by Laurence B. Abrams

Office Meeting 2020

On September 15 this year, Local 695 celebrates ninety years since receiving its Charter as a Local Union in the IATSE. In those ninety years, the membership has experienced dramatic periods of industry growth and contraction, with the latter putting strains on our membership during the tough times of natural disasters, financial disasters, and international wars. But nothing compares to this global health crises and the complete industry shutdown that it caused.

Events are evolving quickly, and we know there’s still a long road ahead. But we’re confident that the picture will be getting better for everyone and we want to fill you in on some of what the Local has been working on.

In the days preceding Gov. Newsom’s and Mayor Garcetti’s stay-at-home orders back in March, the Local 695 office staff had already completed preparations for the changes we saw ahead. By the time we were forced to close the office, all software and training were in place to seamlessly enable a fully functioning off-site working environment with remote desktop access and teleconferencing for the entire staff. Without interruption, the unusually high volume of phone calls and emails from members continued to flow as usual. Maureen, Casey, Cindy, Linda, and the rest of the 695 staff had full access to all software and data needed to run the Local, and all member inquiries and issues were promptly handled.

One of the first tasks we faced was to pass on to the members—via phone, email, website, and Facebook—the massive and continuous flow of quickly-changing information that was coming to us sometimes hourly. This included matters pertaining to paychecks, health and health insurance, pension, unemployment, government relief, financial and social assistance programs, and many more areas where our members were seeking news and guidance. The COVID-19 Information Page on our website continues to be an active resource for important and continuously updated information to assist the membership in every way we can.

During those first weeks of the crisis, when the industry halted all film and television production, Scott, Joe, and Heidi teamed up with the IA and other Locals to reach out to as many production companies as possible to convince them to offer some form of severance pay for members released from their jobs. Having worked so hard for these companies throughout our individual careers, we were grateful to see that virtually all the major studios and most of the smaller companies came through with at least two weeks of separation pay, and sometimes even three, four, or more weeks. For many members, this was an important stopgap before unemployment benefits and newly enacted government assistance programs began distribution of much-needed payments, grants, and loans to our members, providing at least partial replacement for wages lost.

Another project Scott launched was having the office staff place phone calls to each of our Local 695 Retirees to check in on them and make sure they’re OK and to see if there was anything the Local can do to help. Linda and Heidi have been making those calls and they say without exception that the members are happy to know the Local is reaching out and they appreciated the effort to help them access the many assistance resources that are available.

Through these stay-at-home weeks, we’ve also been continuing our education program by offering members a diverse assortment of free training resources. In addition to online tutorials, teleconferencing has proven to be a very effective training platform and we’ve already conducted many specially adapted classes, including “Communication Skills on Production” with Blas Kisic, as well as “Networking Crash Course: Audio & Video IP Essentials” with James Hunt and “Qtake: Streaming Networks for Video Assist” with Jeb Johenning. This is very important training for our members, especially now, with such high demand for IP Networking skills that can enable new workflows to relocate some crew members at a greater distance or completely off the set, creating a safer working environment for all. Watch for more of these classes.

However, we’re disappointed to announce that exactly at the wrong time, when this training is needed the most, Contract Services has suspended the CSATF Skills Training program, which includes courses that were either free or reimbursed two-thirds. We’ve proposed a scaled-back training program and will continue to work with CSATF in an attempt to do so but in the meantime, Local 695’s Board of Directors has authorized emergency funds to allow us to continue training, with the support of the IATSE’s Training Trust Fund, as well. Please take advantage of this time and review the many free training opportunities announced via email and listed on our website.

Throughout these two months since the stay-at-home orders went into effect, daily staff meetings on Zoom have been the glue that holds the 695 office team together—usually at 3 p.m. for the entire staff, with additional smaller group meetings taking place throughout the day, very effectively achieving the same level of continuous collaboration we’re accustomed to at the office. We’re still receiving a high volume of calls and emails asking for help, and as you have probably seen, the office is getting to them right away, resolving issues as they come in. If there is anything we can help you with, don’t hesitate to email or call the office.

As of this writing, we’re beginning to see the outlines of a path back to film and television production. We don’t know when that’s going to happen or what that’s going to look like, but one message we can send the producers today is this… All of the two thousand Sound, Video, and Projection professionals of Local 695 stand ready and anxious to come back to work for you. We’ve been cleaning our gear, building new cable and training up a storm, ready to implement the newest Audio, Video, and Projection innovations to solve your most complex production challenges. Very soon, let’s celebrate together the re-opening of movie theaters across the country and let’s continue to develop the networks and streaming media services that served us so well as Americans sought safety at home. Look at the great work Local 695 members achieved in the last ninety years, and imagine where our creativity and new technologies will take us in the years ahead.

Leading the Industry Back to Work Using Networking

by Thomas Vanasse, Local 695 Video Engineer

OVERVIEW:

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a worldwide disruption and the entertainment industry is no exception. Faced with barriers to work that didn’t exist a few months ago, Video Engineers have updated existing workflows to help circumvent some of those challenges and solve the problems of how to get back to work. These workflows are viable regardless of the length of the disruption and will increase efficiency afterward.

