Sound for Picture : 16 & 35mm Film

Sound for Picture : Film

THE big problem with live sound for short feature films (I've never done a long feature film, but the techniques are identical) is the overall lack of budget, therefore : not enough money for ADR sessions (where you can re-record the dialogues in post-production). The dialogue (in other words : the live sound recordings) must be perfect, take after take, shot after shot, wherever the shooting takes place, which for the afore mentioned reasons, are locations seldom adapted for live sound recording !

Luckily, wireless microphone technology has made incredible progress and often let you get away with these poor conditions.

The other problem is the fact that, again for budget reasons, you are most of the time alone when you record sound on such projects... all alone to operate the boom, handle the audio levels on sometimes several recorders, and update the tape-log !

I realize now, but it's a bit late, that I have almost no pictures of the shootings I've worked on here and there these past 15 years. Indeed, in that case you're more preoccupied with the work (recording sound) than with taking pictures ! And generally, nobody on the shooting will take time to shoot pictures, because : everyone's at work !!

But on the last shooting (april 98), I did take the time because the location was just awesome (S^tPierre, Martinique, one of the Carribean islands) ! The theme of the film was a lot sadder, though, since it dealt with child molesting. The film was ordered by an association whose purpose is to develop awareness of the problem throughout the world, to let people know that too often, children die from regular abuse by a parent, even though the relatives and neighbors have been aware of the situation for months.

15 days were planned for this project, including scouting for locations, wich narrowed the shooting down to 10 days. Having read the script, I knew that I was going to run into big problems with sound, due in part to the locations :

1) the two principals are children (therefore weak little voices). With much horror, I find out that the leading 'lady', an 11 year old girl, has the weakest voice on the planet !!!

S^tPierre, with the famous 'Montagne Pelée', exceptionally clear that day

2) Certain scenes are just the soundman's worst nightmare : a group of kids, speaking in turn (I only have two wireless mikes) on a beach with the city's main street less than 100 feet from there. Everyone is wearing a bathing suit, nowhere to hide a wireless but underneath the sand ! The traffic generates more noise than the dialogue. We did send someone to try and stop the vehicles, but with no Walky-Talky or cell phone, the job was pretty tough. After just two takes, the drivers lost their patience, and easily overcame our "security" (one lonely guy, and not too motivated).

part of the crew, including the director Patrick Palmyre (centre) and the director of photography Joël Krellensteïn (right).

Another scene takes place in a church, where the little girl sees a priest to confess (therefore with a voice even weaker than her already weak weak voice ). The S^tPierre cathedral is beautiful, but since the weather is warm all year at such latitudes, the 'windows' are just holes in the walls, with the main road passing just in front. It was therefore impossible to obtain the intimate atmosphere required for such a scene, with all the trucks passing by. Even when we managed to stop the traffic, the backgound noise of the city was just too present (and my sound sources just too weak !). I should mention the fact that the local people seem to have the horn of their car wired to the accelerator !

One of the locations : the garden of the mayor's private property. The guy 'chose' his house wisely, it overlooks the bay, the view is beautiful.

The minuscule budget didn't allow rental of the adequate equipment, at the regular price that is. The camera crew got a nice offer at PING PONG. I used my 'network' of former students (ESRA / CREAR / SAE : it's quite useful to be a teacher !) implanted all over the country to land a good deal at TAPAGES :

HHB Portadat Portable DAT : the preamps are OK and the headphone monitoring can dematrix an MS format. I didn't take the time-code option since the picture crew couldn't afford a TC camera anyway. I'm set for the boom microphone, but what to do with the wireless mikes ? I don't have the budget to rent a NAGRA-D, or even a second Portadat. Neither do I want to mix the sound sources live (too risquy, in such conditions). Solution :

AIWA HD-S100 portable DAT : part of my personal equipment, which enabled me to record the wireless mikes independently onto its two channels. I was afraid it wouldn't resist the humidity, but it never failed, which wasn't the case with other components of the equipment. Aïwa makes good stuff !!!

Joël Krellensteïn and two of his toys

PEARL MSH10 MS Microphone : MS microphone with a hypercardioid capsule for center. Unfortunately, it is much too sensitive to manipulation noise, and even with a good suspension fitted on a graphite boom, I had to engage the low cut filter to eliminate the inevitable 'thumps'. What a pity, but the Neuman MS cost at least $200 more !

2 AUDIO wireless microphone systems : excellent in transmission and reception. But... humidity killed one of the capsules from day one !!! Nothing could get it to work again, I tried every trick. I finished (or I'd better say 'started') the shoot with only one wireless system. That's also the spirit of short films : not enough budget to rent backup equipment.

your humble servant, with one of the camera crew's toys

installation of tracks : a rare moment of rest for me !

