Features

Testing the Transmitting Antennas: Mini-Mites and Miracle Whips

Remote Audio sent us their version of a Comtek antenna, the Miracle Whip MW216, for evaluation as part of our sequence of antenna test articles. Since Comtek recently brought out the Mini-Mite, a smaller variation on their Phase Right series of antennas, it seemed a good time to turn our attention from receiving to transmitting antennas.

The Miracle Whip name sounds like it should be part of a tuna sandwich but it’s a Lectrosonics SNA600 UHF dipole modified to operate at lower frequencies. Coated wires cut to the proper length attach to the folding wings of the SNA to tune the antenna to the 216-217 MHz band used by the base station transmitters. It’s cleverly designed so the extensions mount using existing threaded holes on the SNA600. The resulting antenna retains the ability to fold for transport and is much smaller and lighter than the Comtek Phase Right antenna commonly paired with the base station transmitters. It is a bit more “prickly” but that’s probably not a serious liability in actual use.

It performed very well in tests although not any better than the alternatives. We set up our usual test walk and measured how far we could get from the Comtek BST-25 base station before the signal degraded. We ran all the tests in the lower channels, the “Narrow Band.” The “High Band” above Ch. 40 might offer improved range but relative performance should be the same. There was a pattern of performance typical to all the antennas we tested: the signal would be very clean for about 250–300 feet and then a thin swirl of background hash would creep in. This background hash can float in and out and is well below voice levels; it might pass unnoticed in a scene with active talking. Vulnerability to hits and dropouts became pronounced around 550 feet although we had some test runs that were OK out to 700 feet. As always, we maintained good line of sight between the antennas and suspended testing if any bogeys wandered into the testing area. Performance on an actual set with crew people moving about is likely to be less.

We were surprised that we achieved some of the best performance with the telescoping antenna that comes packaged with the transmitter. In several test runs, it was consistently artifact-free to about 400 feet and maintained good signal to at least 550 feet. The other antennas sometimes exceeded that range but, in the first series of tests, all exhibited the floating hash 50 or 100 feet earlier. The base station was three feet above ground on the shelf of a Mag-liner cart for these tests.

The Comtek Phase Right and the Miracle Whip antennas had very similar performance. They were connected to the transmitter by six feet of RG-8X cable and held aloft by a C-stand. Height was adjusted so the center point of the antenna would be six feet above ground. We had clean transmission from both for at least 250 feet. The thin background hash became noticeable somewhere between 250 and 350 feet and we began to experience hits and dropouts around 500 feet but occasional test runs were OK to 600 feet and beyond. The results of multiple test runs sometimes favored the Comtek and sometimes the Miracle Whip.

We had an old VHF Phase Right on hand and tried it out. Although tuned to 169 MHz, it worked very nearly as well as the others. We made only a couple of runs with this “off label” use but achieved clean operation free of background hash to 270 feet. Performance was slightly degraded starting around 355 feet but we didn’t experience significant dropouts until 540 feet. Tuning to exactly 215 MHz does not appear to be critical in this application although the others did have about 10% or 15% better range. It wouldn’t be the best choice if you were buying fresh but it could be used successfully if you already have one in your kit.

We acquired a Mini-Mite for a second round of tests. This new design from Comtek is a half-wavelength dipole with a tube base, like the Phase Right but much shorter. Rather than a “rubber-duck” antenna extension, it comes fitted with a 23-inch rigid wire whip.

Performance of the Mini-Mite was consistently good. We achieved at least 300 feet before hearing any artifacts and twice recorded 400 feet of clean range. The signal became vulnerable to hits around 500 feet but would continue to be usable out to 600 or 650 feet. On one occasion, we walked more than 700 feet before we deemed the results unacceptable.

We also had good results that day from the Remote Audio Miracle Whip, observing clean signal out to 400 feet. Performance was a bit “iffy” but usable from 475 feet and didn’t become unacceptable until 630 feet.

Each test walk yielded slightly different results that would favor first one design and then the other. The overall pattern was very similar. Audio was clean to at least 300 feet, vulnerable but still usable starting around 450 feet and significantly compromised from about 600 or 650 feet.

