Yup; I’m truly stuck for something to write about. I guess that’s the reason for the lack of recent posting.
Work; is work. We’re back in the studios (obviously), and things are progressing quite nicely.
As much as we all enjoy the locations aspect of BIG film making (it’s seriously cool – with the sightseeing and travel and per-diems, and what-not) it still feels better in a studio.
When working in the comfort of a (mostly) air conditioned studio, there’s time to relax and focus on the storytelling without the usual demands of MOVING all the equipment and people all over the place.
Case in point – the Public Address Speaker system (Big speaker allowing the director to talk to people over vast distances) that is the usual bane of my sound assisting duties; didn’t move more than 3 times the whole last week; and my right shoulder would like to thank whichever deity allowed this to happen.
Of course when the equipment doesn’t move all the time, you can get stuck for things to do (if you’re not directly involved with the takes – like focus pulling/boom operating/acting/etc).
Consequently allot of the crew are shuffling around, trying NOT to make noise (failing miserably by the way). It becomes MY job to somehow quieten them, and try to lock-down any other noise that might render the performance of our lovely actors acoustically useless.
Actors’ shoes can make quite a bit of noise on hard surfaces, especially when there’s dirt to crunch. These “footsteps” are abnormally loud in relation to someone’s voice – so when you’re recording an actor’s dialog, all you can hear is a MASSIVE CRUNCH, where there should be the dulcet tones of their lustrous voice. The disconnect is even worse when you can’t see the feet of the actor with the offensive footsteps because they’re “off-screen”. (It’s truly weird to be hearing crunching during a close-up on the other actors face)
We have various ways of overcoming the problem (ranging from simply taking the shoes OFF, to applying a layer of foam). The best way however is carpet.
I’m now quite adept at laying down carpet quickly and securing it with gaffer tape so the actors don’t slip over. (NB – gaffer tape doesn’t stick to dirt)
If you don’t lay the carpet at the correct time (after they’ve laid dolly-tracks for the camera, but BEFORE they put down any focus-marks) people get miffed. There’s no way that they’ll give you a 5 min window to JUST lay the carpet, so a good percentage of my day is spent standing around, then trying to roll-out carpet whilst still getting out of the way as lot's of HEAVY equipment is wheeled around me
Once you get the carpet down. It’s time to prowl around the studio and shut things down.
• Why is that door open?
• How do you make the fire-detection-system shut-up?
• What can I use to plug-up the hole in the wall where the additional power cables are coming-in?
• How do I politely tell someone who may or may-not be extremely important (and way above my pay-scale) to be quiet during the highly emotional exchanges of our actors...?
Once you’ve bored yourself stupid trying to be a sound-nazi; it’s time to clean equipment, go for coffee runs, think about what you’re going to have for lunch, check your phone (for the time, missed calls etc) and eventually change a battery or two.
Such is the life of a sound assistant. Although I prefer the term Utility Sound; it implies that I’m more of a rounded person; plus I CAN mix if needed to, or even Boom.
Speaking of; I’m going to be booming for the next two weeks, as our regular boom op has some family stuff to attend to.
So we’ve shipped out our attachment from W.A. and he’ll be assisting (sorry... utility-izing?) until such time as either our regular-boomie returns, or I burn enough bridges by causing boom shadows and smacking people in the head that I go mysteriously missing and never come back.
Other things that have happened since I last posted.
• I joined a gym – as much as I HATE gyms (especially the pretty-poser-society that’s attached to them) I decided to do something semi-constructive with the 10 hrs I have to myself each and every-day. The local-ish gym is open ‘till 2200 four nights a week, so that means I get a good 1 ¼ hour after we wrap, to bash myself silly and return home completely exhausted, thus expediting the sleep-process...
• I saw a movie... no seriously, this is a highlight (as I hadn’t watched one in quite some time) it was the talking rat/chef one; and surprisingly less kiddie orientated than I’d ever thought possible.
• I bought a backpack. And when I buy a back-pack, you’d better believe I buy the heck out of it... as always, I went for a good one. (water-bladder/metal frame-chasis-thing/etc/etc) mostly so I can carry a set of clothes and towel whilst cycling to the gym after work; but also for when I next go skiing...
• ...I’ve made plans to go skiing... This was my first choice for a title to the post – but I decided against it because the dates are still not locked in, and it’s so far into the future (late Jan 08). Still; plans are afoot for a week-long tour of Hokkaido, JAPAN (powder capital of the world – where they measure snow-depths in METERES, not inches)
• I did some washing. Ok moving along...
• Purchased an e-tag for the car (now I can use ALL the toll-roads in Sydney without fear of needing coins – yippee?)
• Had some fish and chips at Bronte beach, before swimming in the natural baths (man is it still cold.)
• Found some Burt’s Bees lip-balm online (well ebay actually) and am eagerly awaiting it’s arrival. For those of you who’ve never had the pleasure of the peppermint lip-balm from Burt’s bees you’ve never really lived. (yes I’m aware just how ridiculous I sound here, but my girlfriend at the time got me hooked on the stuff back in 2003, and I’ve never been able to find it in Australia).
Well that’s about it since I last posted. I don’t think these will be regular anymore as I’m struggling to find anything useful to blog about.
Plus – I’m running out of
PHOTOS from the Archive...
That’s me, the only time I’ve ever fired a gun (it had a blank round in it)
Post-wrap on “convictions” 2004 - which has just been accepted into the “BIG BANG” film festival in Philadelphia, USA.
Ok, see ya
Ian
