Departments

From the President

Dear Fellow Members,

This has been a hard year for many of our members as the business continues to morph into more and more unrecognizable forms. I say to those most affected by these stormy waters: keep heart and positive in spirit. Take this time to double down on the new knowledge needed to stay at the top of your craft. Take this time to become more fully informed about the obligation of service your union holds for you and how to best access this resource for your particular situation. When you act with knowledge, you leverage the strengths of professional union representation.

Read the Local’s Constitution and By-Laws and the contracts under which we work, all available on our official website. Know what you’re paying for and what your rights are. Don’t be timid about the relationship with your union. Define the issues that matter to you and engage. Join committees and express your real-life experience in the development of policy. Your representatives can best focus resources when they have regular input; the institution draws its strength from the participation of its members.

Exercise your right to vote in this election. Make yourself heard.

This holiday season is a time for reflection and strategy and this is where we should be placing our creative energies.

I wish you and your families well and safe holidays to all.

Warmest regards and Fraternally,

Mark Ulano
President
IATSE Local 695

From the Editors

For this issue, we focus our attention on just one of the sixteen different categories that comprise Local 695. We have four articles from members who specialize in music for cinema and TV, and they provide us with their perspectives on doing playback, pre-records and live recording.

Phillip Palmer tells us about the challenges of Glee, where he often handles up to six musical numbers per episode.

Nashville has an equally ambitious agenda and Anna Wilborn tells us how Joe Foglia handles those tasks with grace and wit.

Gary Raymond addresses the technical requirements of file formats for playback and Joseph Magee shares the lessons he’s learned over several decades of working with music in both production and post production.

Playback and live-record have their own lingo and some equipment may be unfamiliar even to working professionals. We’ve included a glossary of specialized terms at the end of each article for the benefit of our non-technical readers and members working outside these particular disciplines.

We think you’ll find good reading, and we are pleased to shine a light on a creative field that deserves more attention.

Fraternally yours,
David Waelder, Eric Pierce and Richard Lightstone

Emmy Nominations

Congratulations to the nominees and their production sound teams for the 65th Annual Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Sound Mixing

Comedy or Drama Series (One-Hour)

Boardwalk Empire “The Milkmaid’s Lot” HBO

Frank Stettner CAS, Tom Fleischman CAS, George A. Lara

Production Sound Team:
Larry Provost, Sam Perry, Toussaint Kotright, Egor Panchenko, Tim Elder, Michelle Mader

Breaking Bad “Dead Freight” AMC

Darryl L. Frank, Jeffrey Perkins, Eric Justen

Production Sound Team:
Jeffrey Perkins, Eric Justen

Game of Thrones “And Now His Watch Is Ended” HBO

Ronan Hill CAS, Onnalee Blank CAS, Mathew Waters

Production Sound Team:
Simon Kerr, James Atkinson, Matteo De Pellegrini, Luke McGinley

Homeland “Beirut Is Back” Showtime

Larry Long, Nello Torri, Alan Decker, Larold Rebhun

Production Sound Team:
Matt Fann, Jack Hill

Mad Men “The Flood” AMC

Peter Bentley, Ken Teaney, Alec St. John

Production Sound Team:
Christopher Sposa, Bud Raymond

Miniseries or a Movie

American Horror Story: Asylum “Welcome to Briarcliff” FX Networks

Sean Rush, Joe Earle, Doug Andham

Production Sound Team:
Dennis Fuller, Kriston Wilcox, John Bauman

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome Syfy

Rick Bal CAS, Daniel Colman, John W. Cook II, Peter Nusbaum

Production Sound Team:
Greg Hewett, Matthew Willoughby-Price

Behind the Candelabra HBO

Dennis Towns, Larry Blake, Thomas Vicari

Production Sound Team:
Javier M. Hernandez, Gerard Vernice, Mark Agostino

The Bible “Beginnings” HISTORY

Dan Johnson, Scott Jones

Production Sound Team:
Jon Thomas, Doug Dreger, Judi Headman, Mitchell Low, Nourdine Zaoui

Phil Spector HBO

Gary Alper, Roy Waldspurger, Michael Barry CAS

Production Sound Team:
Tim Elder, Jason Stasium

Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation

Modern Family “My Hero” ABC

Stephen A. Tibbo CAS, Brian R. Harman, Dean Okrand

Production Sound Team:
Srdjan “Serge” Popovic, Dan Lipe, Peter Hansen

Nurse Jackie “Teachable Moments” Showtime

Jan McLaughlin CAS, Peter Waggoner

Production Sound Team:
Brendan O’Brien, Joe Savastano

The Office Finale NBC

Ben Patrick CAS, John W. Cook, Rob Carr

Production Sound Team:
Brian Wittle, Nicolas Carbone

Parks and Recreation “Leslie and Ben” NBC

Steve Morantz CAS, John W. Cook, Ken Kobett

Production Sound Team:
Adam Blanz, Mitch Cohn

30 Rock “Mazel Tov, Dummies!” NBC

Griffin Richardson, Tony Pipitone

Production Sound Team:
Chris Fondulas, Bryant Musgrove, Larry Loewinger

Variety Series or Special

American Idol Finale FOX

Edward Greene CAS, Brian Riordan, Adrian Ordonez, Ryan Young, Randy Faustino, Gary Long, Patrick Baltzell, Michael Parker, Christian Schrader

The Colbert Report Episode 8137B Comedy Central

Todd Kilponen, Bob Walker, Robert Selito, Jay Vicari

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Episode 17153 Comedy Central

Tim Lester, Horst Hartmann, Rocky Magistro, Jay Vicari

The 55th Annual Grammy Awards CBS

Thomas Holmes, Mikael Stewart, John Harris, Eric Schilling, Ron Reaves, Eric Johnston, Pablo Munguia, Tom Pesa, Michael Parker, Bob La Masney

The Oscars Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ABC

Paul Sandweiss, Thomas Vicari, Biff Dawes, Pablo Munguia, Kristian Pedregon, Josh Morton, Emily McDonnell, Patrick Baltzell, Michael Parker, Bob La Masney

Nonfiction Programming

The Amazing Race “Be Safe and Don’t Hit a Cow” CBS

Jim Ursulak, Dean Gaveau CAS, Jerry Chabane, Troy Smith

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown “Myanmar” CNN

Benny Mouthon

Crossfire Hurricane HBO

Jason W. Jennings, Steve Pederson

Deadliest Catch “Mutiny on the Bering Sea” Discovery Channel

Bob Bronow CAS

History of the Eagles Showtime

Tom Fleischman CAS, Bret Johnson, Richard Davis, Elliot Scheiner

Survivor “Create a Little Chaos” CBS

Terry Dwyer

Education & Training

by Laurence B. Abrams

Wireless Mikes and FCC Licensing

A look at federal regulations, an $82,500 fine, changing realities of the RF landscape … and of course, White Spaces

Most often, the production sound recording technique of choice is the open microphone positioned a short distance from the actor and operated by a specially trained Microphone Boom Operator. Modern production realities, however, often dictate alternative solutions. And frequently, that means the use of wireless microphones. They, too, require specialized training but unlike a boom, they also require a license.

Created by Congress in the Communications Act of 1934, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was originally mandated with the task of regulating all commercial and amateur and ham radio transmissions so as to eliminate interference between the various transmitting entities. One of the many ways Congress has expanded upon that is to also require the FCC to “ensure that the American people have available, at reasonable costs and without discrimination, rapid, efficient, nationwide and worldwide communication services whether by radio, television, wire, satellite or cable.”

That means that the FCC must oversee all equipment that emits RF (radio frequencies). It began with television and radio broadcasters but as the range of communications systems and tools and gadgets that operate over the airwaves have expanded, so has the list of devices that come under the watchful eye of the FCC. Today, this includes RC toy cars and planes, wireless computer networks in the home, automobile remote entry systems, microwave ovens (which cook your food with high-energy radio waves), electric garage door openers … and of course, the wireless communications of picture and sound.

FCC licensing for wireless mikes

So if the FCC regulates ALL the radio microphones we use in production, are we required to get a license from the FCC in order to operate them?

A small portion of the broadcast spectrum has been made available for wireless microphone use WITHOUT the need for a license. In each geographic location, there are two UHF channels set aside for unlicensed operation in houses of worship, small theaters and other small-scale use. When operated in these narrow frequency ranges and at transmitting powers below 100 mW, a license from the FCC is not required.