This article will highlight aspects and details of some of those workflows and outline a future roadmap. In short:

• Safety – Distance is key, and networked separation allows necessary crew to maintain proper distance.
• Security – Encoding, watermarks, two-factor authentication, account approval, and tested secure networks allow sensitive content to remain in the proper hands.
• Efficiency – Networked delivery of live and recorded video, audio and metadata to on, near, and far set. 24/7 access to creative, footage, VFX, and post. Instant collaboration empowers all departments to coordinate better and faster product.
• General Workflow – Illustration of the video engineering networked workflow, and simple description of connections and procedures.
• Road Map – The future of data-driven production, and how Video Engineers are already at the cutting edge.

SAFETY:

The primary obstacle productions face is safety. Without that, the rest would be a non-starter. For this situation, the answer is distance. Some of what was once achieved by congregating on set must now be achieved by monitoring.

Monitoring at a near distance, whether it be in a separate building or a near set trailer, can be achieved by setting up a local network in wired or wireless configurations. Access to the live stream or previously recorded shots is accomplished by either a monitor or an interactive access point such as a phone or touch screen. Support teams can occupy previously sterilized spaces and issue instructions over a chat line, with an audio feed, or physically interact with the set on a limited basis if that is the only option.

Far distance monitoring can be achieved by cloud streaming to offices and residences. Various available hardware and software solutions may be utilized depending on the needs at distance. The cloud services can include live streams with playback only, or also include remote clip viewing 24/7 on home or mobile devices.

This system was used recently on an episodic series, where the actors each had cameras at their homes. The multiple video and audio feeds, along with the metadata, were recorded by the Video Engineer. Live monitoring, playback and assorted cues & overlays were simultaneously fed to the director, DP, 1st and 2nd ADs, script supervisor, and five actors in their respective homes. The footage was relayed to editorial and there was almost no person to person interaction.

SECURITY:

The secondary barrier is security, as many productions have sensitive content and communications. Local 695 Video Engineers have adapted several different secure encoding and transport protocols to ensure that the streams and files are viewed only by approved parties. From open source methods such as SRT to Qtake to Core-verified cloud services, encryption provides the necessary assurance that the creative is contained. In addition, watermarks and streaming approval with two factor authentication of both the live feed and any clips ensure that even approved sources are limited only to the work at hand and that all data is traceable. There has been an immense amount of testing by the studios to confirm the security of these networks.

Although the streams and files are encrypted, there is still very little latency, so that all monitoring departments can comment and give input in real time. Proxies to editorial can have burned in user data to accelerate identification and origination source, as well as director and script notes embedded in their metadata.

EFFICIENCY:

Instant feedback while safely maintaining distance eliminates the third barrier of delay due to distancing by speeding up what could otherwise be a much lengthier process. While not optimal, having all departments focused on monitoring the work allows necessary duties to be performed while priority access is organized. Crews can see when they are needed rather than having to be located and directed.

Remote linking is also an improvement as creatives would not be required to travel to set, freeing up their time and room in production budgets while still allowing immediate creative input and feedback for post production and VFX. Witness cameras can also give an overview for lighting, Art Department, blocking, and parental supervision—all at a distance.

Pre-visualizations, scores, visual effects, and roughs are immediately available and can be altered as soon as the supporting departments update them.

Recently, the set for a large blockbuster in production was relocated so that the director and crew could work remotely. The Video Engineer was able to record, play back, and live stream from a completely different location.

GENERAL WORKFLOW:

The flowchart shows a generic workflow that is applicable now and into the future.
At the hub of operations is the Video Engineer cart. Signals are received from on-set cameras and processed for distribution. Second or third units on other stages or on distant locations are streamed via LAN or cloud to the cart as well. All video is sent to the Video Assist cart and sound cart, allowing video with embedded audio to be received back from the Video Assist cart and forwarded to several destinations. (Depending on the size of the production, some of these operations may be combined.)

Signals are sent to any secondary villages, lighting board ops, and star production trailers, regardless of distance. The Video Engineer also encodes the signals to an NDI (network device interface) or other codec and sends them over the network to wardrobe, lighting, grip, and camera trucks. Simultaneously, the signals are streamed wirelessly to devices around the area, as well as to an SRT server for distribution to editorial, writers, and VFX offices. Another destination is cloud streaming to devices, either by the Video Assist or Video Engineer.

The Video Engineer’s coordination of signals—wireless, wired, video, audio, and metadata—will result in vast improvements to the efficiency and stability of the workflow.

This workflow has the ability to scale up or down and has the capability to reach anywhere there is internet or cellular service with very little latency. Any video or audio codec can be ingested and many streaming codecs can be used for distribution.

Bandwidth and storage requirements are also scalable, so costs keep pace with production needs and aren’t wasted.

ROAD MAP:

Network scaling maximizes savings and efficiency by only using resources that are needed during production, while enhancing interconnectivity and ensuring safety.

The Video Engineer is also on the forefront of the virtual set, providing workflows for motion-capture-based productions or Video Wall environment productions (sometimes called the Volume). These systems utilize networked digital environments to represent reality and are part of a growing re-thinking of entertainment production that is larger in scope than possibly any previous industry-wide change.

Whatever the change, the Video Engineer is currently developing the workflows at the leading edge of the technical curve and will continue to provide the experience and creativity that powers the technical future of the industry.

CLOSING:

The use of network workflows has solved many aspects of the current dilemma imposed by the pandemic. They are applicable to almost any production and will scale and continue to improve as the Local 695 Video Engineers adjust to the changing needs of production.

by Steve Morantz CAS

In July of 2018, I was in New York City on vacation with my family when I got a text from one of my favorite producers, Jessica Elbaum, asking me if I was interested in doing a Netflix series with my most cherished actress, Christina Applegate. I already had another job lined up to start in September, and I would have usually said no, but with a two-and-a-half-month window and the opportunity to work with two of my favorite people at the same time, I couldn’t refuse. The show was Dead to Me.

