[Bob Cole]

Your website is a real contribution, Nino. Thank you again for putting that together.

btw, I found one lighting diagram, of the set-up for a scene from “The Perfect Storm.” Very instructive too.

re: your remarks. For me, feature film lighting is, to my regret, something that I probably won’t get to do. So learning by “really” doing is out. All I can do is emulate their techniques in a very minor way. I do in fact already study the lighting in features. DVDs are great for this. But whenever I have had the privilege of seeing an actual feature being shot, I’ve learned something new. Hence my interest in looking for lighting diagrams from films I’ve seen and admired.

— BC

[Bob Cole]

I don’t disagree with Frank about trying to communicate, but I assumed from his first post that TalbotGrad had done that.

[Frank Nolan] “If you want to just blame the talent, you will never find a solution.”

You’re not allowed to blame the talent (esp. the CEO), but if the audio is bad, SOMEBODY will be blamed (=TalbotGrad). When somebody ignores my request not to fiddle with the wires, I just boom or rewire so that the talent can’t readily touch anything that isn’t on the screen. Being filmed is a high-stress thing for some people, and some of them can’t help but fidget, so just make it impossible for their fidgeting to screw up your audio. If your subject is so fidgety he can’t even stay in a chair, try a wireless.

Good luck!

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

[Chaos Wrangler] “No mater where a lave mic is located or how many times you move it, the hands must hit, grab, or at least brush against it. I have no solutions (other than booming everything).”

Tram makes a “microphone cage” which helps. But you’re right, there are no solutions. And if you’re hiding the mic, then any problem with audio will be considered your fault, even though the real reason is that you’re working with uncooperative talent.

It’s not just a question of how to mic — it’s a political issue, because:
1. It’s the CEO’s fault, and
2. But you can’t blame the CEO.

To deal with the blame game, you have to make it blatantly obvious that it is the CEO and not you who is screwing up.

So DON’T hide the mic, because then it’s all on you.

I would clip the mic on a lapel, then use whatever accessories you need to secure the wire inside the jacket. That way, if the mic gets bumped, at least the viewer will see that it is the CEO who’s messing up the audio.

[Bob Cole]

Thanks for the information.

[Bob Zelin] “you need a black generator with multiple outputs to lock up your professional VTR’s and AJA”

Bob, are you saying you shouldn’t loop the same black signal through the whole system?

[Bob Cole]

[edward chick] “Just because he is a CEO, does not mean you should feel intimated to talk to him.”

AND, guess who gets the blame if his audio sounds amateurish.

clue: NOT HIM.

[Bob Cole]

[walter biscardi] “But honestly, that is not actually recorded to tape, when you play back the tape, you’ll see the video is clean.”

ditto. Even though I did use reference, I see the same thing and have for years, with my former discreet edit*/Matrox DigiSuite system as well. No worries, and it trains your clients to listen when you say “Trust me, it’s fine.” (iow, it’s a feature, not a bug)

[Bob Cole]

Thanks David, I may take you up on that offer to talk me down. And Jeremy, you’re right — I don’t need it immediately. I just like to use down time to get ready for the next spate of projects, because it is so hard to change in the middle of them.

[David Roth Weiss] “if you buy the Kona 3 you’re gonna have to buy that Kona D to A converter box for analog audio and that’s gonna run your ticket up too”

That LHe is looking better. The breakout box for the Kona 3 shows two RCA’s for analog audio out, but I guess you’er saying that’s for monitoring only? Or that it doesn’t work when you’re outputting digital?

[Bob Cole]

Especially if you’re alone, or in a remote location, or carrying a lot of gear, you should strip it down to the basics. Rather than add another item to the chain (i.e. a mixer), you should double up on the microphones, batteries, & cables. Throw in some earbuds in case the wires to your headphones go bad.

The value of your recordings is not going to be their studio quality, but rather, your ability to get to the most remote location, and to focus on your subject matter rather than your equipment.

Your goal should be simplicity or operation, redundancy of the vital gear, and checking the tape at every opportunity. It can all go bad so easily. (I blew an entire day’s shoot by monitoring E-to-E rather than off-tape. The ribbon wires from the old Betacam door had gone bad.)

Good luck to you!

— BC

[Bob Cole]

[David Roth Weiss] “the heads are cut off at the forehead, meanwhile, the shoes and feet are not only completely in the frame, but there is a great deal of excess negative space below the feet.”

David, English is his second language, right? Maybe he just misunderstood. Tell him you’re in “SHOW” business, not “SHOE” business.

[Bob Cole]

That did the trick. Thanks so much.

– Bob