Anything else, however, is NOT authorized for use without a license. That means that the FCC says you need a license if you want to operate anything between 470 MHz and 698 MHz … which includes UHF channels 14-51 and Lectro Blocks 470 and 19 through 26 … at transmitting powers of up to 250 mW. The exceptions would be 608 MHz to 614 MHz (UHF channel 37) and 488 MHz to 494 MHz (UHF channel 17) in Hawaii as well as additional UHF channels which may be reserved locally for public safety and rescue operations (i.e., channels 14, 15, 16, and 20 in Los Angeles). Any individual who operates radio mikes in the frequencies we use every day at work, when not in the presence of someone who holds the appropriate FCC license, is subject to action taken against them by the FCC.

What can the FCC do to us?

In the event of a violation, the FCC has the option to issue something called an NAL … a Notice of Apparent Liability. The NAL can contain anything from a stern warning to monetary fines of up to $11,000 per incident with a maximum of $82,500 per day and/or a one-year sentence in federal prison. And for the record, they can confiscate your radio equipment too.

The good news is … we don’t know of this ever actually happening to anyone working on a movie set. Nonetheless, the possibility of action taken against you is real. FCC Section 47, Part 74 of the Government’s Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) contains the rules that specifically pertain to the use of wireless devices in motion picture and television broadcast production and we strongly advise that you review them. You can see FCC Section 47, Part 74 here at http://goo.gl/N25lP

So … if unlicensed operation of the radio transmitters we use daily on nearly all motion picture and television productions is prohibited … and yet punitive legal action against us is rarely if ever implemented … is there still any reason to get a license? Yes. And this introduces a critically important aspect of this story. White Spaces.

This is where things start to get bad

The radio frequency spectrum is a finite resource shared by television and radio broadcasters, police, firemen, the military, Citizen’s Band, radio astronomers, aircraft, wireless LANs, maritime communications, satellite television broadcasters, Bluetooth, mobile phones and much more. The low-powered devices that we transmit with during film and television production must find an open, unused spot that sits free of interference amongst the mass of RF activity that constantly surrounds it. These unused spots are called White Spaces.

Not so very long ago, the RF landscape began to change rapidly with the adoption of HD television standards and the Telecommunications Act of 1996, quickly followed by a radio frequency “land grab” by corporate giants like Google, Microsoft, Verizon and many others. The engine behind this change has been the huge economic potential those companies can gain by monetizing the wireless spectrum for their own purposes. This is why we need to pay attention to White Space Devices (WSDs), which are soon to be deployed across the spectrum.

A WSD is a device that can hop onto any “unregistered” UHF channel in the spectrum for the purpose of communicating with a person or another device. A White Space-enabled device theoretically checks in with the White Space Database regularly to determine if the channel it wants to use is blocked off by virtue of being registered to a licensed operator. If the channel is blocked, the WSD tries another and another until it finds an open channel upon which to operate.

When you have an FCC Part 74 license, you are authorized to register the frequencies you plan to use in a registry called the White Space Database, thereby blocking those frequencies from use by the WSDs. If you don’t do that, and if you are using a frequency in a channel that a WSD sees as not registered, then it will simply blow your signal away. Remember … your radio mike is transmitting at 50 mW but a WSD can transmit up to 1000 mW and over an entire UHF channel (approximately 40% of a Lectrosonics block). The only way to be protected from being overpowered by a WSD is to be a licensed user and to register yourself in the White Space Database (which is authorized by the FCC, but is actually operated by 10 independent but interconnected database administrators). A Part 74 Low Power Broadcast Auxiliary License has priority over any White Space Device. But an unlicensed operator, operating on something other than the two UHF channels reserved for unlicensed use in a particular area, has no priority over a WSD and can very easily get stepped on.

The growing impact

The demand for radio microphones is increasing with the proliferation of reality television which relies almost exclusively on wireless transmission, and with new styles of multi-camera dramatic production which place much greater demands on the use of wireless mikes. And yet the availability of the wireless frequencies needed for this type of production continues to diminish. The narrow RF slices of the UHF spectrum we depend upon are shrinking so dramatically that they are truly endangered. The equipment we use in production would, of course, be entirely inoperable without suitable radio space within which to operate them.

The path forward

What can be done to protect the RF frequencies we need in order to be able to continue to use our radio mikes legally and without interference? According to its mandate, the FCC is required to protect the RF space operated by entities who are licensed to use it. Primary Users (UHF TV stations) and Secondary Users (licensed wireless mike user transmitting on channels they’ve registered with the FCC) are authorized to have priority over any and all unlicensed users. For example, the FCC must protect the rights of TV broadcasters to operate in frequencies they are licensed to use. And if the TV broadcasters have issues or concerns about those frequencies or about new policies or changes under consideration that may hinder their operation, the FCC is required by law to take those concerns into consideration. Similarly, if you get a license for the operation of your equipment as a Secondary User, the FCC is mandated to give consideration to your concerns, as well.

A license grants you priority to operate your transmitters when unlicensed operators are in the same area. And a license gives you the ability to submit your data into the White Space Database, thus protecting your transmitters from getting squashed by roaming WSDs. And, with respect to future FCC regulations and actions, a license allows all of us to build a collective voice for wireless mike users during the months and years ahead as the evolution of RF space moves forward. The small remaining bands of the UHF spectrum that we use will need to be protected if we expect to continue to operate within them. This is why we recommend that Production Sound Mixers and Microphone Boom Operators and Utility Sound Technicians and Video Assist Technicians and Engineers consider acquiring an FCC license.

How to get an FCC license

The license that you would get is called a Part 74 Low Power Broadcast Auxiliary License, and it is specifically designated for individuals who operate equipment used for film and television production. The easiest way to apply for an FCC Part 74 license is through the FCC’s online application form, which is not to say that it is in any way easy … it’s just that the online form is easier than filing the written application form.

Whether using the written form or the online form, it’s a difficult process with numerous pitfalls for anyone who hasn’t done it many times before. To assist you in getting through the licensing application process, Local 695 has developed a website to provide you with related information, updated FCC news and perhaps most importantly, a detailed set of instructions on how to complete the license application. We offer guidance on two possible paths you could choose to follow:

1) Pay a professional to handle the hardest part of the application for you.

2) Follow a comprehensive step-by-step guide that we created to walk you through the entire application procedure from start to finish.

Either way, the website will offer help in getting through the entire process. You can find our FCC website, including complete instructions to obtain the Part 74 license at www.local695.com/fcc. We encourage you to visit the site and then take the steps to acquire an FCC Part 74 license.

News & Announcements

Quadrennial IATSE Convention

During the week of July 21, Boston hosted the 67th IATSE Convention held every four years to coordinate the actions of the almost four hundred Locals that comprise the union in the United States and Canada.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, addressing the assembled delegates, spoke of the critical role unions have played in this country. Periods of greatest economic growth, she asserted, occurred when unions were strongest. “We have a sacred obligation,” she added, “to stand up for working people and their families.”

Hilda Solis, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, continued this theme and expressed amazement at the growth of the IA during its 120- year history while other unions have experienced erosion of their membership. There were 73,344 rank-and-file members of the IATSE in 1993 but today’s membership stands at more than 113,000. The Convention’s 810 delegates reflect this robust growth. Likening the union movement to the “new Civil Rights Movement of the 21st Century,” Secretary Solis went on to say that the health and security of American families is closely tied to the health of labor unions.

Nevertheless, there is no denying that labor unions today face an increasingly hostile environment. International President Matthew D. Loeb sought to address this challenge by advocating strength in four areas: Leadership, Skills & Safety, Activism and Communications. He referred to these as the “Pillars of Success.”

Echoing this theme, Paris Barclay, newly elected President of the DGA (Directors Guild of America), vigorously encouraged active participation not just within union locals but also in initiatives that would bring multiple unions together to work cooperatively to protect the interests of all workers.

The Convention passed many Resolutions to further these goals. Of particular interest to our members, Resolution #19 addressed the issue of long hours. Longtime advocates, including cinematographer Haskell Wexler, have been laboring many years for recognition that long work hours and short turnarounds are inherently hazardous. This time, their efforts were rewarded as the delegates voted unanimously to recognize the danger that long hours pose to the crew. With this vote, our IA leaders can negotiate with the confidence that they have full support of the membership in seeking solutions to protect our safety at work.