Although the Phase Right, the Mini-Mite and the Miracle Whip do not seem to offer any performance benefit over the standard antenna, they do serve a useful function. Optimum performance from the telescoping antenna requires locating the transmitter on a top shelf of the cart so there is room to extend it. The remote antennas achieve good performance with the transmitter more conveniently located.

Since the performance is so similar, it makes some sense to choose based on size and weight considerations and price. At $186, the Phase Right is the most expensive of the bunch and its 19-inch tube base makes it a bit unwieldy. The Mini-Mite is less expensive, performs at least as well and is considerably smaller. Weighing only 4.5 oz, the Miracle Whip is the smallest and lightest antenna we tested and also the least expensive.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Glen Trew and Jane Baxter at Trew Audio and Josh Harper of Remote Audio for supplying the Miracle Whip, to Robert Anzalone in the Location Sound Corporation Rental Department for the loan of Comtek equipment and to Will Tarr in LSC Weights and Measures for his assistance. And, as always, we owe a debt of gratitude to Scott Harris, who supplied the measuring wheel and all of the grip support gear and actually walked many of the tests.

My Trip to Africa: Willie Burton’s incredible journey

I was sitting in my den watching a news report when the telephone rang. Ellen Harrington was calling to invite me to travel to Nairobi and Rwanda as a delegate in an educational exchange program with African film students. She is Director of Exhibitions, Special Events and International Outreach for the Motion Picture Academy. Phil Robinson, Chairman of the program, had recommended me, she said. Phil is a writer/director I had worked with on two films, “All of Me” and “Sneakers.”

Ellen explained to me that the Outreach Program brings delegations to countries with developing film industries. Creative conversations between emerging and established filmmakers help connect communities throughout the globe. Academy members are selected to participate from such diverse crafts as screenwriting, directing, cinematography, producing, sound, production design, acting, editing and documentary filmmaking. As delegates we would spend about two weeks interacting with students in programs in both Kenya and Rwanda.

I was excited to be part of this group, and felt honored to be asked, but wasn’t quite ready to say yes. The program was to start in the beginning of July and I hadn’t worked in the first half of the year. I was on the hunt for a film job. There is a saying in Hollywood that the phone will ring the moment you commit to something other than work. But I also believe that if you do something good for others, it always comes back to you – eventually. . I felt this was a fantastic opportunity for me to share some of my experience and knowledge with others. After mulling it over a few days I called Ellen and committed to the trip. Sure enough, a week later the phone rang with a job offer with conflicting dates. Job offers are scarce these days so it was a hard decision but I turned it down. When I called the production manager to tell her why I couldn’t do the project she said, “What a great opportunity! Go and have fun.”

Then the “fun” began. I had to get all my shots for international travel, prescription tablets for malaria and meet with the other delegates to review the itinerary. In addition to Ellen Harrington, the Director of the Outreach Program and Phil Robinson, the Chairman of the Program, the Academy group included Actress Alfre Woodard, Producer Stephanie Allain, Cinematographer John Bailey, Production Designer Wynn Thomas and Editor Carol Littleton. I was excited to be traveling with such a select group and it was great to see a few familiar faces.

I was all set for the trip when I had to decline yet another job offer, this time for a two-day commercial. But then I received a call for a show scheduled to start filming in Cleveland only a week and a half after my return. I knew it would be a scramble but felt I could do it and happily accepted. It was a relief to know I had a project to return to.

We left LA for Nairobi on Friday, July 8. After eighteen hours in the air, plus some layover time, we arrived on Saturday night and were met by Ginger Wilson of Ginger Ink, a film production company, and Project Manager of One Fine Day Films. One Fine Day Films, our local partner in the training program, offers workshops and seminars to more than sixty-five students from nine African countries. The participants gain practical experience in a variety of disciplines. At the conclusion of the program they collaborate on a feature length project.

We were taken to the Fairview hotel, a family-owned business located on acres of beautifully landscaped gardens. Built in the 1930’s, its stonewalls and arched window give it the look of a country inn.

We spent Sunday morning relaxing and recuperating from the long journey. Ginger Wilson arranged a private viewing at Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage for the afternoon. It’s a wonderful refuge where they save the lives of elephants and rhinos and eventually release them back into the wild. The Orphanage has a program where one can adopt an elephant. I knew if I adopted one, I would become emotionally attached – wanting to visit occasionally and so forth – so I chose not to do it. But, several in our group did adopt an elephant.