I first met Christina Applegate in 2007 when I worked on the pilot and two seasons of Samantha Who? To this day, I consider it my best all-around experience I have ever had on a job. If you ask the majority of the crew, they will tell you the same, it was something special. When the show was cancelled, I was extremely lucky to move across the CBS Radford lot to mix five amazing seasons of Parks and Recreation which turned out to be my second-best experience.

I kept in touch with Christina through the years, and we worked together again on the Up All Night pilot and later, the Los Angeles portion of the feature film Vacation.

I worked with Jessica Elbaum the first time on the feature The House. She came over to us and said, “I’m Jessica and I am good friends with Christina. She speaks the world about you and your team.” Since then, I have done four projects with Jessica.

Dead to Me centers on ‘Jen’ (Christina Applegate), a recently widowed mother of two, whose husband was killed in a hit-and-run accident. In a grief counseling group, she meets a free spirit named ‘Judy’ (Linda Cardellini), who recently lost her fiancé. They bond and have many late-night phone calls helping each other cope through their difficult times. Judy is not who she seems, as her dead fiancé, ‘Steve’ (James Marsden), is actually very much alive, and eventually it is revealed that Judy and Steve were the ones who hit Jen’s husband with their car.

Judy moves into Jen’s guest house and between dealing with Jen’s two children who are having a hard time, the police investigating the hit-and-run, the Greek mafia, and Jen’s mother-in-law, things get crazy really quickly. There is a substantial amount of crying in Seasons 1 and 2. It has been labeled a dark comedy and it is definitely that. There is so much going on, enhanced by Liz Feldman’s fantastic writing and a great cast. Liz makes it all flow into one big roller coaster ride with each episode ending in a cliffhanger. It has become a big hit with Season 2 quickly greenlit. The reason for that success is that the majority of the writers and directors are women.

Both seasons have substantial practical locations The show is set in Laguna Beach, which they used for B roll. Instead, we spent a lot of time filming in San Pedro, the San Fernando Valley, and Raleigh Studios Hollywood in Season 1.  

L-R: Steve Morantz, Dirk Stout & Mitch Cohn on the last day of Season 2

In Season 2, we shot in Glendale at Riverfront Stages, which had constant construction and a nearby equipment rental warehouse with condors running all the time.

The locations were not the most sound-friendly either, what locations are these days? We were always under the flight path when shooting in the Valley, close to the ocean in San Pedro, and a lot of locations by the freeways. The scripts called for a lot of soft-spoken dialog, when they weren’t crying or screaming, but we were able to always get what we needed.  

My incredible team of Dirk Stout on Boom, working with me off and on for more than ten years, and Sound Utility Mitch Cohn, sixteen years and counting, always make my job easier than it should be.

My cart consists of a Midas M32R Mixing Console, two Lectrosonics Venue 2’s and a Lectrosonics D2, a Sound Devices Pix260 and 970, Lectrosonics SMV’s, Comtek’s, and IFB’s. At the end of the season, I added a second D2 and one less Venue 2. My two Zaxcom 743 plug-on transmitters for the booms have been replaced by the Lectrosonics DPR.

My mobile setup is on a PSC Eurocart with a Sound Devices 688, Sound Devices SL-6, Sound Devices Cl-12, and Lectrosonics SRC’s. The 688 is in a bag, so whenever I need to go over the shoulder, I just disconnect two cables and I’m off and running.

For Season 1, my go-to lavs were the DPA 4061 and 4071 with the Sennheiser MKE-1 used in specialty situations, as well as the Sennheiser MKH-50’s and Schoeps Mini CMIT for the booms. In Season 2, we added the DPA 6060 and 6061’s into the mix.

On my first television series, I learned to always keep an open dialog with post production, and I check in every few weeks to make sure I am addressing all their needs with editorial and the post producers. If we are in a really bad location, I always drop them a line to give them a heads up as well. When I have time, I try to go to the mix sessions of every show I work on, which is a good way to get face-time with the re-recording mixers and to see if there is anything I can do to assist them in getting the best tracks possible.

Season 2 of Dead to Me premiered on May 8 on Netflix.

by Benjamin A. Patrick CAS

Who would ever have thought a half-hour comedy series would shoot like a feature movie? Tons of locations, nights, stakeouts, airplanes landing on desert fields with military gunplay during vehicle stunts, plus one-take martial arts sequences, carefully choreographed around special effects, and visual effects elements?

When I heard the basic premise of Barry, a hitman who wanted to change careers to become an actor, I wondered how the hell Alec Berg and Bill Hader were going to build this world. I thought this type of genre had already had its day, but it was nothing what I presumed it to be. The writing was some of the best I had ever come across for a series and the world Barry lived in just got more and more interesting with each episode.

The cast was a pleasure to work with, always professional and willing to help. Bill Hader as Barry, Henry Winkler as his acting instructor, Mr. Cousineau, Stephen Root as Barry’s manager, Fuches, Sarah Goldberg as fellow actor/love interest Sally, and Anthony Carrigan playing the murderously lovable Chechen mobster NoHo Hank, were given the freedom to flesh out their characters, and they took their tasks seriously.

The crew had to be as serious as the cast, and worked together to facilitate whatever aspect of production could assist them in achieving their character more fully. As an example; how someone was wired to preserve their look, boom mic selection, or requesting quieter prop handling, were ways both the actors and the Sound Department could make and record a great performance.