7th Annual Sound BBQ

Seth Gilbert and Michael “Kriky” Krikorian hosted their seventh annual “Sound Department Bar-be-cue” on July 13 at Andy Adams’ house in Valley Village. More than 100 sound professionals gathered on a pleasant Saturday afternoon to feast on a number of barbecued meats and many side dishes, with an emphasis this year on vegetarian and Korean-inspired food.

The highlight of the day was, as usual, the raffle. Items or gift cards were provided by Location Sound Corp., NeoPax, Rodgers & Marshall Sound, Trew Audio and Wilcox Sound. Plenty of swag was given away by Lectrosonics and Zaxcom.

To get on Seth and Kriky’s BBQ list for information of future events, send an email to soundbbq@kriky.com

In Memoriam

JAMES E. MYRAH
Recordist
Mar. 24, 1932 – May 24, 2013

ROBERT L. GRAVENOR
Production Sound Mixer
Apr. 6, 1945 – May 23, 2013

PHILIP RAMONE
Production Sound Mixer
Jan. 5, 1934 – Mar. 30, 2013

DANNY MARTIN NEWMAN
Utility Sound Technician
Sept. 2, 1945 – Mar. 12, 2013

From the Presdent

It’s time we begin the conversation…

I raise this topic because we need to chart the course for our future and I ask you to collaborate with that spirit in mind. I invite all of you to contribute ideas to this conversation to help advance solutions and create policy.

We are all practicing the same crafts regardless of region, but much of that work has become mobile and redefined many of us as migrant film workers.

We provide essential services to the making of film and television content across the Alliance and ultimately the world. We can benefit greatly by seeing ourselves in the context of our larger community as filmmakers, technicians and committed professionals.

How does the real world of production reflect this reality?
We are collectively experiencing a variety of logistical and procedural challenges in wages and conditions—a key concern of every union organization.

I believe we are at a crossroads.

I believe we need to create a national Conference for Unification, for the express purpose of developing a national contract for IATSE sound and video and studio projection workers.

There are precedents to this concept: consider the contracts the other technical locals, Camera’s 600 and Editorial’s 700, enjoy. There are lessons to be learned, pro and con, from these examples as we are a unique community with special considerations. Still, the stool has three legs and without all three, is fundamentally unstable.

What are the objectives?
It is way past the time for us to see ourselves sustainably tied to the ebb and flow of work coming to our towns. It’s time for us to consider ourselves a national community of professionals with common interest, coherent negotiating strategies and uniform wages and conditions for the work we provide the industry.

We must find our voice as the national constituency that we are, in order to better serve these goals. As we proceed, it’s important to be mindful of the accomplishments and concerns of leadership from both the various Studio Mechanics Locals and Local 695. They provide essential protections that we need to preserve.

What are the problems?
Regrettably, the good work of Local 695 and the various Studio Mechanics Locals has been unable to address an enormous disparity between wages and conditions in the major markets and those paid for equivalent productions in other markets. This disconnect is profoundly corrosive and needs to be corrected. The current patchwork of contracts doesn’t provide the tools to address this: a National Contract can.

Our members find themselves navigating rules that are often difficult to understand and differ from region to region. This insecurity is sometimes compounded by contract language that compels them to negotiate their own wages and terms of employment. I believe this language should be purged from our contracts.

The ability to follow the work faces ever more restrictive policies. Many members are carrying the burden of multiple initiations and dues obligations as they establish residencies and join additional locals around the country in a defensive effort to protect their family’s financial security.

Regional tensions seem based less on strategy than on the anxious impulse to protect local territory; the strength in numbers needed to solve the larger issues becomes dissipated in member fears and loss of faith in the union itself.

What are the potential solutions?
Without preempting the collaborative work to be done in drafting a National Contract, I’ll make a few suggestions as starting points for that discussion:

Let us schedule a focused national meeting for the constituencies to these issues: The sound and video rank and file of the various Studio Mechanics Locals and 695 members and their respective leaderships.

At this gathering, we draft the core elements of a National Contract designed to function under the IATSE umbrella.

Then let us engage the IATSE to partner in this work and implement the necessary steps to move it forward.

Such a contract should halt further destabilization of wages and conditions in these crafts, give the International a one-stop relationship with our specialized community, unify all the contract discrepancies, properly realign the innate common interest of the members providing these services, and end the tension between regional leadership and members.

In the aggregate, we’re a small group, albeit with a large footprint.

I believe pulling us together under a National Contract would begin to solve the many problems facing us.

In the current IATSE Bulletin, President Matt Loeb states:

“…we must adapt so that our structure strengthens our ability to succeed on behalf of the members. Growth and strength through sound, robust infrastructure will mean better contracts, conditions, and benefits. That is how we define success.

We must also plan for changes we will face in the future. Above all, we will never forget that our members come first. I share this plan with all of us and ask that you adopt it as our shared vision for the future.”

I take to heart President Loeb’s sentiments here and challenge all of us to begin this conversation in earnest.

Let’s talk.
Fraternally,
Mark Ulano-President-IATSE Local 695

From the Editors

Just about every other week we are being tantalized with new devices, apps, software, hardware and new permutations to add to our already challenging work environment.

This is a good thing that helps to enhance our craft and permits us to deliver top-notch quality while toiling in even more aggressive working conditions. The summer issue of the 695 Quarterly explores the latest and greatest ‘toys’ with a look at the Cinegear Expo.

But no matter how many new tools are made available, it’s the human element that makes it all possible. With that in mind, we have Boom Operator Javier M. Hernandez giving us his personal recollections of the challenges of working on Behind the Candelabra.

Jim Tanenbaum regales us with his latest teaching assignment, this time in Viet Nam, “How I Spent My Summer Vacation 2012.” All topped off with a vintage bottle of “Reminiscences of Working With a Nagra Recorder.”

So we invite you to sit back, kick off your shoes, relax with your beverage of choice and experience the latest issue.

Fraternally yours,
Eric Pierce, Richard Lightstone and David Waelder

Award Winners

Congratulations to the Winners

It was a triple-win hat trick for Production Sound Mixer Simon Hayes and his production sound team of Arthur Fenn, Robin Johnson, Paul Schwartz, James Gibb, Andrew Rowe and Duncan Craig, winning the Oscar, BAFTA Film Award and CAS Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures – Live Action.

The recipients for each award are:

Oscar

Simon Hayes
Andy Nelson
Mark Paterson

BAFTA Film Award

Simon Hayes
Andy Nelson
Mark PatersonJonathan Allen
Lee Walpole
John Warhjurst

CAS Award

Simon Hayes
Andy Nelson
Mark Paterson
Jonathan Allen
Robert Edwards
Pete Smith

Congratulations to the Other CAS Awards Recipients

[Names in BOLD are Local 695 members]

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Television Movie or Mini-Series

Hatfields & McCoys: Part 1

Dragos Stanomir
Christian Cooke
Brad Zoern
Jeffrey A. Vaughn CAS
Eric Apps
Peter Persaud

Production Sound Team:
Marius Cosma, Gabriel Marin,
Radu Nicolae, Dan Blanaru

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Television Series – One Hour

Homeland “Beirut Is Back”

Larry Long, Nello Torri CAS, Alan M. Decker CAS, Paul Drenning, Shawn Kennelly

Production Sound Team:
Matt Fann, Jack Hill

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Television Series – Half-Hour

Modern Family “Disneyland”

Stephen A. Tibbo CAS, Dean Okrand, Brian R. Harman CAS

Production Sound Team:
Preston Conner, Dan Lipe, Srdjan “Serge” Popovic

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Music – Series or Specials

The 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Brian Riordan CAS, Jamie Ledner

Production Sound Team:
Richard Gizzi, Carl Glanville, Jason Gossman, John Harris, Skip Kent, Brian Kingman, Steve Lamphere, Bryan Leskowicz, Sean McClintock, Billy McKarge, Larry Reed, Joel Singer, Vinny Siniscal, Joel Tainio, Barry Warrick, Simon Welch

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures – Animated

Brave

Bobby Johanson, Tom Johnson, Gary Rydstrom CAS, Andrew Dudman, Frank Rinella

Education & Training

by Laurence B. Abrams

New Classes to Keep Pace with the Technology

This year’s educational programs offer more training opportunities than ever before. Some are funded by Local 695 and are completely free to 695 members and some are funded by the Contract Services Administration Training Trust Fund (CSATTF) and are either free or eligible for a 2/3 reimbursement to members who qualify. This article contains an overview of some of these classes but the best way to stay in touch with all the educational opportunities available to you is by checking www.local695.com. Also make sure that we have a good email address for you so that you’ll receive updates and new class announcements as soon as they become available.