Dinner that evening with our African mentors gave us a chance to review program specifics. Matthias Lambert, designer of the sound program, told me there would be six students in our group. Much of the immediate attention of the students, he told me, was directed to post production because a previous project, “Nairobi Half Life,” had completed principal photography and was being edited. Nevertheless, my assignment was to teach production sound techniques and relate them to making the post-production process run smoothly.

On Monday we traveled to the Herron Hotel in Nairobi, where the workshops would be held, and met with the students and other members of the team. They were happy to see us and equally eager to get started. We split up into smaller groups by discipline: script writing, acting, directing, producing, production design, cinematography, sound and editing. Most of the Sound participants were already working in sound or music or both.

Matthias Lambert taught post-production sound in the morning and turned the class over to me for production sound in the afternoon. Since this was my first time teaching a class, and I only had 3 days to do it, I wanted to make every minute count. I started at the very beginning and talked about getting the call for a job and reading the script before the interview. I explained that my course of action is really about understanding the story and the equipment necessary for the job. I then covered the next steps, which include location scouting, prepping and loading your sound equipment. There were many questions from the participants and I considered the workshop a great success.

The daily sessions ended around 5 PM and we would hurry over to nightly screenings of American movies popular in Africa followed by a Q&A session. The first night’s selection, “The Shawshank Redemption,” was a bit of luck for me since I had been part of the crew and was quite familiar with the film. That was a good thing because African students study US films as part of their learning process and many of the students had already seen the film several times. Their own storytelling tends to be more linear but this may be because their subjects often come from personal experience.

We spent our second day in Homeboy Z studio recording ADR and doing mixing exercises for “Nairobi Half Life.” Matthias Lambert welcomed my participation in this post-production work and I assisted in mixing and recording ADR and Foley tracks.

The following day we focused on production sound. I would like to thank Local 695 and all the participants responsible for the articles in the 695 Quarterly. I handed out seven magazines and this was a big plus in my teaching, especially the article from Jim Tanenbaum regarding the placement of wireless mikes. I found that mounting wireless mikes on actors without excessive clothing noise was one of the greatest challenges for my students. It’s a difficult skill to teach but after many demonstrations and using some of the techniques in Jim’s article they eventually began to get the hang of it. I was exhausted at the end of the seven-hour class but my spirits were high and I looked forward to that evening’s screening of “Silverado,” one of my favorites.

On our fourth day our Academy group joined with a group from Film Aid International. They use film and video to reach the world’s most vulnerable communities with messages that educate, inspire and address critical shared needs with the goal of effecting social change. We met with the filmmakers and viewed some of their short films. A question and answer session was held afterward.

Together the two groups visited the Kakuma Refugee Camp in the Northeastern part of Kenya. Approximately 1500 people fleeing drought and turmoil in neighboring Somalia arrive in these camps every day. The humanitarian needs of the people overwhelm regional resources and there is a perpetual shortage of food, water and medical supplies. Seeing these conditions firsthand made it clear that our trip was not just about us sharing our knowledge and experiences, it was also a demonstration of conditions and a challenge to us, as individuals and as representatives of our respective countries, to find ways to help with the problem of starvation in Africa. . I’ve seen it on the news, but there is nothing as powerful as observing the situation first hand. As we boarded our flight headed back to Nairobi, there were conversations among the group about what we’d seen and what we could do to help. Our Director, Ellen, informed us that their most urgent need is for donations and help in spreading the word. She gave us website information for donations.

On Friday, July 15th, I went out with Cinematographer John Bailey to assist students doing pick-up shots for “Nairobi Half Life.” Some of the participants were from the present class and others were students from the previous class who had worked on the film. I demonstrated various methods of recording sound on location for the sound team.

We returned from the pick-ups right in the middle of testing and review of student projects. The students were required to produce short films, each working in their designated craft in cooperation with the others. After all the projects had been evaluated, we had a wrap party and distributed certificates of completion. There were heart-felt moments as we said our goodbyes. We had all benefited from the experience, they from the instruction and we from a new appreciation of African culture and circumstances.