One consideration was for Bill Hader to always be wired so we could catch the little under-the-breath-isms he would give. Sometimes it wasn’t the words but the breathing that brought something more to the scene. Anthony Carrigan’s wardrobe always had a trim fit so we worked a well-hidden radio mic pack placement for him. These may seem like simple things but they are important.

All of Barry’s acting class were wired, even when they had no scripted dialog as they were frequently given license to ad-lib lines during a scene. Although this may sound like a potential for a free-for-all, it usually wasn’t due to their respect for fellow castmates. Even if an improv didn’t make it to the final cut, it had value in the evolution of a scene, as it kept everyone thinking on their feet, including the Sound Department. Barry was not written as an ad-lib improv comedy and should not seem to require wiring 24/7, but I did. I always want to make sure I get it the first time, as comedy seems to be what I work on most, so I approach most shows this way.

DP’s Brandon Trost (pilot) and Paula Huidobro (series) both used one camera, with a second on standby. There were rarely gratuitous camera moves or blocking with every angle seeming to have a purpose. Generally, we would start with a wide shot and let that serve to allow the scene to find its way, then go in for coverage. Of course, the initial blocking also considered the ensuing closer shots.

On any show, once we begin coverage is always the moment where I wonder if they are going to cover everything tight enough with both cameras, so we can get a good boom mic in on the performances. Even when I have a shot list in hand, I carefully watch the pairings of camera angles. I have had discussions before the shoot with the showrunner, producers, and DP about how we’re going to cover the scenes. My main agenda is to make sure every performance is recorded with an excellent well-manipulated boom microphone in the hands of an expert boom operator. I often hear the same answer, “Of course we’re going to cover everything,” but they are rarely thinking that two cameras will be shooting separate coverage with different lens sizes. It’s only on the day when I point it out, that they seem to understand my concern.

As long as I know all coverage will be managed with boom-ability in mind, I can more reliably mix the tracks I want to deliver. Of course, this is such a big part of any production for the Sound Department when multiple cameras are at play. Once we know the order of coverage, we can make sure that all close-ups are boomed well. This negotiation needs to be handled discreetly and clearly. As long as I make my needs clear and point out the value in my concerns, I eventually get the microphones where I need them. After all, we are recording the performances that the producers have paid so much for.

We didn’t have to waste too much time discussing wide and tights because there was purpose in shot planning and blocking. Wide and tight did happen from time to time, but it was because those shots had no dialog, but action sequences. Having Bill and Alec on set all the time allowed them to make the call whether a shot was about the dialog or not.

I’ve been fortunate to work with incredible people on Barry. My crew for the pilot was Serge Popovic on Boom and Cristina Meyer as Second Boom. Season 1 was Chris Diamond and Corey Woods, and Season 2 was Jacques Pienaar and Corey Woods. Having folks with so much experience, quick wits, and enormously kind personalities makes my job truly enjoyable. I feel nothing is impossible and emboldens me to try things that go beyond simply recording great dialog. Basically, “trying stuff” different mic’ings than the traditional boom or wire. I love a good plant mic, it can be great for another flavor for post to use. Options are so important when you’re working in comedy because a different perspective or the unexpected in a scene might make it funnier. In comedy, there are sounds on the set that are critical to enhancing a joke or comedic moment. A lot of building block elements for setting up comedy are created in post, but the origins may reveal itself on the set. I like to see if we can get it in production. Serge, Chris, and Jacques are my eyes and ears on set, and they are great in recognizing opportunities and devising ways to get a good plant mic situated. I am always amazed at how good they are at planting.

In Season 1, there was a scene where Fuches (Stephen Root) was in the hotel bathroom behind a closed door and the camera was in the bedroom looking over Barry. Boom Operator Chris Diamond put a plant on the bathroom mirror to mic Fuches because all he was wearing was a towel. This gave the mic perspective with more air, and the feel of the small bathroom, like we would hear Fuches from Barry’s perspective.

Cristina and Corey, both great boom operators in their own right, were good at wiring which allowed me to use lavs more often. My philosophy is that the wires are always my plan B, and to only use them when I absolutely had to. When they are placed so well, they became a viable option because great technicians make opportunities. Their experience over the years of placing microphones on and in wardrobe of all kinds is priceless. It is a skill that really germinates in “trying stuff.” There is no “one failproof way” to put radio mics on actors, and techniques grow from experience.

In the final episode of Season 2, acting class character Natalie (D’Arcy Carden) was stage managing the class’s “truth” in a theatrical showcase tech rehearsal. She was given a questionably functioning mini-PA from props, the satchel type mic system worn over the shoulder. It sounded terrible and barely amplified her voice enough to even be useful in reality. Throughout the entire scene, she was talking through this PA system traversing the theater in the background. Boom Operator Corey Woods ended up wiring her wardrobe, as well as wiring a Sanken COS-11 to the side of the PA speaker so as to not blow out the lavalier with too much level plus giving it air. It played perfectly in the scene and added a funny energy to cut against the heartfelt dialog scene Barry and Sally (Sarah Goldberg) were having in the seats. Corey took the time to try a few locations to plant before deciding on the area next to the speaker.