Local 695 Projectionists will see some new class options for training in digital cinema projection. We still offer the 5-day Digital Cinema CP 2000 and Solaria Series class from Christie Digital Systems but this year we’ve added a new class from Barco Digital Cinema… Barco Certified Operator – Basic Projector Operations and Troubleshooting. By the time you receive this publication, we hope to also have approval for Barco Certified Operator – Projector Operations and Troubleshooting, Digital Cinema – Barco Certified Specialist – Installation and Basic Maintenance and Barco Certified Expert – Advanced Diagnostics and Service. These classes are eligible for 2/3’s reimbursement from Contract Services if you meet their requirements. See www.local695.com/html/edu.php for details.

Still available at no cost to all Local 695 members is the online training offered through VTC. With more than 10,000 software tutorials to choose from, this self-paced training covers a huge range of programs, including Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Media Encoder, Adobe Director, LightWave 3D, Adobe Photo Shop, Avid Pro Tools, Sound Forge, Adobe Audition CS6, Adobe Soundbooth, Steinberg Cubase, Steinberg Nuendo, Abelton Live, FL Studio, Apple Logic Studio, Audio Mixing Essentials, Filemaker Pro, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe Flash, Adobe Dreamweaver, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, Wikis, PHP, Javascript, Networking, Programming and literally thousands more. Each tutorial is divided up into a series of small, relatively easy-to-digest chapters. The most effective way to use these tutorials is to have the software being discussed open on your computer at the same time that you watch the tutorial so you can pause and repeat the training video as needed while you’re experimenting with the operations and techniques being discussed. New VTC tutorials are being added all the time. See details about how to access this free training at www.local695.com/html/edu.php.

Available on an appointment-only basis, our Fisher Microphone Boom Training: One-on-One Intensive continues to provide Local 695 members with a unique training opportunity that is not available anywhere else. In addition to Microphone Boom Operators and Utility Sound Technicians, we strongly encourage Production Sound Mixers to enroll in this training, as well. While a Fisher boom may not be appropriate in many shooting circumstances, it still remains a useful and powerful tool that can help you to produce superior tracks when used in the right situations… and definitely worth a look when you expect very long shooting takes. Attendees to this training session will have hands-on time with the Model 3 and Model 6E bases and the Model 2 and Model 7 boom arms. This training is free and available exclusively to 695 members. Contact us through edu@local695.com to request a one-on-one training session. NOTE: On May 18, 2013 Local 695 will be giving demos on a 23-foot Fisher boom at J. L. Fisher’s 8th Annual Open House, Mixer and (free) BBQ Lunch. See the Announcements page of this issue of the Quarterly for complete details.

Studio Arts, which is located just east of Echo Park, offers training for a large list of software, including After Effects 101, After Effects 201, After Effects 301, Avid Media Composer 1, Avid Media Composer 2, Final Cut Pro 101, Final Cut Pro 201, Final Cut Pro 350 – Color and more. Members who attend these classes are eligible for a 2/3’s reimbursement of the training cost if they meet the Contract Services qualification requirements.

Also eligible for 2/3’s reimbursement from Contract Services is software training from a new program by an online training provider called fxphd.com. Most of the classes relevant to our members pertain to Video Assist Technicians and Engineers, such as After Effects, Avid Media Composer 5.5, Advanced Color Theory and ACES Workflow, LUTs, Gamma and ACES, Intermediate Premiere Pro CS6, and The Craft of Color Grading II. Additionally, for Production Sound they offer An Audio Production Primer and Practical Audio Techniques with Audition.

EVS offers two 2-day classes for EVS operators… LSM-XT Basic Operational Training and LSM-XT Advanced Operational Training. And Video Assist Technicians and Engineers may select from two color monitor calibration classes offered by the Image Science Foundation. All are eligible for 2/3’s reimbursement from Contract Services.

Our Cable Clinics, now in their fourth year, are conducted on a recurring basis by Local 695’s “Master Cable Builder” James Eric. These hands-on classes are limited to just four members, providing a great opportunity to receive highly personalized training in the essential skills of cable building and repair for sound and video, including work with XLR’s, BNC’s, CAT-5 cables and more. Class dates are announced on our website and in email announcements.

More classes this year will expand upon our training program for Digital Asset Management and Workflows and, as in previous years, we continue to offer classes for Final Cut Pro and for Avid Certified Pro Tools Training.

New classes always appear on the Announcements page at www.local695.com and full details for all training opportunities appear on the web site’s Education & Training page. Training updates and announcements are also sent by email. Most of you have been getting those emails periodically but if you haven’t, you should check your profile at www.local695.com and update your email address if necessary. You may also want to check the junk filters on your computer and, if necessary, “white list” our address… info@local695.com… to assure that you’re receiving all of our emails. As always, if you have any questions or suggestions about training or about the website, don’t hesitate to contact us at edu@local695.com.

News & Announcements

L.A. TV Pilot Incentive Approved

On March 13, the Los Angeles City approved item 12-0564-S1, which waives all city fees for television pilots shot in Los Angeles.

Moved by Eric Garcetti and seconded by Paul Krekorian on June 12, 2012, the motion was referred to the Jobs and Business Development Committee, who recommended the motion for approval.

“My plan is that if you film a pilot in Los Angeles, you will not get a bill from the city,” Garcetti said. “Other cities, states and countries are offering powerful incentives to lure those jobs away. We are fighting back to keep those jobs right here—where they belong.”

Once all affected city departments have reported back that they have implemented procedures to implement this action, it will go back to City Council to become policy.

Fox Sports West Contract Approved

The IATSE contract with Fox Sports West was approved by the SportsNet members on April 10.

Among the gains for the members are an extra fee for mixers doing surround sound, increase in the fee for time spent traveling by car, an increase in contributions to MPIHP and Server/Tape Room staffing requirements to keep up with new technology.

Rate increases are 1.5% the first year retroactively, 3.25% the second and 3.5% the third. A-2s and utilities will get additional increases in order to bring their rates up to standards.

The IATSE represents sports television production crews in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Texas, Arizona, Minneapolis, Washington, New York and Chicago.

J.L. Fisher’s Open House and BBQ Lunch

J.L. Fisher will be conducting their 8th Annual Open House, Mixer and BBQ Lunch (excellent food … last year, they had pizza barbecued on the grill) on Saturday, May 18, 2013, at J.L. Fisher, 1000 West Isabel Street, Burbank, CA 91506.

Local 695 will be demonstrating the Fisher boom and you’re welcome to hop up and spend some time working on the boom yourself. We’ll be there all day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. so you can stop by anytime. Jim Fisher offers tours of the Fisher facility at noon and 1:30 p.m. It’s all free.

Parade of Sound Carts

Considerable ingenuity was on display at the second annual Parade of Sound Carts hosted by the Cinema Audio Society on April 20. More than 20 participants displayed their sound carts and answered questions at the Local 80 stage in Burbank.

In Memoriam

JOHN ANDREW OLIVER
Production Sound Mixer
Feb. 14, 1920 – Jan. 31, 2013

From the Business Representative

In Perspective

I was recently phoned by a fellow Business Representative from a sister Local who requested that I refrain from telling producers of motion pictures, TV productions and commercials that Local 695 production mixers and crews are the best.

I am not making this up, that’s what is out there. My immediate verbal response is unprintable for this publication.

I don’t intend to amend or modify the truth. The truth of the matter is IATSE Local 695 production audio and outside-of-camera re-recording engineers and television engineers are the proven best to deliver a production perfect product.