Saturday was safari day! After checking out of the hotel we set out on a photo safari in Nairobi National Park. We successfully “bagged” all the expected beasts except lions; they were nowhere to be found. Ellen Harrington, the Director of the Outreach Program, managed last minute arrangements for the group to have dinner in the park and stay overnight at Nairobi Tent Camp. Beautiful women greeted us at the camp with wine, champagne and passion juice. After a few drinks, we were escorted to a dimly lit bar and restaurant with an open wood fire. Outside of that area, it was pitch black. The meal was excellent. Afterwards, hot water was hand carried in to permit us to take showers. Then we were each escorted by flashlight to our tents.

I had been a little apprehensive about spending the night in a tent but was pleasantly surprised when I saw it. Inside there was a small bed, a face bowl, a shower and a toilet; it was amazing! But I also thought about all the animals that must be out there and wondered how much protection the soft canvas cover might provide. It did help to know that three or four men were stationed around the camp to keep a watchful lookout for us. After a while, I fell into a sound sleep. During the night, I was awakened by noises. I could hear people from nearby tents saying there was a lion outside. And then I heard it. That sound was bone chilling. I lay very still and hoped the lion would move on. I got less than my usual sleep that night.

The next morning, following a wonderful breakfast, we set out for the airport to travel to Rwanda. Driving through the safari area, we continued to look for lions without any luck. But we remembered those sounds from the middle of the night. It was just a short flight to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, but it brought us to a most affecting experience.

Eric Kabera, writer, producer and founder of the Rwanda Cinema Center (RCC) met our flight and got us settled in the Guest Lux Hotel. Immediately after he took us to the Gosozi Memorial that commemorates the Rwanda genocide. Seeing the photos of so many people lost and imagining their suffering was devastating. We later learned that many of our students lost family members in those events. Today they are determined to follow their dreams with a rededicated sense of purpose.

The Rwanda Cinema Center hosted a cocktail reception for the Academy delegates that evening. We met with many of the people active in regional film and cultural activities including members of the Rwanda Development Board, the KWETU Film Institute and representatives of the Ministry of Sports and Culture. It was a good opportunity to become familiar with the local film community. The RCC sponsors several youth programs and an International Film Festival. The KWETU Film Institute provides cinema education and training and supports programs in the performing arts.

After a short press briefing on Monday, we met with out students at KWETU Film Institute. Like the students from Kenya, they were excited to meet and eager to get started. We divided into two groups with Group 1 focused on writing, directing, producing, screenwriting and acting while Group 2 concentrated on cinematography, editing, sound design and production design. We took turns teaching and taking questions. There were many questions and we soon realized that many students were interested in more than one craft.

Tuesday morning we found the students already waiting for us and eager to get started when we arrived at the Institute. We screened their short films and had a lengthy open discussion on ways they might improve their projects. It was amazing to see how talented some of the African students were; the quality of their work was quite good. We did observe limitations due to budget constraints and some of errors that come from limited experience. For example, music was often used to cover areas where there should have been sound effects. My advice to all was to record as many sound effects as possible while filming on location, even if you have to start early or stay late after wrap.

That same afternoon we traveled with Eric Kabera to Musanze, a city in the northern province of Rwanda. We checked into the Gorillas Volcanos Hotel and immediately headed out to Musanze Stadium for a “Hillywood” screening of “Africa United.” There are no movie theaters in most Rwandan cities so films are shown in any available venue. The Hillywood screenings are a component of the Rwanda Film Festival organized by the RCC and are specifically designed to entertain, educate and give a voice to Rwandan youth. Arriving at the stadium we were amazed to see the thousands of people who had come out. There was music and dancing afterwards and the event turned into a party.

The next morning we set out on yet another adventure arranged by Ellen Harrington. We were to hike into a high mountain park that serves as a gorilla reserve. The gorillas are found at a considerable elevation and park guides sized us up and assigned us to groups based on our physical condition. Before setting out we all purchased gorilla sticks both as a hiking aid and as souvenirs. We were given the opportunity to hire someone to carry our backpacks but I elected to carry my own. Each group had an escort with a firearm for protection from other hostile animals.

We hiked through potato fields and then began our ascent through woods. Everyone kept up pretty well and, after two hours of hiking, our guide announced that we had only a couple of miles to go. And we thought we were almost there! But the trip each way was about four an a half miles. Eventually we reached the summit and stopped to take pictures of the valley below. The guide announced that trackers had found a group of gorillas and instructed us on how to behave to avoid spooking the animals. We were told to avoid loud noises and, if grabbed by a gorilla, to just relax and not pull back. We cautiously approached and, for nearly an hour, were able to observe a group of about eighteen gorillas eating, sleeping and interacting. Returning, we were surprised to find the trek down the mountain even more difficult than climbing up.