The people I work with are critically important to me, and I like to think I set a tone and expectations as a team to make it happen. My crew comes with their own experience and criteria for excellent sound and as a group, we all establish a standard. It is so easy to get complacent when you are up against lots of naysayers who find it easier to say no than to try and comprehend the Sound Department’s needs. Let’s face it, we ask odd questions sometimes. But, together, the sound team can stay vigilant and keep a calm perspective in order to professionally handle the challenges. It’s the people surrounding me in the team that comes with years of experience that make the impossible possible.

When one of us starts to weaken or relent to the pressures of the set, the rest of us remind each other to stick to our standards. The trick to negotiating the naysayers is great communication and careful listening, yes, listening. You must have an idea of what the other person is trying to achieve and how your request works with or against their goal. Most of the time when I am clear with the other person’s agenda, I can answer my own question. For example, it could be the director trying to get a particular performance, the DP trying to get a certain look, the dolly grip trying a move across a squeaky floor, or the costumer who is responsible for the blazer looking perfect. We all have a job to do, and part of our craft is to make our needs clear, and consider other’s needs in respect to our own.

My sound kit for Barry, Season 2, was comprised of a Zaxcom Deva 16 as the primary recorder, controlled by a Zaxcom Mix 12, with a Zaxcom Nomad 12 as the backup recorder. Boom mics are Schoeps CMIT-5U’s and Sennheiser MKH-50’s on K-Tek boom poles. My wireless are various generations of Lectrosonics, plus 411 receivers for mobile applications. I primarily use Sanken COS-11 and Countryman B6. Lectrosonic IFB’s for my crew and Comtek 216’s for everyone else. I keep my video monitors Standard Definition so I can use a passive Ethernet video baluns, which allows me to send (and receive if needed) audio and two video images on one Ethernet cable. This requires downconverters. We have Video Assist on Barry so I send audio to that cart and take two video images from it. One cable does it all.

I use a PSC PowerMax Ultra 12V distribution platform and a lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO4) by biennio power, which allows me to not have to rely on the Set Electricians. All of this is built in two SKB cases held together by a Hollaender speed rail wheeled frame cart. I built the speed rail/rackmount case cart to be able to repair/replace it anywhere on location. The speed rail I use is the same found on all grip trucks. I had many other custom carts during my career but have learned that it is more important to use easily obtainable or repairable equipment, than bespoke gear. Of course, I learned this the hard way.

Every minute that efficient gear allows my crew to be working on other tasks that directly benefits the sound is a minute I want saved.

by John Bauman CAS

Hollywood is the sixth episodic series I’ve mixed for Ryan Murphy Television and the fourth first-season series. Among them; American Crime Story, Feud, and Ratched were each quite different in terms of story and characters, but they all shared at least one thing in common, they are some of the best shows I’ve ever worked on. It has been my great privilege to be a part of all of them, and Hollywood is no different.

Every first-season series I have mixed, always screens a rough cut of Episode 1, to show studio executives and producers. The first time I was invited to one of these screenings, I realized that they used my raw mix track, sweetened with the minimal tools available in Avid, along with temporary music and sound effects. I have been very fortunate to work with incredible editors who were able to make this sound surprisingly good when screened in a studio theater. However, I wanted to make the production tracks used for Hollywood’s inevitable Episode 1 screening to sound even better.

I decided to upgrade from the Zaxcom Deva 5 and Yamaha 01V96i to the Deva 24 and the Zaxcom Mix 16 Control Surface. The 01V96i was not able to sync word clock with my Zaxcom receivers, so I was relegated to having an analog step in my signal chain. I’d run my wireless transmitters as loud as possible to avoid having to turn up the 01V. Hollywood was my first show using a completely digital signal chain (starting at the Zaxcom transmitter). The change in audio quality was startling at first. The lack of system noise was so profound, I was initially unable to tell the difference between the boom being on and off.

Bypassing the 01V’s analog preamp stage, I was able to run the wireless transmitters at a lower gain, which when added to Zaxcom’s Neverclip feature, meant distortion was practically nonexistent. The dynamic range was remarkable. I added a second Zaxcom RX12 and changed my video monitoring to a single 17” HD monitor (Datavideo TLM-170P), with a quad splitter (Decimator DMON Quad). These changes saved in both overall cart size and more substantially in weight. I kept the PSC Powerstar LiFE for DC distribution and a Furman PL-PRO C for circuit breaking between the cart and the generator.

Video Village gets PR-216’s and my boom ops have been using the Shure PSM 900 system. But the real game changer was adding the Cedar DNS 2.

I assumed that we’d encounter the common problem faced by production sound everywhere of not being able to stop ambient noise, especially on location, due to either time or budget constraints. Hollywood had some exceptionally difficult situations for sound. On one occasion, we used the Paramount lot for some Ace Pictures exteriors. One scene took place on a section of road surrounded by four-story office buildings. Every office had a window AC unit and by noon, every one of them was on. Production was not permitted to request any of them to be turned off. With no other option, the scene was shot while thirty individual units were running.

Incidents of ambient noise happened on stage as well. We often ran into issues with dimmer packs, ballasts, smoke machines, and the now ubiquitous “Vornado” fans, along with the current crop of HD cameras whose fans would occasionally kick on during a take. The Cedar did an excellent job minimizing virtually all of these. I provided a standard composite mix, as well as two additional mix tracks with different degrees of noise reduction. Monitoring these tracks was easy with the Mix-16’s PFL and headphone-listening options. The Cedar is no match for the tools available to re-recording mixers on the dub stage, but it provided a nice option to our picture editors who used them extensively throughout the season.

