Boom Op vs DP

Last week I posted a little about sound design, so this week I wanted to post about sound recordists and boom operators, the common audio positions found on a set. Sound guys notoriously get treated like shit. Most other crew members including Directors, Cinematographers, and Producers don't give sound priority. All they care about is the image that is being shot, but in reality the picture can be great but if it sounds bad then the entire film is going to be bad. That's just how it is. Of course there are exceptions to this and there are Directors and DPs that care and ask how a take sounded, etc, but for the most part this is the case on professional sets and especially on college sets. Sound doesn't get enough appreciation.

This link below is called "An Open Letter From Your Sound Department." It is written by the top Hollywood Mixers and Boom Ops and gives practical solutions for each crew member on set to make the film sound better. I bet no one knew that it is in the Grip's job description to help sound and set up sound blankets and work to create the quietest filming environment. I learned quite a lot from this letter and anyone can learn from this. Definitely worth a read.

http://filmsound.org/production-sound/openletter.htm

As someone who has both been a Director of Photography and a Sound Mixer/Boom Op, I can relate to this short animation that makes fun of this relationship between the camera and the microphone. Anyone that has done both these positions or just taken notice while on set of what goes on and where all the power seems to be. I would highly recommend everyone to watch this video.

There are plenty of things like this that occur on film sets and there are quite a few of these animations that poke fun at it all and they are all funny and completely true.

Ithaca Audio

I stumbled across this the other day somewhere on vimeo. This little sound company appears to be based out of Ithaca. I think its a pretty neat way to use to the internet to market themselves, kind of like what Arturo was talking about. Some of these live mixes have hundreds of thousands of views. Does anybody know these guys personally?

There Will Be Blood

I've always been a huge fan of There Will Be Blood. The resurgence of westerns in modern filmmaking is the coolest thing to me. Daniel Day Lewis is one of my favorite actors and I think There Will Be Blood has to be one of the most beautifully shot movies I have ever seen. After watching it again recently I looked up a lot of the making of the movie. I got more interested in the sound when I was re watching the movie. Turns out it was scored by Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood. If you watch the video below there is some explanation into some of the work behind the sound mixing itself.

Drive

I realize that my posts are starting to revolve around only a few particular films/shows. I posted before a video about the sound behind inception, this video is very similar except about Drive. Instead of focusing on the technical aspect, which the inception video had a lot of, I would pay attention to how the sound mixer is trying to tell the story. Like Arturo was talking about earlier, everyone has different and specific jobs but they are all trying to tell the story.

Warning: Some possible spoilers.

museum of the moving image

hey all, if you guys haven't heard or been to the Museum of the Moving Image I really really suggest it. Its located in Queens NY, a bit of a travel for some, but definitely worth it. If you ever find yourself in NYC take a subway to Queens for the day. I went with some friends a few months ago when it re-opened and it was really interesting and engaging. If you have some love for cinema and want to learn more I suggest it. One of the films they were showing was basically a story told through the music put to it. and each person takes it a different way and turns it into their own story. The sound and images were not put together in any particular way, which makes it interesting. I hope some of you look further into this, its worth it.

Foley Artist

Hey guys, the title is a link to this video that I just watched about foley artists. It's basically a video of this foley artist who apprenticed on Empire Strikes Back demonstrating some foley techniques, showing the camera around his workroom, and talking about how they put together the individual sounds for a scene in a movie. I thought it was pretty cool, and if you're interested in working on sound as a career, it looks like it'd be a pretty sweet job.

SoundWorks Collection: Gary Hecker - Veteran Foley Artist from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.