Mic advice needed for continuous bedroom-to-corridor-to-ba..

Jason Porter wrote:
> Plant mics will should work, another thing that may help (if the
> camera is behind the actor and cannot see his mouth) is just recording
> wild lines.
>
> -Jason
>
> On May 23, 6:46 am, Jason wrote:
>> Hi guys,
>>
>> I have a shoot on Tuesday that I'm concerned about mic-ing up, as I've
>> not been faced with this situation before.
>>
>> It is a continuous shot, from a bedroom (camera in hallway looking
>> into bedroom), then actor out of bedroom & walking down the hallway
>> (camera following actor) into bathroom, filling glass, having a drink,
>> bit of dialogue (calling down the hallway), then walking back down
>> hallway, another bit of dialogue, then back into bedroom & giving the
>> actress (sitting on the edge of the bed) a kiss on her forehead, with
>> cameraman still behind the actor.
>>
>> The problems are: (a) the actor is not wearing a pyjama top (just
>> boxers), so radios on the actor are difficult seeing as the camera
>> will see all sides of his body throughout the shot, & (b) the hallway
>> has squeaky floorboards, so me & the cameraman following the actor
>> will no doubt result in some unwanted noises. Also, (c) I'm the only
>> sound person, recording/mixing (bag) & booming (have no boom op)...
>>
>> At the moment, the only solution I can think of is using a mixture of
>> spot mics (be it wired or radio), & mixing between them as the actor
>> walks through the scene.....
>>
>> Any alternative suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.
>>
>> Many thanks!
>>
>> Jason
>
Aside from the plant mics & wild track, (all good choices,) If the
camera is on a wide lens close to the talent, see if you can stick a
short shotgun or (Schoeps mk41/cmc (whatever you have) on a decent shock
mount on the camera and radio the mic to you as an option. You might mix
it in at certain points or iso it on one of your spare channels while
you mix the plant mics on another channel.
 >> Stay informed about: Mic advice needed for continuous bedroom-to-corridor-to-ba.. 

good idea! I did this on a submarine last year, worked well!

-Jason

On May 23, 3:53 pm, "Steven J Rogers C.A.S."
wrote:
> Jason Porter wrote:
> > Plant mics will should work, another thing that may help (if the
> > camera is behind the actor and cannot see his mouth) is just recording
> > wild lines.
>
> > -Jason
>
> > On May 23, 6:46 am, Jason wrote:
> >> Hi guys,
>
> >> I have a shoot on Tuesday that I'm concerned about mic-ing up, as I've
> >> not been faced with this situation before.
>
> >> It is a continuous shot, from a bedroom (camera in hallway looking
> >> into bedroom), then actor out of bedroom & walking down the hallway
> >> (camera following actor) into bathroom, filling glass, having a drink,
> >> bit of dialogue (calling down the hallway), then walking back down
> >> hallway, another bit of dialogue, then back into bedroom & giving the
> >> actress (sitting on the edge of the bed) a kiss on her forehead, with
> >> cameraman still behind the actor.
>
> >> The problems are: (a) the actor is not wearing a pyjama top (just
> >> boxers), so radios on the actor are difficult seeing as the camera
> >> will see all sides of his body throughout the shot, & (b) the hallway
> >> has squeaky floorboards, so me & the cameraman following the actor
> >> will no doubt result in some unwanted noises. Also, (c) I'm the only
> >> sound person, recording/mixing (bag) & booming (have no boom op)...
>
> >> At the moment, the only solution I can think of is using a mixture of
> >> spot mics (be it wired or radio), & mixing between them as the actor
> >> walks through the scene.....
>
> >> Any alternative suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.
>
> >> Many thanks!
>
> >> Jason
>
> Aside from the plant mics & wild track, (all good choices,) If the
> camera is on a wide lens close to the talent, see if you can stick a
> short shotgun or (Schoeps mk41/cmc (whatever you have) on a decent shock
> mount on the camera and radio the mic to you as an option. You might mix
> it in at certain points or iso it on one of your spare channels while
> you mix the plant mics on another channel.
 >> Stay informed about: Mic advice needed for continuous bedroom-to-corridor-to-ba.. 

Hi Jason, hi Steven,

Thanks both for your input - much appreciated! Not sure on lens
choice yet, Steven, but will certainly keep the mic-on-the-camera
option in mind!

