Sex in the City Style dialogue recording

[James Roper-Kum]

Hi all!

Just a quick one regarding recording dialogue for a short film on location.

The film I am am recording sound for is a sex in the city coffee shop/restaurent sat the table chat style thing.

Three girls around a table in a a shopping arcade shooting the sh!t so to speak.

I thought that a standard short rifle mic on a boom in addition to a radio mic each would be about right.

To help with suggestion let me tell you that the shopping arcade is extremely narrow with windows on each side of the table (literaly about 6 foot either side of the table). Would you recomend damping the windows to ease refelections? Its one of those places where you really have to talk up to be heard......but its the perfect location right (so the director says)

Any techniques for accomplishing this shoot would be most appreciated. Boom Techniques, Mic Placement, Etiquete etc

Thankyou all

I look forward to hearing from you

James Roper-Kum

[tsvisser]

if it is really a bustling coffee shop, i would think that most of the sound would be mostly unusable for professional level productions... except MAYBE if you use lavs - although i personally don't like the sound that lavs give you. no matter what, use lavs for a safety. for medium shots, of course you want to shoot while the place is either in biz, or you have extras to make it look busy. i'd probably also shoot while the place is closed to do all dialogue shots close ups, using a boom, and assuming that it is a single camera operation, when they do reverse shots, to simply reorient the the boom operator with the camera changes. if they are using multiple cameras to try to get the shots in a contiguous manner, might be challenging. any dialogue that takes place during a medium shot might be able to be fixed with ADR. get your "room tone" and ambience tracks separate while the place is in at typical operational noise and mix it in during post.

[tsvisser]

... also, i try to keep out of the DP's way on the shoot. let the conversation and workflow center around lighting, acting, direction. sound generally stays on the periphery and just be "johnny on the spot" with the equipment. you should recognize and solve the audio problems on your own. for intimate shots, i carry a pistol grip as sometimes it is better to get in close and low and less cumbersome and imposing than coming in on top with a boom. with table shots, there's plenty of opportunity for you to duck to the side of the table out of the camera's field of view. less chance of shadows.

try not to bonk the talent on the head with your mic.

find your line before every shot, so you know where it is, rather than finding it during a shot.

[James Roper-Kum]

Thanks for the stella advice.

We will be recording when the place is closed and open so plenty of opportunity to get good dialogue. I like the idea of the pistol grip (might have to just shorten the boom for that one though)

Could you possibly elaborate on the changing camera angle comment?

I have hired some DPA 4061 wired lavalier mics for security, but IMO its boom mic all the way.

I gues my only concern here is dipping sound when actors turn there heads. I presume the skill here is rotating the mic/boom (quietly and quickly) and knowing which way the actor will turn in the first place. Boom Skills!

I'll try not to bash anyone either.

Thanks again

[tsvisser]

if they decide to us an "A" and "B" camera team to do both reverse shots simultaneously, that will make it difficult to get coverage on all actors, unless you have multiple boom operators, making it very crowded very quickly. some directors like having multi-cam options to pick and choose the best mid / close-ups / reverses to use from multiple takes. from a video standpoint it makes perfect sense, but makes your job more challenging as you can't predict which cam / take will be used and can't possibly get optimal sound in all instances. in such cases, it might be best just to throw up your hands and use lavs. just swing the boom around to make it look like your actually doing something.

[Tim Halligan]

Originally Posted by James Roper-Kum

I gues my only concern here is dipping sound when actors turn there heads. I presume the skill here is rotating the mic/boom (quietly and quickly) and knowing which way the actor will turn in the first place. Boom Skills!

A good boomie will save your life.

If you don't have one, you'll wish you were dead. Seriously.

Or the guy who is doing the dialogue editing will wish you were dead...

Originally Posted by James Roper-Kum

I'll try not to bash anyone either.

Actors...don't worry about 'em. They're everywhere. If you kill one, several spring up in their place.

Don't hit the crew.


Cheers,
Tim

[James Roper-Kum]

Thanks Tim.

I had a go at boom op-ing on another short film recently and found it very rewarding. Being so close to the action is a great experience.

I could definatley see myself as a boom-op in the future although mixer would pay more, but hey! its not all about the money....is it?