Once the wireless levels were set on the Aïwa DAT for a scene, these levels remaining constant, I could devote myself to the Portadat DAT for the levels of the boom mike, which are more variable.

Since I had to handle the audio levels AND manipulate the boom at the same time, I built a harness system inspired from the guys that carry the flag around in the army, which sets the weight of the boom on your hips. You can then free one hand to take care of the audio levels when you're alone in the sound 'crew'. One afternoon at a harware store in Paris enabled me to build a decent system for less than $50.

a few minutes later

It was still pretty tedious to run around all day with the harness, DAT strapped around the neck, when it was 100°F in the shadow... running to start/stop the wireless mike DAT in between takes so that the counters wouldn't drift apart too much on both cassettes, for the same take. On top of that, I had to take care of two tape logs, the Absolute Time values never being quite identical on both cassettes, despite all my running about !

a typical local beach, what terrible shooting conditions don't you agree ?

EDF (the electricity company) kindly lent us their tallest crane, with its two operators, for half a day, which enabled us to get a wonderful wide shot of the city. I'd say it rises well above 50 ft. Since the hydraulic system was very noisy, and there was just room for two up there, I chose to record sound separately. The scene was shot with an upward movement of the crane, making a lot of noise, then it was my turn to ride, waiting to get to the top to roll sound. A bit of sound editing was necessary to make the engine sounds of cars passing in my recording coincide with the vehicles seen in the shot, filmed 10 minutes earlier.

you can see the windjammer sticking out the top

There is why this umbrella figures on so many pictures. Seasons aren't what they used to be. The shooting was planned to take place weeks after the rain season in Martinique, but it kept raining regularly just to make things harder. The umbrella was therefore used to protect the camera.

Wind blew it away once, and it landed in the water while we were shooting on the docks. Someone had to volunteer to get it back, which I did, and had to jump into this beautifully warm, clear blue water. What a torture this job can be !!!

it's raining but the water temperature is perfect !

The post production went by with a few expected glitches :

1) since the DAT machines couldn't be locked regarding their digital audio clocks (my AIWA portable is really ultra consumer equipment, so it has no wordclock input), the waveforms drifted between boom and wireless mikes during long takes. An audible phaseshift could be perceived on the background noise. The typical solution : to isolate each sentence on the wireless mike tracks, and bring it back in phase during each dialogue pause.

sun block : renew every hour unless you want your skin to puff-up and peel off !

2) The video transfer had been done at 25 f/s as expected (24 f/s video doesn't exist and, at the time, the 24P system hadn't been invented), so the only way to resync the sound, who was still at 24 f/s, was to 'varispeed' each of the sound takes chosen by the director by a 25/24 ratio. The process time was quite long and slowed down the overall resyncing job.

Serge Anton, the camera assistant, calling home so they come get him, the shooting conditions are truely unbearable (what a bunch of lucky bastards, when I think about it !!!)

15 days were planned for this project, including scouting for locations, wich narrowed the shooting down to 10 days. Having read the script, I knew that I was going to run into big problems with sound, due in part to the locations : 1) the two principals are children (therefore weak little voices). With much horror, I find out that the leading 'lady', an 11 year old girl, has the weakest voice on the planet !!!
		S^tPierre, with the famous 'Montagne Pelée', exceptionally clear that day

		2) Certain scenes are just the soundman's worst nightmare : a group of kids, speaking in turn (I only have two wireless mikes) on a beach with the city's main street less than 100 feet from there. Everyone is wearing a bathing suit, nowhere to hide a wireless but underneath the sand ! The traffic generates more noise than the dialogue. We did send someone to try and stop the vehicles, but with no Walky-Talky or cell phone, the job was pretty tough. After just two takes, the drivers lost their patience, and easily overcame our "security" (one lonely guy, and not too motivated).
part of the crew, including the director Patrick Palmyre (centre) and the director of photography Joël Krellensteïn (right).

Another scene takes place in a church, where the little girl sees a priest to confess (therefore with a voice even weaker than her already weak weak voice ). The S^tPierre cathedral is beautiful, but since the weather is warm all year at such latitudes, the 'windows' are just holes in the walls, with the main road passing just in front. It was therefore impossible to obtain the intimate atmosphere required for such a scene, with all the trucks passing by. Even when we managed to stop the traffic, the backgound noise of the city was just too present (and my sound sources just too weak !). I should mention the fact that the local people seem to have the horn of their car wired to the accelerator !
		One of the locations : the garden of the mayor's private property. The guy 'chose' his house wisely, it overlooks the bay, the view is beautiful.