We used a combination of Sennheiser MKH 50 and Schoeps CMIT 5U microphones for almost all of our booming. Sanken COS-11D’s are our lavalier workhorses and were also used to plant even more often than our MKH 8050 or Sanken CUB-01’s. We used the DPA 6060’s for special lavalier rigs and button holes. I’d situationally adjust high shelf equalization (@2k) for my wires if, for example, we had tie rigs working in a scene with mics placed closer to the sternum. Depending on the talent, tie placement of a COS-11D can sound muddy when compared to another COS-11D placed lower on the chest, so I chose to normalize them. I also rolled off all mics @ 100Hz.

None of that really matters unless the mics are placed correctly and I firmly believe that the boom operators are the linchpin of the department and are the primary reason for high-quality sound. I am so fortunate to have two award-winning Boom Operators in Ace Williams and Kris Wilcox for my crew. Hollywood moved at a fast pace and we almost always mic’d every speaking part whether they were on camera or off. Ace and Kris are second to none when it comes to navigating the constant fluidity of a film set. Changing frames, lighting, reflections, dialog, and actor idiosyncrasies are all handled in stride. Both have worked on series set in this time period, so they were aware of the particular challenges with noisy background footwear, unusual costume fabrics, noisy props, and antique vehicles. Working as a team, either one would lay carpet, wire an actor, or boom a scene. Their extensive experience allowed them to anticipate and solve potential noise issues without any direction from me, which was a critical component to our success as a department. Their prodigious talent meant I didn’t have to constantly worry about where the boom was placed.

Hollywood, like all RMTV productions, was beautifully wrought. Ryan Murphy has a keen eye for set design, decoration, costumes, hair, makeup, and photography. He has assembled some of the very best artists in these fields and many have been with Mr. Murphy for years. Together, they brought 1940’s Hollywoodland to life in every detail, from a perfect interior recreation of the iconic Schwab’s Pharmacy, to the color of lipstick Vivien Leigh might have chosen to wear to a dinner party. No easy feat considering the rarity of color photographs from the era.

As you might imagine, our show involves film making in the ’40s. I loved shooting the “behind the scenes” scenes, with all the old moviemaking props, especially the old Mole Richardson microphone perambulators. They would always show up broken and in disarray. I worked with the Prop Department to string them as best as we could, which usually meant that they couldn’t really be operated. I would instruct the BG person designated as the boom operator, so he would look like he knew what he was doing. It was my contribution to the show, and it was really fun.

Our toughest and most fun days were when we shot the 1948 Academy Awards. The sequence included thirteen speaking parts, seven music cues, and six cameras. We mounted a COS-11D on the stage mic, wired everyone, and had two boom mics for the crowd. I primarily ended up using that plant mic for the presenters and winners on stage, and filled it with the boom mics pointed at the audience. The music cues wouldn’t have timed out correctly if they had been preceded by clicks, so Composer Jasper Randall, who also played the orchestra conductor, and I, had to feel when the music would come in after each announcement. The timing of those scenes was almost entirely reliant on us. Each character would begin to speak when the music stopped and the audience would applaud when the music started. I enjoy the times when I get to be so much a part of the scene. It reminds me of what I learned a long time ago.

Early in my career, my boss, Petur Hliddal, admonished me to be a filmmaker and not just a “sound guy.” I do my best to apply that perspective every day. I’m convinced it provides the very best results when faced with the challenges of recording sound for a visual medium. Sometimes it means compromising sound because it represents a net gain for the show. An obvious example is to allow relatively poor sound on very wide shots, knowing the dialog can easily be replaced. Maybe less obvious would be allowing (and recording) overlaps, because it serves the scene and the performances best. Being able to anticipate dialog changes and ad-libs during a take, based on the cadence and intention of the scene and performances. Understanding when to insist that the very best possible sound is the best way to tell the story. This is another reason the filmmaker’s perspective is so valuable. Knowing how to couch a request in terms of visual storytelling is far more persuasive to a director, whose job is to visualize the story we are trying to tell.

I accept that many decisions are made based solely on what is best for picture. Hollywood had sets built with practical ceilings and walls that weren’t made to fly, costumes that were visually stunning but scratchy, and mechanically loud. There were exterior locations that were chosen because they suited the look of our time period, even though we wouldn’t have ITC during rush hour and period-accurate props and cars that were distractingly noisy. Thankfully, this was when our crew would step in to work with us on solutions.

When we were in a tight set with three cameras, which happened just about every week, Key Grip David Donoho, and his outstanding Grip Department would always create workable space for Ace and Kris. Set Costumers Ben Kaufher and Ric Spencer found ways to hide transmitters and tack down fabrics to keep them from rubbing together. They were also responsible for wiring many of the female cast in private, based only on our instructions. For the lack of ITC during rush hour, our production staff, led by 1st AD’s Michelle LaBrucherie and Anastacia Nemec, suggested we shoot as much coverage as we can before we lost control of the street, which I readily agreed to. Loud props and vehicles were turned off when not seen, which was made more complex while shooting with three cameras. Ace and Kris worked with props to try to minimize prop noise wherever possible. DP Simon Dennis, another regular with RMTV and a great friend, was always willing to change the framing to either include or exclude noisy offenders. We often discussed the planned shots following a blocking rehearsal, and found ways to help each other. Sometimes we even agreed to put a boom in one or more of the camera frames and call it a VFX shot. The advent of this option has been a complete paradigm shift in what is possible for us. We did our best not to overuse it, but it sure was nice to have in our back pocket. I expect most sound crews are familiar with these kinds of issues, but I mention them because this show seemed to have an abundance of them every single day. It kept us on our toes while emphasizing how much we relied on our fellow crew members.