Thanks again - best regards,

Jason
 >> Stay informed about: Mic advice needed for continuous bedroom-to-corridor-to-ba.. 

Hope the camera is quiet at least!

If there is no chance of following carefully with a boom then the mic
on the camera might be an option.. plant mics may be good too
depending where he delivers the line.. atleast a camera mounted
schoeps would be camera perspective sound.. then get the line wild
mic'ed closer

Jon Chiles
 >> Stay informed about: Mic advice needed for continuous bedroom-to-corridor-to-ba.. 

Heya guys....

Just an update. Turned out to be a much easier shot in the end
because all the dialogue got dropped, as did the hallway-return. Just
had to get clean recordings of the ambient sounds that the actor was
making from getting out of bed, walking down the hallway (with
cameraman following) to the bathroom, then filling glass from the sink
tap & drinking from the glass....

In the end I used two mics; one boom & one radio. The actor was
wearing pyjama bottoms, so I put the radio transmitter pack strapped
to his thigh, & a COS11 on the outside of the waistband with a
LavMicClip for getting the hallway footsteps, the water running in the
bathroom, & drinking from the glass. The radio didn't work for the
noises getting out of the bed because of bedsheet noise on the COS
when the actor was in the bed to start, so I boomed the bedroom
section (radiomic fader down), tracked the actor's feet with the boom
into the beginning of the hallway to get the start of the footsteps,
then gradually faded the radio up as he approached the bathroom. The
results sounded good.

The camera was a Canon 5D, incidentally, so no noise at all (& the
cameraman did a pretty good job of keeping his feet quiet!). Double-
system, all slated, but stuck a G3 into the 5D (fed a mono output of
the 442) so the movie clips had a guide track for editor.

Thanks again for all your input - very helpful!

Best regards,

Jason
 >> Stay informed about: Mic advice needed for continuous bedroom-to-corridor-to-ba.. 

On May 24, 9:10 pm, jonchiles wrote:
> Hope the camera is quiet at least!

Thanks Jon - yeah, it was (Canon 5D), as was the apartment & its
neighbourhood, which was a TOTAL blessing (& very surprising for
London!)

Best,

Jason
 >> Stay informed about: Mic advice needed for continuous bedroom-to-corridor-to-ba.. 

On May 26, 10:45 pm, Jason wrote:
> Heya guys....
>
> Just an update.  Turned out to be a much easier shot in the end
> because all the dialogue got dropped, as did the hallway-return. Just
> had to get clean recordings of the ambient sounds that the actor was
> making from getting out of bed, walking down the hallway (with
> cameraman following) to the bathroom, then filling glass from the sink
> tap & drinking from the glass....
>
> In the end I used two mics; one boom & one radio. The actor was
> wearing pyjama bottoms, so I put the radio transmitter pack strapped
> to his thigh, & a COS11 on the outside of the waistband with a
> LavMicClip for getting the hallway footsteps, the water running in the
> bathroom, & drinking from the glass.  The radio didn't work for the
> noises getting out of the bed because of bedsheet noise on the COS
> when the actor was in the bed to start, so I boomed the bedroom
> section (radiomic fader down), tracked the actor's feet with the boom
> into the beginning of the hallway to get the start of the footsteps,
> then gradually faded the radio up as he approached the bathroom.  The
> results sounded good.
>
> The camera was a Canon 5D, incidentally, so no noise at all (& the
> cameraman did a pretty good job of keeping his feet quiet!).  Double-
> system, all slated, but stuck a G3 into the 5D (fed a mono output of
> the 442) so the movie clips had a guide track for editor.
>
> Thanks again for all your input  -  very helpful!
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jason

If you were booming as well as mixing, how did you manage a gentle
crossfade between two rotary faders one handed?!? Nifty fingers! : )
 >> Stay informed about: Mic advice needed for continuous bedroom-to-corridor-to-ba.. 

Hi Jimbo,

You caught me out! :-D

I couldn't fade both, but the noise being picked up by boom was so
quiet (& by this time the actor & cameraman were far enough away to
prevent any phase issues) that it sounded fine leaving the boom up &
just fading up / blending the radio. (Also, the bathroom window was
open through which you could hear traffic in the distance, which
masked the boom.)

Cheers,

Jason
 >> Stay informed about: Mic advice needed for continuous bedroom-to-corridor-to-ba..