On Wednesday we traveled to Gisenyi, a city in the western province of Rwanda, for another Hillywood screening. We were put up at the Lake Kivu Serena Hotel, a beautiful old hotel on the magnificent calm lake. The screening was near the lake, only a short walk from the hotel. Again, thousands of people attended.

On Thursday we returned to Kigali for more film festival events and an additional seminar with students at the KWETU Film Institute. We met with the students in the afternoon for a question and answer session. That evening’s screening was in KWETU’s theater, the first movie theater in Rwanda. So new was the building that I was able to look up and see stars as the roof was not yet in place. Building this facility was the special project of Eric Kabera who had raised the funds and secured the necessary support.

This was the last night of our journey and we said our good-byes with much love and feeling for the African people we had met. I believe we left them with enhanced skills and knowledge of the filmmaking process. I know that we learned a lot about East African culture. We witnessed the joy for life they express on a daily basis, despite adverse conditions and I hope that impact stays with me for a long time to come.

On Sunday we had a brief opportunity for some shopping or a final tour before traveling to the airport. Our immediate concern was how to pack all of our gorilla sticks. We decided to wrap them all together and send them as a single bundle. That was appropriate, as our shared experiences had bundled us together as an extended family. Arriving in LA we separated our sticks and went our individual ways. I shared a car with Ellen but forgot and left my gorilla stick behind. But I was able to retrieve it the next day.

CHARITIES

Many charities address the needs of people throughout Africa. We can confidently recommend the following:

Save the Children is feeding underweight children, providing life-saving medical treatment, and getting clean water to remote communities in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. $100 can feed one child for 100 days. See the Facebook Cause page: http://www.causes.com/causes/749 or text “SURVIVE” to 20222 to donate $10 from the United States.

Action Against Hunger helps victims in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and southern Somalia, providing treatment and medical care for acutely malnourished children, general nutritional support for children under 5 years of age, and emergency access to food, clean water and improved sanitation for vulnerable populations. Text “NOHUNGER” to 20222 to donate $10 or see https ://www.actionagainsthunger.org/donate/humanitarian-catastrophe-the-horn-africa

UNICEF provides therapeutic treatment for women and children with severe malnutrition, access to clean drinking water and vaccinations to prevent deadly diseases like measles and polio. Text “FOOD” to 864233 to donate $10 or see the https ://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2

The United Nations World Food Programme plans to airlift high-energy biscuits and highly nutritious supplementary foods for children and pregnant or nursing mothers into southern Somalia. Donate at https://www. wfp.org/donate/hornofafrica or text “AID” to 27722.

CARE reaches a million people affected by the food crisis in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, providing food, water and sanitation facilities. https://my.care.org/site/Donation2?df_ id=9620&9620.donation=form1

Operation USA works to assess unmet needs on the ground, with its initial response focusing on water resource needs in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps. Donations at http ://www.opusa.org/ or by phone at 1-800-678-7255 or texting “AID” to 50555 to donate $10.

Lobbying AB 1069

Local 695 recently dispatched a delegation to Sacramento to join with delegations from other entertainment industry locals and lobby on behalf of Assembly Bill 1069. Sponsored by Felipe Fuentes (D, 39th District), AB 1069 offers tax credits for productions shot in California. The program provides credits for below-the-line payroll expenditures and only after principal photography has wrapped and the payroll expenses can be verified. Moreover, according to a press release from Assemblyman Fuentes, “The program specifically targets productions that are the most likely to leave the state due to incentives being offered in other states and countries.”

A similar program, enacted in 2009, was scheduled to expire. While not so generous as the incentives offered by some states, the program has nevertheless made a difference. Estimates are that it has resulted in $2.2 billion in production spending in California so far with $728 million going to below-the-line cast and crew. The program has been oversubscribed every year it has been offered so there is a real interest by producers. Since so many entertainment professionals live in California, an enticement doesn’t necessarily need to fully match offers from other states to be attractive.

