical space.)

As Alcove already said: there are more angles.
Any angle is good as long as it isn't in frame and captures good sound.
 
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Yes I know it does not have to be perpendicular to the ceiling but with the blimp on it for wind protection, it's too big for the low sealing no matter if it's perpendicular or not. The ceiling was quite low. However, my dad, who is a structural engineer, says that the city we live in, has a building code, where ceilings are 1.5 feet lower, compared to most ceilings of buildings in other provinces in the country.

This could explain why I have been having problems with ceilings, compared to other people who have had less compared to where they live. One of the actors was quite tall, the others were of average height, I guess. It's not just about ceiling though. There were other shots, where the DP did not want the mic nearby cause it kept interfering with his lighting, and whatever I told the director, the lighting gets first priority to him and the DP is always allowed to call the shots of where the mic can be placed, based on his lighting. So if it's not the ceiling that is the problem, it is either the shot being too far back, or the lighting. I think a lot of these problems could be solved by the director and DP deciding where the mic is going to go as they storyboard, and deciding to light around the mic, once they have established some good enough positions for it, and then just pick the best GOOD position that will suite the lighting, but it's still close enough to capture good audio. But instead they do not discuss this in the storyboards and they always put where the mic is going to go on hold, until just before they actually decide to roll the cameras, after everything else is already set up.

The director has not complained yet about the quality, we shall see. It's not up to my personal standards and feel better decisions could be made. It's just I want it to be good, since I have to take sick days off my day job to devote time to it, and he is using the short film to raise $100,000 in funds to make a feature for it, so I figure it might as well not be a waste of time, and have good sound. Perhaps I am taking the wrong approach though. There are a lot of older movies, before the 70s, where you would have master shot scenes, with say 5-10 actors talking in a scene, and some are sitting, some are standing, in big rooms where they could spread to several feet apart. High and Low (1963), had several scenes like this in. Back then, how did the boom operator, get all of them, or did they just have several boom mics, placed all throughout, and there was no other choice?

Here are some master shots from High and Low, that are similarly stylistic, to what my director is going for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcALFnBJ54c
 
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