Hi all! Man, I just got back from a sound gig a little while ago. Why is it that when you're shooting outdoors, its always groundskeeping time?? First of all, we were shooting on a tennis court, and it was almost 90 out in SC, so who knows what the court temp was...Then the groundskeepers would roll by on their riding mowers. By the time they were far off enough to get clean audio, the wind would pick up, gusting strongly enough to overpower my Rycote Softie at times. Then the wind would die down, and the lawnmowers would come back around!!! Arrggghhh! Sorry, just wanted to vent to some folks who have probably been in a similar scenario. Thanks! Andy

Kind of like doing historical period pieces - you don't get a single airplane or train UNTIL you fire up the camera for the take...

Was doing a historical re-enactment and it took over 30 takes before we got something usable - we were on the approach for the airport and chose the ONE time of the day that ALL the international, national and local jets converge at the airport. And of course, it had been quiet for 2 hours leading up to the take. Producer wanted to use the spot...

You see! This here is why the sound mixer should have veto power. We also shot an interview. They wanted to do it outside as well (same location), so I had to put the hammer down and flat out tell them NO!

Not sure how things work back east but you must realize that LA is the world capital of gardening crews on every corner and we have more leaf blowers per capita than any other city on the world.

Anyone who is a producer/production manager worth their salt carries a nice stack of 20s and or a few six packs. I have saved many an outdoor and even indoor location shoot with a stack of 20s and or a few sixers of Miller. You think I am kidding, but I am not. Any "landscape maintenance technician" in LA can usually take an hour break for a few twenties and or a sixer. It's how business gets done here.

Also works for street maintenance and construction crews, although with big crews, you can run out of twenties.

"Here is some money, and or beer, go take a break". It works wonders.

Dan

I just finished a documentary about living close to a wind farm and of course the producer wanted to do all the interviews outside. Needless to say it was very very windy. On average 40 km. gusting to 50. It was a struggle. Curses on all first time field producers.

years ago I recorded an album (about 70 minutes long) for the Fort Ticonderoga Fife and Drum Corp. They wanted it to be authentic so we setup in the Fort (basically outdoors) at about noon. The Fort is out in the middle of nowhere and was closed so theoretically it was the best time to record.
The group was so polished, every tune was done in one take. We packed up and left at midnight.

pause...yes 12 hours to record 70 minutes of music, each tune being done in one take. (OK, so we did stop a boatload of takes but the kids never missed...incredible!)

There was a freekin' freight train that went by every couple of hours and so much light plane traffic including planes landing on the lake right next to the Fort I felt like we were at Grand Central Station!
Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

Fantastic album though!

There is only one solution...

http://dvice.com/assets_c/2009/05/MIT-patent-Get-Smarth-Cone-of-Silence-thumb-550x419-17927.jpg

there is only one solution...


bwa ha ha ha!!!

There is only one solution...

http://dvice.com/assets_c/2009/05/MIT-patent-Get-Smarth-Cone-of-Silence-thumb-550x419-17927.jpg

HA! That's great!
Do they make a model that will hold 30-40 people?

Yes! Cone of silence rules!!!

Hi all! Man, I just got back from a sound gig a little while ago. Why is it that when you're shooting outdoors, its always groundskeeping time?? First of all, we were shooting on a tennis court, and it was almost 90 out in SC, so who knows what the court temp was...Then the groundskeepers would roll by on their riding mowers. By the time they were far off enough to get clean audio, the wind would pick up, gusting strongly enough to overpower my Rycote Softie at times. Then the wind would die down, and the lawnmowers would come back around!!! Arrggghhh! Sorry, just wanted to vent to some folks who have probably been in a similar scenario. Thanks! Andy

ROFLMAO! I've got a neighbor for you! Every time either my wife or I go outside to work in the front yard, he comes out and starts playing with his power tools. Drives my wife crazy.

It's frustrating but useful in its way. We figured out pretty quickly that we can play him like an instrument. For example, when we have people over for dinner and want to have a quiet evening on the porch, earlier in the day we go out and work in the yard a bit. Sure enough, out comes the lawnmower, leafblower, hedge trimmer, whatever. Every time he gives up we come back outside until we "exhaust" him. This insures a nice quite and uninterrupted evening. PITA, but works like a charm all the same.

Been doing this for nearly 20 years now. He shows no signs of figuring it out. And we aren't likely going to tell him! Although it does make me wonder how other people are playing me. Hmmm....

New director: (driving everyone crazy)

'Well what are you going to do about the traffic noise outside?'

Audio: 'I'm going to hang a mic out the window and fade it out'

New director: 'Good!'

Great stories, one and all! I'm just thankful that tomorrow's shoot is mostly MOS b-roll, and then an interview with a doctor in his office (of course, the air handling will be an issue...it always is). Then Thursday its all ambulance rides and helicopters! Woot!!!

I can't really compete with you guys but I'll try.

I do a fair amount of freelance teleprompter work (yes, it's a real thing). So I'm on a gig for a major Spanish language network. We are shooting something outside, at night on a street corner in Corpus Christi. They have lit up the location, have a top notch stedicam guy, and another cam operator on a 24 foot jib. Audio guy was hired through an AV company, and is not your traditional set sound mixer. His idea was to set a level on the wireless lav he used and leave it alone, and not even monitor it. Because I'm so far from the talent, I am listening out of his headphones, the ONLY pair of headphones, via his mixer, to hear her so I can prompt.