Ace, Kris, and I are only partly responsible for the sound you’ll hear when you watch Hollywood. We ran two full crews for the last several weeks, and I was thrilled to get Brian Robinson to mix. He brought along Glenn Young to Boom and Erik Alstadt as Utility. The perennially Emmy-nominated post sound team of Supervising Sound Editor, Gary Megregian, and Re-recording Mixers Joe Earle and Doug Andham, consistently elevate our production sound to the highest level. These are some of the finest engineers in this business, and I am so grateful that our hard work is in such capable hands.
Hollywood is a story about individuals coming together and succeeding as a team in the face of seemingly insurmountable resistance. The story of Hollywood’s Sound Department is really about the whole production and post production crew, and how much we depended on them for our success. I look forward to working with many of them again on American Crime Story: Impeachment.

by Jay Patterson CAS

According to Wikipedia, a penny dreadful was “cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom,” and, “typically sensational, focusing on the exploits of detectives, criminals, or supernatural entities.” The character Sweeney Todd was first introduced in a penny dreadful. Eight or so pages of exciting escapism, all for a penny.

The series Penny Dreadful is the creation of John Logan, the very talented writer that brought us Any Given Sunday, Rango, Sweeney Todd, Gladiator, Aviator, The Last Samurai, Hugo, and the Bond films, Skyfall and Spectre. He kills it on Broadway, and his most recent musical, The Last Ship, starring Sting, is currently touring with rave reviews. For his first iteration of a penny dreadful for the screen, Logan created a three-season period piece set in nineteenth-century London. A tale populated with some of the most colorful and horrible characters of the time, from history and fiction. Characterized by compelling writing, a spectacular cast, lush production design, and the superb photography of John Conroy ISC, its fans were saddened when the series ended in 2016.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is Logan’s second version, and is a much different one. Taking place in Los Angeles in the year 1938, it dramatizes the multitude of social pressures, raised to the boiling point in this fast-growing city, on the eve of the Second World War. At the center of the scenario is one Mexican-American family, the Vegas. Events around them are being manipulated by the extremely malicious Magda, a powerful evil spirit. In addition to causing pain, suffering, and death for humans, Magda delights in tormenting her sister Santa Muerte, the Angel of Death, who has taken an interest in the Vega family. This show has it all; from family dinners to gruesome murders, huge dance scenes, Pachukos, Nazis, bad cops, corrupt politicians, the Jewish mob, sex with evil spirits, eternal salvation, riots, and a devil child. Something for everyone, with a touch of social commentary to boot!

When I was contacted by Michael Aguilar and Mark Tobey to see if I was available to mix a show with them in the fall, I was very excited. I met Michael Aguilar on the Showtime show, I’m Dying Up Here, a dark drama about standup comedians, circa 1973, a show with many sound challenges. Penny Dreadful would present its own set of challenges.

For a television production, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels was huge—literally and figuratively. It was well funded, with a wonderful large cast, including Natalie Dormer, Nathan Lane, Daniel Zovatto, Adriana Barraza, Rory Kinnear (the only cast member who was in the first Penny Dreadful), Kerry Bishé, Michael Gladis, Piper Perabo, and Adam Rodriguez. The show used all three stages at Melody Ranch, and every inch of Melody’s backlots. There were also permanent and swing sets at the LA North stages in Santa Clarita. Exterior scenes usually had at least one hundred background artists and dozens of period cars.

My teammates for the show were Rob Scott as Boom and Kris Manning as 2nd Boom/Utility. Rob is the consummate sound person. Though he is a very accomplished production mixer in his own right, Rob also loves to boom. He’s got first-rate chops on a Fisher, and decades of dancing alongside cameras with a boom pole. Great with plants, his physical skills are matched by his people skills. A calm diplomat, with a wry sense of humor, yet always tactfully representing the interests of our department. Ever the gentleman, he easily earns the respect of the other departments on the set. Kris Manning, a protégé of Peter Damski, has been working with me on and off for about six years. I use a second boom so often that I only hire very competent boom operators as sound utility. Kris always has my back and is a whiz with the wires. A wonderful team! Though I knew the show would be fun, it would also be a lot of work, and this team has enjoyed working hard together. We had finished the first season of All American, earlier in the year. That show had a large ensemble cast and a tight schedule, shooting football games at night, ten-plus speaking parts, often in the rain; so, my confidence in this team was high.

The Director of Photography John Conroy ISC was the “Minister of Image,” who had photographed the first Penny Dreadful series, and John Logan asked him to do it again for Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. A second-generation DP, John’s work was amazing. His complete understanding of all of the departments functioning on the set, manifested itself in his choreography of the day’s work. John uses only prime lenses, an extensive use of cranes of all sizes, a Steadicam, but no handheld shots, and creates an extremely solid look for the show. Crucially, John always acknowledged the Sound Department, frame lines were very accommodating for the booms when the actors got around to talking.

John Conroy, along with alternate DP Pedro Luque, captured the grandeur of Maria Caso’s production design. Two of our exterior sets, North Main Street and Belvedere Heights, ran for several city blocks in almost any direction. Belvedere Heights was the barrio home to the Mexican-American community, and covered most of the backlot of Melody Ranch.

