On the set of the short film, "Puddles"
Today marks both the end of filming for the short film, "Puddles", and my debut role as Sound Recordist. I approached the experience with much apprehension, due to the fact that this was an opportunity I had encountered through personal networks. However the experience turned out to be exceedingly positive, stifling any of my negative preconceived expectations. This was a testament to the friendly nature of all staff on set, which made for a warm, inviting environment. As a result of this, I felt comfortable enough to express my creative and technical ideas. In addition, it allowed me to reach some of the professional goals I intended to achieve. I also learnt some other important lessons along the way. All of these will be covered in this blog post.
The first thing to point out was why I was so initially apprehensive. This apprehension lay most primarily in the assumptions I had of student-run films. Most critically, I had taken the hearsay too generally that all student-run films were badly organised, and unenjoyable due to the lack of professionalism and the "I-haven't-made-it-yet-but-I-will-soon" actors who made everything but their actual job to act into a drama. The bar was thus set fairly low in my mind, and when I first walked on set, almost instantly did I meet some of the friendliest people I have ever worked with - actors and crew members alike. The atmosphere was always light-hearted and entertaining. These would come to be people who I shared many hilarious and (somehow) deep conversations with on set. Ultimately, it felt like I was not working, and I think that that is why I enjoyed working with the people I did so much. In turn, this also motivated me to do the best I could to perpetuate the obvious happiness that everyone possessed. An example of how such a light-hearted and entertaining atmosphere really motivated me to succeed was on the second day of shooting. I was still jet-lagged, and sitting on about 10 hours of sleep in the past 4 nights. I really just wanted to be in bed when I arrived. When I thought that anything could not make this situation more difficult, something did. A man had complained that one of the props (a van) was blocking the footpath and demanded that we move it. Of course, there was no parking for miles, so we had to take a mandatory 15 minute break whilst one of the actors moved it. This was frustrating because we just needed to finish the scene and move on. Luckily, some of the actors started questioning the mans intentions in complaining: "So wait... let me get this straight. The van was impeding him from walking along the foot path... He wanted to get somewhere in a hurry... The van would force him to walk around it to continue on the foot path... This wouldve taken 10 seconds... But instead he diverted his path to complain to us that he needed to be somewhere on time so we should move the van... of which took him around 5 minutes"
It was this kind of banter that made frustrating waiting periods not just palatable but enjoyable. Amongst how enjoyable the experience was, I was also able to express my opinion when it came to executive technical decisions. One of the three professional goals I set myself to achieve during this experience was to understand the technical imperatives and logistics surrounding boom miking. Thankfully, I was able to move towards this goal on numerous occasions. An example of this was when two of the actors were required to bang on the door whilst concurrently yelling. I noticed that with the microphone I had been provided, there was no way I could prevent clipping. I consulted the director, Sleena, who told me that she would trust my judgement to change the microphone over to a dynamic microphone (of which is not as sensitive to loud noises). I changed it over, and a much clearer recording resulted. A technical imperative I learnt here was that not every mike is suited to every situation. In terms of logistics, it is imperative that you must carefully prepare for any situation. This means having numerous microphones including dynamic, stereo and also occasionally condenser in your arsenal.
Further lessons were learnt in alignment with the aforementioned goal, amongst others. These mostly concerned the amount parameters of associated with boom miking, some of which I had no idea even existed! This included clipping, the physically demanding nature of boon miking, the importance of analysing the environment for unwanted (or wanted) sounds and, as mentioned before, microphone selection. Another important implication of being a sound recordist that I picked up on was making the actor feel as comfortable as possible. After all, who wants a stranger holding a big fluffy cylindrical thing right up to their face all day? I thus felt the necessity to get aquianted, and then joke around with the actors as much as possible. It was little things like this that I think made all the difference.
Overall, the on set experience is something that will inevitably help me in the post production phase. I am much better acquainted with the film's premise, and because I am mates with the crew now, I feel even more pressure to succeed at my assigned duties! I do think I achieved my professional goal in this component of the internship, but perhaps more importantly, I overcame the initial personal apprehension that could have made this experience entirely different. Moving forward, it is imperative that I trust my established personal network. Additionally, it is just as important that I approach the project with little to no expectation of how it is going to develop. Only then will I work to my full potential, and, perhaps more importantly, enjoy a laugh in the process.