It is to the Producer’s best interest to employ IATSE Local 695 production recording crews to realize this production perfect product. After all, we have been perfecting our technical product for some 83 years. Let me make it perfectly clear, dear Producers all: that a IATSE Local 695 membership card is evidence that you employ the very best Production Mixer, Microphone Boom Operator, Video Recording Engineer/Video Assist Technician, Utility Sound Technician, Sound Service Assist and Studio Projectionist.

The internal rules set by the International Union request all members to carry their respective local union membership card. IATSE Local 695 members should always carry their membership card and proudly show it to any union representative who may request to see it.

Please remember, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a picture with sound is worth millions.” Think about it.

James A. Osburn, CAS
Business Representative
Executive Director

From the President

A Game Changer…

Something important has happened in this most recent cycle of films, something has dramatically altered the way we do sound for film and television. A few existing technologies were used in a bold and direct way. It was an aha moment in pre-production that has changed what is possible.

We are commonly using nonlinear, file-based systems for lightweight, multitrack field acquisition. This approach evolved from the pioneering techniques created for, and applied by, Robert Altman and his Production Sound Mixers, Jim Webb and Bob Gravenor. They muscled these innovations into the world of mechanical filmmaking, where every track existed in physical space, later to be edited by razor blade and splicers on sprocketed magnetic stock. The mechanical version of this method has long been relegated to the history of our process. But this way of applying multitrack technique has become the norm.

We have also become accustomed to the ease and economy of applying CGI techniques for creative control of images. The art of visual effects has exploded exponentially, most often applied to create visual fiction born of the imagination, or for the removal of incongruous visual elements from the frame, such as telephone poles, skylines from the wrong century, or uncooperative natural light sources.

Recently, these tools were brought together and applied with a different mindset regarding the sound work. Different in the sense that their application was premeditated. A creative premise was brought to the table by Sound Mixer Simon Hayes and embraced by Director Tom Hooper, the producers and the actors. (The multi-part article detailing his team’s navigation of their journey on Les Misérables continues in this issue of the Quarterly.)

Les Mis, winner of this year’s “Triple Crown” of BAFTA, CAS and Academy Award (Oscar) for sound, is a benchmark. It changes the conversation about how we do sound for film and television.

From where I sit, it seems we have arrived at the place where we can re-think the conventional notion that a great deal of our creative energy needs to be expended on hiding microphone placement to protect the image at the expense of microphone placement to optimize the quality of the sound.

I was fortunate enough to be in London for the BAFTA Awards this year and spoke at length with Simon Hayes as well as with Tom Hooper about his experience with this technique and I asked Tom several key questions. First, how did he feel about the overall approach of capturing the vocal performances live, for use in the finished film. He glowed as he happily described going for the recordings “on the day” removed the need for prerecording all the actors as well as minimized/eliminated the need for a traditional ADR budget and schedule and most importantly, qualitatively, the performances were dynamically organic, in the moment, and filled with the genuine emotion the characters needed to move the audience. Huge collateral benefits were had from the actors’ and cinematographer’s and wardrobe departments’ point of view, as they didn’t need to worry about their wardrobe being problematic or the microphones, booms or lavalieres, being seen. It was all built in to the approach.Wondering whether all this joy had the sour taste of rocketing the overall budget into the stratosphere, I asked Tom the key question of cost, and dear friends, here’s the kicker to this creative breakthrough. Hooper, with a gleam in his eye, spit it out like a shot. Total cost for using CGI for microphone removal on Les Mis was, wait for it…

A mere $160,000!

…This is a nominal amount on a film of this scale. This number does not even take into consideration the enormous savings of pre-record and post production if the film had been approached traditionally. A massive win-win for all parties concerned, most significantly, the creative entity of the film itself.

Consider the creative, logistical and financial benefits afforded to our industry if we migrate to this approach as the new normal, a game changer by any measure and certainly a dramatic underline of the great creative contribution the sound team makes to any film or television effort.

In accepting her Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in this film, Anne Hathaway made history by singling out and thanking personally, Production Sound Mixer Simon Hayes and his team for their contribution.

’Nuff said…

Fraternally,
Mark Ulano
President, IATSE Local 695

From the Editors

Welcome to the spring issue of the 695 Quarterly. This marks the beginning of the fifth year of this publication, which is a remarkable achievement in itself.

The success of this periodical would not be possible without the determined work and support of the co-editors, the Executive Board of Local 695 and our publisher, IngleDodd Media.

When Richard Lightstone, Eric Pierce and David Waelder first met in October 2008 to formulate the mission of this publication, our mandate was to inform the entertainment industry on everything that the membership of this Local does.

The three of us divided up the tasks of putting this magazine together.

We also have to thank our regular contributing authors: Laurence Abrams, Scott D. Smith, Ben Betts and Jim Tanenbaum.

Thanks as well to those who have taken the time and energy to write compelling and informative articles over the last four years. They include Jay Patterson, Andy Rovins, Jeff Erdmann, Adam Blantz, Douglas Axtell, Jon Taylor, Robert Janiger, Tim Song Jones, Lee Orloff, Willie Burton, Ian Kelly, Steve Nelson, Thomas Brandau and Simon Hayes.

We will continue to bring you instructive, illuminating and entertaining articles on everything 695.

Fraternally yours,

Eric Pierce, Richard Lightstone and David Waelder

Award Nominations

Local 695 Salutes Awards Nominees

It’s awards season and we’re proud that Local 695 is well represented in the sound categories. Here’s a salute to all those nominated and their production sound teams!

[Names in BOLD are Local 695 members]

2012 CAS Awards Nominees
The nominees were announced for the Cinema Audio Society’s 49th annual awards. Ceremonies will be held February 16 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

Motion Pictures Live Action

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Nominees:
Tony Johnson CAS, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges CAS, Michael Semanick CAS
Production Sound Team:
Corrin Ellingford, Chris Hiles, Sam Spicer

Les Misérables

Nominees:
Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Robert Edwards
Production Sound Team:
Arthur Fenn, Robin Johnson, Paul Schwartz, James Gibb, Andrew Rowe, Duncan Craig

Lincoln

Nominees:
Ronald Judkins CAS, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom CAS, Shawn Murphy, Bob Johanson, Frank Rinella
Production Sound Team:
Randall L. Johnson, Alex Names, Mark Agostino, Rachel Fleiss

Skyfall

Nominees:
Stuart Wilson AMPS, Scott Millan CAS, Greg P. Russell CAS, Simon Rhodes, Peter Gleaves, James Ashwill
Production Sound Team:
Orin Beaton, Lloyd Dudley, Thomas Fennell, Tim White, Hasan Sayin

Zero Dark Thirty

Nominees:
Ray Beckett CAS, Paul N.J. Ottosson, Brian Smith, John Sanacore
Production Sound Team:
Pete Murphy, Shaikh Firoz, Francisco Fernandez, Bruno Teves, Gary Dodkin

Motion Pictures Animated

Brave

Nominees:
Bob Johanson, Tom Johnson, Gary Rydstrom CAS, Andrew Dudman, Frank Rinella

Frankenweenie

Nominees:
Doc Kane, Michael Semanick CAS, Tom Johnson, Christopher Boyes, Dennis Sands CAS, Glen Gathard

The Lorax

Nominees:
Randy Thom CAS, Gary Rizzo CAS, Shawn Murphy, Frank Rinella

Rise of the Guardians

Nominees:
Tighe Sheldon, Andy Nelson, Jim Bolt, Peter Cobbin, Kyle Rochlin

Wreck-It Ralph

Nominees:
Doc Kane, David E. Fluhr CAS, Gary Rizzo CAS, Alan Meyerson, Frank Rinella

Television Movies or Mini-Series

American Horror Story: Asylum Part 1 “Welcome to Briarcliff”

Nominees:
Sean Rush, Joseph H. Earle Jr. CAS, Doug Andham CAS, James S. Levine, Judah Getz, Kyle Billingsley
Production Sound Team:
Dennis Fuller, Kriston Wilcox, John Bauman

Game Change

Nominees:
David R.B. Macmillan CAS, Gabriel J. Serrano, Leslie Shatz, Chris Fogel, Travis Mackay, Tor Kingdon
Production Sound Team:
Perry Dodgson, Lorenzo Milan

Hatfields & McCoys: Part 1

Nominees:
Dragos Stanomir, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern, Jeff Vaughn, Eric Apps, Peter
Persaud
Production Sound Team:
Marius Cosma, Gabriel Marin, Radu Nicolae, Dan Blanaru