On September 7, as the bill was being brought to the floor, International Vice President Thom Davis asked locals to send representatives to Sacramento and actively advocate for its passage. Many responded to the call and Locals 16, 44, 50, 80, 122, 700, 705, 728, 729 and 800, as well as SAG, AFTRA, the Teamsters and the Directors Guild, all sent people. Assistant Business Representative Scott Bernard and David Waelder represented Local 695. Tax credits are a difficult sell in lean times and amendments were being considered that might gut the bill’s effectiveness. Foremost among these was a “trigger” measure that would automatically void the credits if tax receipts fell below a predetermined level. No producer would ever commit to a project in return for an uncertain tax credit so this provision would make the program effectively useless. The various delegates met with Ben Golombek, Assemblyman Fuentes’ Chief of Staff, for a strategy session to marshal arguments against this amendment. Then, with a coordinated purpose, the delegates divided into small groups and engaged legislators to encourage their support.

From all reports, the effort was persuasive. Two of the Senators on our list, Ron Calderon (D, 30th District) and Tom Harmon (R, 35th District), took the time to meet with us personally, listen to arguments and ask questions.

After canvassing lawmakers, the delegates took up positions at the entry to the meeting chamber and displayed photos of displaced workers. We’ve heard that many Senators found that to be a strong statement and were also impressed generally by the show of commitment from entertainment locals.

AB 1069 was passed by the legislature without any triggers or other dilutions and signed into law by Governor Brown on October 9. Thom Davis credits the success to “all of us working together, and the continued support from Maria Elena Durazo of the LA County Federation of Labor, and Art Pulaski of the California Labor Federation.” But, the struggle is not over. Although originally written as a five-year tax credit extension, the amended bill extends these credits only one year. We need, as VP Davis reminds us, to continue our efforts to make the “program extend out multiple years so it can truly meet its potential of protecting our members’ jobs.”

The Distinguished Career of Alan Bernard

by David Waelder

For a remarkable stretch of eight years, from 1987 to 1994, Alan Bernard was nominated for an Emmy every year. He was first nominated in 1977 and received a total of fourteen nominations over the course of his career. On five occasions, he won.

There is no Alan Bernard recorder or mixing panel or microphone boom. His contribution has been the example of practicing his craft at the highest level of skill and grace for fifty years. In the course of that career he encountered, as we all do, some cinematographers who would light him out of a shot or other colleagues who impeded rather than assisted the process. He was always an effective advocate for his department but it’s a testament to both his diplomacy, and the good will he brought to these negotiations, that he maintained personal friendships with all concerned.

Born in Windsor, Ontario, Alan Bernard came from a family originally employed as tailors to the Tsarist Court of Russia. In the turmoil following the Russian Revolution, his grandfather arranged for some members of the family to immigrate to Canada. It was a wise decision; all the family members who remained in Russia perished in one pogrom or another. Although these events preceded his birth and he was never in personal peril, growing up in an environment where one’s safety and welfare can be so arbitrarily disrupted shaped his outlook on life. He was always a person quick to stand up for his crew or anyone else vulnerable to intimidation by more powerful forces.

Alan Bernard’s family moved to the United States while he was still a small child and he attended school here. He became a naturalized citizen and served in the U.S. Army in Korea from 1953 to 1955.

Returning from military service, Alan worked for a while as a Contract Administrator in the Planning Department at Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica. Although it was a responsible position, it didn’t really suit him. When his childhood friend, Dick Overton, arranged an interview for a post-production position in the Sound Department at Fox, Alan jumped at the chance. It was only a six-week job but he ended up staying for six years, starting out loading raw stock in the recorders and gradually working his way up to Recordist and ADR Mixer. Later on he took positions working at MGM and at Warner Brothers.

As a post-production and ADR mixer, Alan worked on many productions, including such notables as “Cleopatra,” “Dr. Zhivago” and “The Godfather.” He remembers David Lean as an especially exacting taskmaster, sometimes working until 3 AM and then bringing the crew back in on forced calls the next morning. Alan was also part of the sound team that received an Oscar for their work on John Frankenheimer’s 1966 film “Grand Prix.” At the time, the Oscar for Sound was awarded to the studios, not the individual mixers. Alan’s son, Scott, remembers being very young and walking down one of the hallways at MGM in Culver City when his dad pointed to a glassed-in display case and said, “See that? That’s my Oscar!”