There was traffic, wind noise, clothing rustle, etc. I caught it a few times and told 'em, but keep in mind I am the TELEPROMPTER and am trying to follow someone speaking rapid fire spanish (which I do not speak) by going phonetically, so my concentration was almost entirely on that. Hope they got usable audio. Otherwise paying for a whole crew to drive in from Houston/Austin and stay in a hotels was quite the waste of money.

I am the TELEPROMPTER and am trying to follow someone speaking rapid fire spanish (which I do not speak) by going phonetically, so my concentration was almost entirely on that.

If it's any consolation Josh, the woman that ran the prompter in the French newsroom I used to work in was the media librarian during the day and ran prompter for the 6 o'clock news... and didn't speak a word of French! Did it EVERY day I was there. Union shop so she bumped into French when another position she held in the building got closed down. Admirable job AND she always found the viz you were looking for in the archives as well...

Mostly it's not a problem, I've done it a few times before. But about an hour before we started, one of the reps of the network was like "oh, by the way, do you actually speak Spanish?" They were worried it might be difficult for me to make script revisions quickly.

Wouldn't this have been something to find out before you hired me?

I'm sorry, we're talking audio here.

On another prompter gig, for a Christian childrens' programming video, we shot in a pricey greenscreen sound stage, using a red, and again, some top end crew people, but they "set and forgot" the two booms that were capturing the audio. By my estimation they were 6-8 feet (at least) from the talents' mouths. Not surprisingly, at the end of the day, the director/producer was listening to some playback and said "yeah, it's real echoey. . .we're gonna have to send it to our guy to fix."

But the neat thing about prompter is that though you are "in it", you are not really a part of it, and can watch and laugh and learn.

And thank god it was MOS today! We were shooting exteriors on the hospital grounds, and yep, there's the grounds keeping crew. Every shot we set up, a dude rolls up with a lawn mower, leaf blower or edge trimmer. Would have been a nightmare for sound!

Great stories.

I did an excercise video about a year ago outdoors in a wooded park. The producer wanted the location, and we decided to shoot at magic hour for the look. I scout the location and split the shoot into three days, with the first day to rehearse.

Rehearsal goes great. No one around, fabulous location. Lighting at magic hour looks amazing.

The first real shoot the local flight school starts up their late afternoon training and planes start circling directly overhead. At first you think it's bad luck, then there's a sinking feeling as you realize it's the same three planes going around and around and around.

I was tearing my hair out trying to get usable takes in the thirty seconds of silence between each pass.

The next day, same thing. Sigh...

Fortunately it worked out okay in the end.

I was one-man-banding a sit down interview with the president of Humboldt State University. There happened to be workmen building a new structure 200 yards away (they weren't there when I set up during their lunch hour), and they were killing me so bad I told the President to shut down the construction or we ain't got an interview. He actually did it! I was kind of joking but he got it. If the noise is coming from people I really try to control the area by talking to whomever is in charge. If you approach them nicely people usually accommodate.

since I believe everything in Star Trek will come to pass, I'm sure one day there will be mic technology that only picks up what you tell it to pick up (i.e. record sample of subject's voice and mic will tune out everything but that voice) and nothing else.

And then all these things will be a non-issue. We can even program lavs to shock talent when they screw up.

Then the Klingons will read this thread when the site is archived and wonder what the hell we're all talking about.

This isn't audio, but I'm still waiting for the Blade Runner-style "enhance" function that allows you to zoom in endlessly on pictures and even see around corners...seems to have become a cliche device in sci-fi movies.

This isn't audio, but I'm still waiting for the Blade Runner-style "enhance" function that allows you to zoom in endlessly on pictures and even see around corners...seems to have become a cliche device in sci-fi movies.


Oh "enhance" is a reality. Here's total unassailable proof: YouTube - Let's Enhance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxq9yj2pVWk)

YOu guys are thinkin' too small. Holodeck. . .it solves all your problems. Need a location? BAM there it is. Need it quiet? BAM, done!

TI'm still waiting for the Blade Runner-style "enhance" function that allows you to zoom in endlessly on pictures and even see around corners...

What, your camera and edit suite doesn't do that???? Time to UPGRADE! <tongue planted FIRMLY in cheek)

I've tried the Holodeck, but the life-support system (HVAC) was much too loud. 24th century technology... same design stupidity.

Why is it that when you're shooting outdoors, its always groundskeeping time??
Ah, that line alone made me laugh. It's uncanny, isn't it? On one shoot, I swear we were being followed by them. We kept moving to different spots, and they would make their way over to us by the time we started shooting again. Then when they finally stopped, a helicopter started circling overhead. I haven't yet figured out if there's just more noise when you are shooting, or if your brain just filters it out more when you're not shooting.

Noise was one of the reasons I decided to shoot our host doing her "outdoor standups" against green screen. It avoids potential scheduling problems with noise, weather, and gawking passers-by. And when done well, it looks darn good. No one has to get up super early in the morning to get that nice sunrise light. And don't have to worry about getting too much sun exposure.

We shoot in a quiet warehouse on Saturday mornings when the area is generally shut down. And it's up in a valley, well away from the routine air traffic corridors, too.

Then there are "those" jobs: One day someone asked me to help shoot some interviews in his office. Well, his office was one floor above a very busy intersection. Everything from buzzing mopeds to trucks and emergency vehicles went by all day long.

Apparently he didn't realize that his office was that noisy. As Brennan said, you don't notice it unless you're trying to shoot something.