Hemingway & Gellhorn

Nominees:
Nelson Stoll CAS, Lora Hirschberg, Peter Horner, Douglas Murray, Marc Blanes Matas, Andy Greenberg, Don White
Production Sound Team:
Fred Runner, Lou Wiskes

Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia

Nominees:
John Mooney,Howard Bargroff
Production Sound Team:
Stuart McCutcheon, Abdulqader Amoud

Television Series One Hour

Boardwalk Empire “The Milkmaid’s Lot”

Nominees:
Franklin D. Stettner CAS, Tom Fleischman, CAS
Production Sound Team:
Larry Provost, Sam Perry, Toussaint Kotright, Egor Panchenko, Tim Elder, Michelle Mader

Breaking Bad “Dead Freight”

Nominees:
Darryl L. Frank CAS, Jeff Perkins, Eric Justen, Eric Gotthelf, Stacey Michaels
Production Sound Team:
Jeff Perkins, Eric Justen

Game of Thrones “Blackwater”

Nominees:
Ronan Hill CAS, Onnalee Blank CAS, Mathew Waters, Brett Voss
Production Sound Team:
Simon Kerr, James Atkinson, Matteo De Pellegrini, Luke McGinley

Homeland “Beirut Is Back”

Nominees:
Larry Long, Nello Torri CAS, Alan M. Decker CAS, Paul Drenning, Shawn Kennelly
Production Sound Team:
Matt Fann, Jack Hill

Mad Men “Commissions and Fees”

Nominees:
Peter Bentley CAS, Ken Teaney CAS, Alec St. John CAS
Production Sound Team:
Christopher Sposa, Bud Raymond

Television Series Half-Hour

30 Rock “Mazel Tov, Dummies!”

Nominees:
Griffin Richardson CAS, Tony Pipitone
Production Sound Team:
Chris Fondulas, Bryant Musgrove, Larry Loewinger

Californication “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be”

Nominees:
Harrison “Duke” Marsh, Todd M. Grace CAS, Edward Charles Carr III CAS
Production Sound Team:
Abel Shiro, Kevin Patterson, Mike Mesirow

Modern Family “Disneyland”

Nominees:
Stephen A. Tibbo CAS, Dean Okrand, Brian R. Harman CAS
Production Sound Team:
Preston Conner, Dan Lipe, Srdjan “Serge” Popovic

Nurse Jackie “Handle Your Scandal”

Nominees:
Jan McLaughlin CAS, Peter Waggoner
Production Sound Team:
Brendan O’Brien, Michelle Mader

The Office “New Guys”

Nominees:
Ben Patrick, John W. Cook II CAS, Kenneth Kobett CAS
Production Sound Team:
Brian Wittle, Nicolas Carbone

Television Non-Fiction Variety or Music Series or Specials

The 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Nominees:
Brian Riordan CAS, Jamie Ledner
Production Sound Team:
Richard Gizzi, Carl Glanville, Jason Gossman, John Harris, Skip Kent, Brian Kingman, Steve Lamphere, Bryan Leskowicz, Sean McClintock, Billy McKarge, Larry Reed, Joel Singer, Vinny Siniscal, Joel Tainio, Barry Warrick, Simon Welch

Deadliest Catch “I Don’t Wanna Die”

Nominee:
Bob Bronow CAS

Frozen Planet “To the Ends of the Earth”

Nominees:
Archie Moore, Graham Wild

Great Performances at the Met: Anna Bolena

Nominees:
Ken Hahn CAS, Jay David Saks

Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders

Nominee:
Paul James Zahnley CAS
Production Sound Team:
Lupe Mejia, Chris McIntire, Andy Bowley, Jim Choi, Adriano Bravo

Django Unchained

Nominees:
Mark Ulano CAS, Michael Minkler CAS, Tony Lamberti, Wylie Stateman
Production Sound Team:
Tom Hartig, Dirk Stout

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Nominees:
Tony Johnson CAS, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges CAS, Michael Semanick CAS, Brent Burge, Chris Ward
Production Sound Team:
Corrin Ellingford, Chris Hiles, Sam Spicer

Les Misérables

Nominees:
Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Lee Walpole, John Warhurst
Production Sound Team:
Arthur Fenn, Robin Johnson, Paul Schwartz, James Gibb, Andrew Rowe, Duncan Craig

Life of Pi

Nominees:
Drew Kunin, Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton, Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill
Production Sound Team:
Mark Goodermote, “Malau” Kong Qiang, Shalini Agarwal, Francis Peloquin, Kathey Thibault, Ed Novick, Louis Piche, Evan Gilman

Skyfall

Nominees:
Stuart Wilson AMPS, Scott Millan CAS, Greg P. Russell CAS, Per Hallberg, Karen Baker Landers
Production Sound Team:
Orin Beaton, Lloyd Dudley, Thomas Fennell, Tim White, Hasan Sayin

The Oscar nominees for “Best Sound Mixing” were announced January 10. The 85th Academy Awards ceremony will be held February 24 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California.

Argo

Nominees:
Jose Antonio Garcia, Gregg Rudloff, John Reitz
Production Sound Team:
David Alvarez, Eric Bautista, Greg Cosh, Jonathan Fuh, Edward Tise

Les Misérables

Nominees:
Simon Hayes, Mark Paterson, Andy Nelson
Production Sound Team:
Arthur Fenn, Robin Johnson, Paul Schwartz, James Gibb, Andrew Rowe, Duncan Craig

Life of Pi

Nominees:
Drew Kunin, D.M. Hemphill, Ron Bartlett
Production Sound Team:
Mark Goodermote, “Malau” Kong Qiang, Shalini Agarwal, Francis Peloquin, Kathey Thibault, Ed Novick, Louis Piche, Evan Gilman

Lincoln

Nominees:
Ronald Judkins CAS, Gary Rydstrom CAS, Andy Nelson
Production Sound Team:
Randall L. Johnson, Alex Names, Mark Agostino, Rachel Fleiss

Skyfall

Nominees:
Stuart Wilson AMPS, Greg P. Russell CAS, Scott Millan CAS
Production Sound Team:
Orin Beaton, Lloyd Dudley, Thomas Fennell, Tim White, Hasan Sayin

News & Announcements

Pac-12 Network

Members of Local 695 and other IATSE locals turned out in large number to support the sports production crews as they successfully staged simultaneous job actions in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Eugene, Corvallis and Seattle against the Pac-12 Sports Network. The pickets were set up in response to the network hiring people for lesser wages and benefits than the established area standards.

The IATSE had shown flexibility with the network by granting contract waivers to accommodate budget restrictions on some product and has allowed student employment alongside professional technicians, but Pac-12 executives ignored all efforts of the IATSE to bring a more productive educational structure to the organization.

After this job action by production employees of the Pac-12 Network, including the refusal of IATSE professionals hired through signatory companies (Pettigrew, PCCC, BBP, and others) to cross picket lines, the network has agreed that a contract with the IA will be beneficial to their production needs. At the time of this writing, contract details are being finalized.

Local 695 has represented Sports Television Production Technicians for decades under contracts with broadcasters such as KTLA and FOX Sports, delivering programming for Major League Baseball, NBA, NHL, Major League Soccer, NCAA Sports, Boxing and much more.

Membership Directory Offers New Features

The Local 695 Membership Directory 2013 will be arriving in your mailbox in the next few weeks. New features include FCC LPAB call sign listings and the ability to put your Skills and Areas of Skills in the order you want them to be. By default, the three membership directories (publicly accessible online searchable, members-only online searchable and the annual printed) will only list your name and classification, but you have the ability to add full contact information, skills and more! Simply log on to www.local695.com, find “Membership Directory” at the top of the page and click on “review/add/edit.” Your directory page will appear and from there you can add information or make changes, and you can even customize the information in each of the three directories 24 hours a day, 365 days a year!

Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund

Drawing from donations made by the IATSE and members of the IATSE, the Walsh/DiTolla/Spivak Foundation has so far provided assistance to 61 IATSE Brothers and Sisters and their families suffering financial hardship due to Hurricane Sandy. We thank those of you who stepped up to the plate and generously contributed. Unfortunately, the hardships continue and donations are still needed in order to continue providing this much-needed assistance.