Eventually Alan tired of the routine of work closeted away in dark studios and decided to pursue a career as a Production Sound Mixer. He reasoned that his post-production experience gave him good perspective on what worked for a film and what didn’t. But, with no real production experience it was a long lean year before anyone hired him. His first film as a Production Sound Mixer was “Three the Hard Way” in 1974. Directed by Gordon Parks Jr., son of the director of Shaft, it was a blaxploitation film with good production value. Hal Needham was the stunt coordinator and Lucien Ballard, justifiably famous for “The Wild Bunch” and “True Grit,” was the cinematographer. In short, it was an excellent first project for Alan Bernard, a project where good work could be noticed.

After that film, he was rarely idle. Alan did the final season of the television show “Gunsmoke” with Willie Burton as his boom operator. Willie remembers:

It was a great experience working with Alan Bernard. I was Alan’s Boom Man for approximately two and a half years. I learned so much from him, and not only as a sound person; he taught me a lot about life and family. We were a great team, working very hard and having fun at the same time. After spending so much time working together it was very difficult for me to make the change when I decided to become a production Sound Mixer. I can’t help but think if I hadn’t moved up to mixing, we would probably have worked as a team until he retired. Alan is a great guy and he and his wife treated me like family.

He followed “Gunsmoke” with the “Ghost Busters” TV series and dozens of TV movies.

“A Christmas Story,” the now classic tale of a boy’s yeaning for a Red Ryder BB gun, was his favorite. It’s full of memorable lines. Who can forget Darren McGavin, as Mr. Parker, saying, “He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny.” Or, referring to the prize lamp he has won, “Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian.” Although filmed largely on location in a cold Ohio winter, we hear every line from Alan Bernard’s tracks; not a single line was looped. (Not that a looped line is a sign of failure; sometimes it’s necessary. But to bring in a whole picture without a looped line is an accomplishment.)

Alan organized a running poker game on almost every project and counted Ernest Borgnine, Ed Asner and the cast of Porky’s among his poker buddies. He was popular with movie stars and crews alike because of the pleasure he took in the company of others. No doubt his success advocating for his crew and department is partly due to this. It’s easier to negotiate when you are a friend first.

Although busy with work for the Studios, Alan managed to find the time to volunteer for service to Local 695. Spanning nearly 30 years, he served the Local in a variety of elected and appointed positions, beginning on the Local 695 Advisory Board (an adjunct to the standing Board) during Thomas Carmen’s administration in the 60’s and then as a Shop Steward, on the Local 695 Executive Board, as a member of the Board of Trustees, and as Secretary-Treasure. Business Representative Jim Osburn says of him, “Anytime you needed a guy on a picket line or to stuff envelopes, Alan would always do it.” He was generous in his support and would help in any way needed.

One of Alan Bernard’s Emmy nominations was for 1983’s “The Winds of War.” In 1987 he was offered “War and Remembrance” but declined it to work on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” He found the long periods away from home demanded by location shooting to be a difficult accommodation for his family and he chose his projects accordingly. It proved to be a fortuitous choice; between 1987 and 2001 he recorded 170 episodes of “The Next Generation” and 98 episodes of its sequel: “Voyager.”

Sometimes it is difficult to make career decisions that give priority to family needs but when we do, the rewards are lasting. Alan has been continuously married to Linda for fifty-six years… no small accomplishment in this very demanding business. Alan’s son, Scott, says his dad never missed any of the important family activities. He was there for all the graduations and birthdays and all the moments that keep a family close. And Scott recalls early morning rides with his mother in the family car to pick up his father from his post-production jobs because Alan often worked night shifts in order to make himself available to his children during the afternoons. He coached Pop Warner football during the years Scott was playing and then stayed on to coach several seasons beyond Scott’s involvement.

It seems that Alan set a good example. Both of his sons, Scott and David, began their careers in the industry at early ages and both are long-time members and contributors to Local 695. Scott continues to follow in his dad’s footsteps, volunteering as a football coach, serving on the Local 695 Board and as past President of the Local and now working in the 695 office as Assistant Representative.

In a business that often demands unreasonable sacrifices of time and energy, Alan has managed to strike a balance between his chosen profession, his family and his community obligations. His best contribution may be the example he shows us by perfecting this balance.