		The minuscule budget didn't allow rental of the adequate equipment, at the regular price that is. The camera crew got a nice offer at PING PONG. I used my 'network' of former students (ESRA / CREAR / SAE : it's quite useful to be a teacher !) implanted all over the country to land a good deal at TAPAGES : HHB Portadat Portable DAT : the preamps are OK and the headphone monitoring can dematrix an MS format. I didn't take the time-code option since the picture crew couldn't afford a TC camera anyway. I'm set for the boom microphone, but what to do with the wireless mikes ? I don't have the budget to rent a NAGRA-D, or even a second Portadat. Neither do I want to mix the sound sources live (too risquy, in such conditions). Solution : AIWA HD-S100 portable DAT : part of my personal equipment, which enabled me to record the wireless mikes independently onto its two channels. I was afraid it wouldn't resist the humidity, but it never failed, which wasn't the case with other components of the equipment. Aïwa makes good stuff !!!
Joël Krellensteïn and two of his toys

PEARL MSH10 MS Microphone : MS microphone with a hypercardioid capsule for center. Unfortunately, it is much too sensitive to manipulation noise, and even with a good suspension fitted on a graphite boom, I had to engage the low cut filter to eliminate the inevitable 'thumps'. What a pity, but the Neuman MS cost at least $200 more ! 2 AUDIO wireless microphone systems : excellent in transmission and reception. But... humidity killed one of the capsules from day one !!! Nothing could get it to work again, I tried every trick. I finished (or I'd better say 'started') the shoot with only one wireless system. That's also the spirit of short films : not enough budget to rent backup equipment.
		your humble servant, with one of the camera crew's toys

Once the wireless levels were set on the Aïwa DAT for a scene, these levels remaining constant, I could devote myself to the Portadat DAT for the levels of the boom mike, which are more variable. Since I had to handle the audio levels AND manipulate the boom at the same time, I built a harness system inspired from the guys that carry the flag around in the army, which sets the weight of the boom on your hips. You can then free one hand to take care of the audio levels when you're alone in the sound 'crew'. One afternoon at a harware store in Paris enabled me to build a decent system for less than $50.
		a few minutes later

		It was still pretty tedious to run around all day with the harness, DAT strapped around the neck, when it was 100°F in the shadow... running to start/stop the wireless mike DAT in between takes so that the counters wouldn't drift apart too much on both cassettes, for the same take. On top of that, I had to take care of two tape logs, the Absolute Time values never being quite identical on both cassettes, despite all my running about !
a typical local beach, what terrible shooting conditions don't you agree ?

EDF (the electricity company) kindly lent us their tallest crane, with its two operators, for half a day, which enabled us to get a wonderful wide shot of the city. I'd say it rises well above 50 ft. Since the hydraulic system was very noisy, and there was just room for two up there, I chose to record sound separately. The scene was shot with an upward movement of the crane, making a lot of noise, then it was my turn to ride, waiting to get to the top to roll sound. A bit of sound editing was necessary to make the engine sounds of cars passing in my recording coincide with the vehicles seen in the shot, filmed 10 minutes earlier.
		you can see the windjammer sticking out the top

		There is why this umbrella figures on so many pictures. Seasons aren't what they used to be. The shooting was planned to take place weeks after the rain season in Martinique, but it kept raining regularly just to make things harder. The umbrella was therefore used to protect the camera. Wind blew it away once, and it landed in the water while we were shooting on the docks. Someone had to volunteer to get it back, which I did, and had to jump into this beautifully warm, clear blue water. What a torture this job can be !!!
it's raining but the water temperature is perfect !

The post production went by with a few expected glitches : 1) since the DAT machines couldn't be locked regarding their digital audio clocks (my AIWA portable is really ultra consumer equipment, so it has no wordclock input), the waveforms drifted between boom and wireless mikes during long takes. An audible phaseshift could be perceived on the background noise. The typical solution : to isolate each sentence on the wireless mike tracks, and bring it back in phase during each dialogue pause.
		sun block : renew every hour unless you want your skin to puff-up and peel off !

		2) The video transfer had been done at 25 f/s as expected (24 f/s video doesn't exist and, at the time, the 24P system hadn't been invented), so the only way to resync the sound, who was still at 24 f/s, was to 'varispeed' each of the sound takes chosen by the director by a 25/24 ratio. The process time was quite long and slowed down the overall resyncing job.
Serge Anton, the camera assistant, calling home so they come get him, the shooting conditions are truely unbearable (what a bunch of lucky bastards, when I think about it !!!)