If you can help, please make checks payable to the Walsh/DiTolla/Spivak Foundation and mail to the Foundation c/o IATSE, 1430 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

In Memoriam

BUD ALPER
Mixer
Aug. 24, 1930 – Dec. 19, 2012

TIM MITCHELL DRURY
Boom Operator
Sept. 10, 1957 – Jan. 20, 2013

From the Business Representative

In Perspective

Howard “Buddy” Alper
Aug. 24, 1930 – Dec. 19, 2012

Soon after completing his service with the U.S. Army, young Buddy Alper found himself with a new career. It was 1955 and the entrylevel job he landed was at that time called “Sound Production Cableman,” placing him front and center in Hollywood’s booming motion picture industry. Learning the ropes on countless soundstages and locations near and far, Buddy gradually worked his way up from Cableman to Microphone Boom Operator and eventually to Production Sound Mixer. His work gave him the opportunity to record sound on such memorable films as Blade Runner, the original Rocky, Little Big Man, Breaking Away, Take the Money and Run and many more, with numerous television credits, including such classics as Dallas and Hawaii Five-O.

Whatever the job, Buddy came to it with passion and a relentless commitment to top-notch production sound recording. His efforts were rewarded with multiple nominations for Academy Awards and BAFTA Awards.

Buddy understood the connection between the work he did and the union that represented him in the workplace, making his contribution to the IATSE with 52 years of active participation as a member of Local 695, including the years spent volunteering as an elected member of the Board of Directors. The day he received his 50-year IATSE Gold Membership Card from International President Thomas C. Short was indeed a proud one for both Buddy and for the members of Local 695.

With a larger-than-life presence that commanded respect wherever he traveled, Buddy Alper was a true champion of promoting the professional goals of recording audio in production, an inspiration to others and one of the most unforgettable persons to have promoted our 83-year history.

Buddy, rest with the angels, where I’m sure your presence will be noted. Thank you for our wonderful Local 695 relationship.

James A. Osburn, CAS
Business Representative
Executive Director

From the President

Pissed Off…

There is a rampant elitism in the land. It is particularly virulent in our entertainment industry but it reaches across the culture and manifests itself as a methodical assault on the American Middle-Class’ self-esteem. Labor is the enemy. The working man wants too much. Society can’t afford to sustain the “Dream,” while executives reap biggest-ever profits.

Our contribution to the process of creating entertainment is essential. No less than any collaborative endeavor, whether musicians in the orchestra or specialists in sports or the military. The process cannot continue without our participation. Yet, we have somehow devolved to a state of almost invisibility. This isn’t good and it pisses me off.

Above-the-Line/Below-the-Line, Upstairs/ Downstairs, Noblemen/Commoners, Brahman/Untouchables. A fair argument can be made that we have been willing participants in this precipitous decline.

True or not, we collectively must set goals and create strategies to reposition ourselves in the eyes of our industry. This must begin as a public relations/communications effort tied to the facts of our actual contribution.

It begins every day on the set. We, as individuals, are the best foundation for this new beginning. How we see ourselves and position our work relationships with our colleagues, employers and clients ultimately defines how we are to be treated by these constituencies as we engage in the process with them. In fact, if we take the opportunity to frame how we are defined, we start getting out in front of the direction this goes in.

A few principles I try to remember: What we do is essential to the process. If it weren’t, we would not be invited to participate.

Just because the people we work with and for don’t really know what we do, doesn’t make them bad people. It’s on us to communicate, in a clear, strong, non-adversarial or condescending way, our commitment to the project, the process and to excellence.

While focusing on our specialized tasks, we can demonstrate clear awareness and integration with the larger view/big picture. A band without a drummer has no beat, and a soloist who doesn’t prepare, will lose his audience.

Do your homework.

We must embody the perception we want this business to have of us. It’s the first step in resetting the position we have in the entertainment industry.

Fraternally,
Mark Ulano
President, IATSE Local 695

From the Editors

As the calendar ticks over to a new year, we are filled with anticipation of brighter prospects and better times.

Hopefully, you have had some time to reflect with your family and friends and you are returning to a project or about to start one.

Competition is a factor both in the search for employment and on the job itself. Even though we are all working toward the same creative goal, it seems that departments are pitted against each other more and more, as if we were in a sporting event.

Imagine what the possibilities would be if in the first meeting with the director, his primary focus was on how best you can achieve a stellar soundtrack?

Well, that is exactly how it transpired on Les Misérables for production mixer Simon Hayes of Great Britain.

This is an inspirational story of enormous cooperation amongst every department, with one goal in mind; to record all the live vocals perfectly. This is an exacting business that requires great sacrifice. We wish you all a bountiful year, filled with endless cooperation from co-workers, friends and your treasured family.

Fraternally yours, David Waelder, Eric Pierce and Richard Lightstone

The 64th Annual Emmys

Local 695 Salutes Awards Nominees

Congratulations to the recipients and nominees and their production sound teams for the 64th Annual Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Sound Mixing.

[Names in BOLD are Local 695 members]

Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) & Animation

WINNER:

Modern Family
“Dude Ranch” ABC

Stephen A. Tibbo CAS, Dean Okrand, Brian R. Harman
Production Sound Team: Preston Conner, Dan Lipe

Also nominated:

Entourage
“The End” HBO

Tom Stasinis CAS, Dennis Kirk, Todd Orr
Production Sound Team: Dave Pattee, Damon Harris

Nurse Jackie
“Handle Your Scandal”
Showtime

Jan McLaughlin CAS, Peter Waggoner
Production Sound Team: Brendan O’Brien,
Michelle Mader

Parks and Recreation
“End of the World”
NBC

Steve Morantz CAS, John Cook, Peter Nusbaum
Production Sound Team: Dirk Stout, Mitch Cohn

30 Rock
“Live From Studio 6H”
NBC

Robert Palladino, Martin Brumbach,
Josiah Gluck, William Taylor

Comedy or Drama Series (ONE-Hour)

WINNER:

Game of Thrones
“Blackwater” HBO

Ronan Hill CAS, Mervyn Moore, Matthew Waters, Onnalee Blank CAS
Production Sound Team: Simon Kerr, James M.H. Atkinson, Mark Ormandy, Simon J. Willis, Matteo De Pellegrini, Luke McGinley

Also nominated:

Breaking Bad
“Face Off” AMC

Darryl L. Frank CAS, Jeff Perkins, Eric Justen
Production Sound Team: Matthew Kabakoff

Downton Abbey
Episode 1 PBS

Nigel Heath, Alex Fielding, Oliver Brierley, Keith Partridge
Production Sound Team: Chris Ashworth, James Harris, Steve Hancock, Lee Sharp

Homeland
“Marine One” Showtime

Larry Long, Nello Torri, Alan Decker, Larold Rebhun
Production Sound Team: Matt Fann, Jack Hill

Person of Interest
(Pilot) CBS

Noah Timan, Frank Morrone CAS, Scott Weber, Keith Rogers CAS,
Production Sound Team: Patricia Brolsma, Amanda Jacques Sober, Dan Guachione, Lukasz Jani

MINISERIES OR MOVIE

WINNER:

Hatfields & McCoys Part 1
HISTORY

Dragos Stanomir, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern
Production Sound Team: Cozma Marius-Serban

Also nominated:

American Horror Story
“Piggy, Piggy” FX Networks

Sean Rush, Joe Earle, Doug Andham
Production Sound Team: Dennis Fuller, Kriston Wilcox, John Bauman

Game Change
HBO

David MacMillan CAS, Leslie Shatz, Gabriel J. Serrano
Production Sound Team: Perry Dodgson, Lorenzo Milan

Hemingway & Gellhorn
HBO

Nelson Stoll CAS AES, Lora Hirschberg, Peter Horner, Douglas Murray
Production Sound Team: Fred Runner, Lou Wiskes

Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia (Masterpiece)
PBS

John Mooney, Howard Bargroff
Production Sound Team: Stuart McCutcheon, Abdulqader Amoud

VARIETY OR MUSIC SERIES OR SPECIAL

Winner:

The 84th Annual Academy Awards ABC

Paul Sandweiss, Tommy Vicari, Pablo Munguia, Kristian Pedregon, Bob La Masney, Brian Riordan, Thomas Pesa, Michael Parker, Josh Morton, Patrick Baltzell CAS, Larry Reed, John Perez
Production Sound Team: Eddie McKarge, Dan Vicari, Debbie Fecteau, Jeffrey Fecteau, Ric Teller, Hugh Healy, Dave Hewitt, Phil Gitomer, David Bellamy

Also nominated:

ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends—In Concert CBS

J. Mark King, Paul Sandweiss, Biff Dawes, Dirk Vanoucek, Steven Anderson, Marc Repp, Chip Matthews, Christian Schrader, Jeff Peterson, Jason Spence,Jeffrey R. Fecteau

American Idol 1144 A/B FOX

Ed Greene CAS, Randy Faustino, Patrick Baltzell CAS, Michael Parker, Gary Long, Christian Schrader, Brian Riordan, Conner Moore, Ryan Young
Production Sound Team: Debbie Fecteau, Dennis Mays, Ric Teller, Ryan Young, Billy McCarge

The 54th Annual Grammy Awards CBS

Thomas Holmes, John Harris, Eric Schilling, Paul Sandweiss, Eric Johnston, Mikael Stewart, Ron Reaves, Tom Pesa, Michael Parker, Pablo Munguia, Bob La Masney
Production Sound Team: Michael Abbott, Rick Bramlette, Jeff Peterson, Phil Ramone, Barry Warrick, Andres Arango, Hank Neuberger, Billy McCarge, Dave Rickmears, JP Velasco, Steven Anderson, Craig Rovello, Bill Kappelman, Pete San Filipo, Ric Teller, Damon Andres, Eddie McKarge, Paul Chapman, Dennis Mays, Bruce Arledge, Kirk Donovan, Dave Bellamy, Grant Greene, John Arenas, Matt Campisi, Jim Fay, Thomas Ryden, Hugh Healy, Max Feldman, Hardi Kamsani, Joel Singer, Charles Campbell, Anthony Catalano, Gary Epstein CAS, Mike Babbitt

NONFICTION PROGRAMMING

Winner:

Paul Simon’s Graceland Journey: Under African Skies A&E

Tom Paul
Production Sound Team: Eddie O’Connor, Sean O’Neil, Bernhard Marcus, David Hawkins, Christo Hattingh, Kevin Manas, Gray Burnett, Zakes Baloyi

Also nominated:

The Amazing Race
“Let Them Drink Their Haterade (Lake Manyara, Tanzania)” CBS

Jim Ursulak, Dean Gaveau CAS, Jerry Chabane, Troy Smith
Production Sound Team: Brian Allen, Bruce Beacom, Darren Brower, Phil DeTolve, Fernando Gironas, Burt Gregory, Mickey McMullen, Mike Ormsby, Ryan Sevy, Barry Weissman

Deadliest Catch
“I Don’t Wanna Die” Discovery Channel

Bob Bronow CAS

Frozen Planet
“Ends of the Earth” Discovery Channel

Archie Moore, Graham Wild

George Harrison: Living in the Material World HBO

Tom Fleischman CAS, Bob Chefalas
Production Sound Team: Garry Hamden, Dudley Houlden, Mark Mandler, Danny Michael, Juan Nunez, Barry O’Sullivan, Frederic Pardon, Mike Reilly, Mark Roy, Susumu Tokunow, Mark Weingarten, Stuart Wilson

Education & Training

Digital Asset Management: Heir to Helical Scan

by Laurence B. Abrams

Standing between an ARRI Alexa and a RED Epic on October 20, 2012 at the “Digital Asset Management and Workfws” training session conducted at AbelCine in Burbank, and with an array of ingest and processing software installed on nearby computers, Local 695’s Tom Vanasse began the day by ominously announcing that “Some of what you see and hear today will almost certainly be obsolete tomorrow.” That’s not very encouraging but new product introductions coming from a wide assortment of manufacturers are announced almost every week. And there are nearly as many on-set production workflows as there are productions, with many shows opting for entirely unique and often experimental approaches… part technology and part improvisation.

There’s much at stake on a motion picture and television production set and it grows increasingly more difficult to stay abreast of this rapidly changing state-of-the-art but it turns out that the Local 695 engineers who work with and develop these new technologies relish the challenge. Maybe that’s because it was the tinkering inventive egghead pioneering spirit that brought many of our members to this business in the first place.

Way back in the spring of 1953, Local 695’s engineers were doing their own sort of pioneering, experimenting with ways to bring this new thing called “video” to a world that for the most part had not seen it before. Even as their small static-y rolling image gradually found a place in living rooms across the country, there were many who continued to predict that television would not last… much like there were those who decades earlier predicted the demise of radio and decades later, the demise of 3D. But Local 695 member A. Murray Jarvis, writing in an article for the March 1953 issue of Local’s 695’s “International Sound Technician” magazine, saw it differently when he offered these remarkably prescient words:

“While the Video magnetic recording process is still in the experimental stage, great progress is being made toward its perfection by its enthusiastic developers. The resolution of the visual image produced by this process in its present form has restrictions, however the industry is watching this development with anxious interest for it has the potentiality of revolutionizing the entire motion picture technique as we know it.”

The black-and-white ABC TK-10 camera Murray Jarvis appears beside in this 1953 photo could be used only for live broadcasting and the Ampex VR-1000 2-inch helical scan recorder, the first recorder capable of capturing a video image, wouldn’t appear in TV studios until 1957. Even so, Jarvis’ vision for the future was extraordinarily accurate. Sixty years have passed… Kodak no longer manufactures film stock… and virtually all studio production, whether for motion picture or television, is recorded in video format. Jarvis’ nascent video technology truly is responsible for “revolutionizing the entire motion picture technique as we know it.”

Thus has been the ongoing evolution of the electronic audio and video recording chain, pioneered by Murray Jarvis and his contemporaries and carried forward by successive generations of Engineers, Broadcast Technicians, Videotape Operators and Video Assist Technicians of IATSE Local 695.

Tom Vanasse’s October training session at AbelCine represented one more step in that ongoing evolution. In this particular class, Tom explained to the 695 members in attendance that even though tools and workflows vary from job to job, and many of those tools and workflows in current use will most certainly face obsolescence before very long, the basic building blocks of digital video production… recording and re-recording… can be directly applied or adapted for almost any modern production environment. Training begins with these extensible building blocks.

Using this premise as the structure for the training session, Vanasse took the class step by step through the entire production chain. The choice of camera, from a DSLR to the widely used ARRI Alexa, stands at one end of the process while the varying requirements of Post-Production stand at the other. In between is the domain of the Local 695 engineer, recording full resolution RAW or multi-codec output live during shooting, re-recording video data from the camera’s source media to magnetic hard drives or LTO tape, generating additional backups and archives, transcoding to deliverable formats and meeting any additional requirements that are requested before the hand-off to Post.

The benefits and requirements of many of the connection standards were reviewed, from eSata, SAS and fiber to Thunderbolt and Firewire800. Discussion and demos covered the range of available external recorders and the rapidly evolving software tools that are currently available, including Black Magic’s Davinci Resolve, Assimilate’s ScratchLab and Adobe’s Speedgrade.

Of particular interest to the group was the new Codex Vault, which was demonstrated by Codex Digital Product Specialist Stephen Ceci. The Vault is a modular location-based media management environment that performs fast transfers by way of a programmable automated production management interface. This standalone solution requires no external drives or processing and seeks to eliminate some of the complexity involved in developing custom workflows on location. The Vault generates deliverables in all formats required for dailies review, post production and archive. Additional capabilities are expected as new stackable modules are released.

The video recording and re-recording technology used by Local 695 engineers has been improving continuously since the first helical-scan recorder arrived in 1957 but never has the technology evolved at such rapid pace as it does today. New developments in resolving power, data processing and throughput are introduced almost continuously. As equipment and workflows evolve, overall performance increases, quality gets extraordinarily better, cost efficiencies of production and distribution improve dramatically and with it, the entertainment industry finds new opportunities for growth by expanding markets for the products we create.

Celluloid takes its place in history and not without a good measure of nostalgia but now — sixty years later — on sound stages and location sets around the world where video electronic recording has almost totally replaced film, we can say with certainty that the revolution envisioned by Murray Jarvis WILL be televised.