When a Sound Department has the cooperation of an entire company, coming to work every day is fun. We could never have achieved the results we did without the continual help of all the departments. The camera crews were a pleasure to work with, and always helpful; James Reid on “A” camera and Steadicam, and Andrea Rossetto on “B” camera, exemplified “old school” skills using all the new toys. Nowadays, we mixers watch the Camera Department’s operation in great detail, noting a perfect dramatic focus rack, or knowing that a particular dolly move will end up in the finished product because it was just perfect. It was a pleasure to work with our Focus Pullers, Kevin Akers and Steve Taylor-Wehr, who were excellent, as well as our Dolly Grips, Tommy Ruffner and Tommy O’Connell. There was mutual respect between camera and sound. Gaffer Ed Maloney, who led our set electric crew, was always attentive to our needs. Paul Perkins, Key Grip, moved heaven and earth on a daily basis for the show, yet was always ready to help sound. When I walked on set, and held my fist in the air where I thought a plant mic should be, Paul would have the grip support there in seconds. Christie Wittenborn, Costume Designer, whom I met on I’m Dying Up Here, had a field day with Penny Dreadful. Aside from her skill in design, she has a core crew that is the epitome of professionalism. Lili Acevedo and Alejandro Hernandez, Key On-Set Dressers, were adjunct members of the Sound Department when we wired talent, their assistance was exemplary. We also received invaluable assistance from the Art Department; Assistant Prop Master Pat Russo was proactive in quieting props, while Set Dresser Mike Chang would graciously allow us to use his furniture as mic stands.

Music is a large part of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. Claire Newman, our Post Producer and resident logistical magician, guided the creatives involved in all of the music scenes, and because of her efforts, everything happened on target. With her calm demeanor and attention to detail, she reassured Peter Rotter, Music Producer, and Music Supervisor Deva Anderson on their work from concept through prep, and always on set on the day.

John Logan often desired the ability to play back mood pieces while shooting certain scenes, so I had to be ready to play back at any time. When a new episode was coming up, Claire Newman would provide me with all of the possible mood choices, which I would then load as one Pro Tools file per episode, allowing me to access any of the tracks within a second or two. Real playback scenes were always handed off to Mark Agostino.

There were several big dance sequences during the season, with two taking place in The Crimson Cat, a dance club patronized by the Mexican-American community. In addition to more than a hundred background artists in full costume, these scenes boasted a “live” band, our cast, and one hundred and four professional dancers. There was considerable preparation that went into these scenes. Under Peter and Deva’s guidance, musical selections were composed or selected, then scored. The “live” band rehearsed the pieces extensively before going into the studio and recording.

Production music playback was handled by Mark Agostino, with Jeff Zimmerman filling in on occasion. The musicians were fed the music via earwigs, and the dance floor had a thump track, when dialog took place. The musicians in the band were incredibly convincing on camera, especially in their individual solos. The dancers having been well rehearsed, were nothing short of spectacular, all led by Choreographer Tommy Tonge and his assistant, Alexandra Hulme, swing dancing and acrobatics galore. The Music Department would get their own mix in their IFB receivers, as they wanted to hear the music continuously when playback was muted to the speakers. This was so they could monitor the performance of the musicians miming their parts during dialog, or making sure the dancers were holding the beat. These scenes took days to shoot, three cameras all the time, cranes and Steadicam to boot. On all of the big dance number days, days with big SFX, VFX, and stunts, Video Assist was handled by Local 695’s Kya Kheshtenejad.

Another enjoyable challenge was recording an actor singing live. My preference is to use a high-quality practical mic, in addition to an overhead boom and a body mic, when a scene calls for singing into a period microphone. The challenge here was to find period mics. Acquiring a circa 1938 mic that looked brand new and sounded well, wasn’t feasible, so modern reproductions were called for. A radio broadcast scene, sung by the multi-talented Kerry Bishé, was recorded with an ear trumpet reproduction of the classic “ring” mic, which has a large diaphragm condenser element. Much thanks to Property Master Ross Anderson, who was able to provide it. In a club scene featuring Patti LuPone singing live, a reproduction of the classic Shure 55 was used, though purists will note that the 55 wasn’t manufactured until 1939! In scenes where talent was not singing into practical microphones, I prefer using the Schoeps CMIT, as well as an overhead Schoeps CMC6-MK5 in cardioid mode (my favorite microphone of all time…).

As in any period piece, production sound had to deal with vintage vehicles, and Penny Dreadful was no exception. Realism is one of John Logan’s signature production values. Exterior shots that extended for blocks, with hundreds of background in period hair, makeup, and wardrobe, also demanded practical period vehicles as far as could be seen. Thanks to George Sack and Alex Pena on picture cars, one of the finest Transportation Departments I’ve ever worked with, production sound never suffered. On large crane shots that revealed several city blocks, many scenes involved more than forty period vehicles, several over ninety years old. The company purchased more than fifteen period cars for the duration of the show, and Alex and his crew replaced all of the ancient ignitions with modern 12V units, and added RF suppression spark plug cables to them. This allowed the AD Department to slot in vehicles on dialog with no ignition interference on my wireless receivers. Driving shots were photographed on the road, and also on stage with a blue screen for the dialog portions. This Sound Department did not complain.

The heart of my production cart is a Cooper 206D v.2, feeding a Sound Devices 970 recorder. The eight channels of pre-fader ISO’s on a 25-pin D-sub connector use the analog input of the 970. A Lectrosonics DNT BOB88 Dante interface gives me eight balanced line inputs and eight balanced outputs. Two input channels of the BOB88 are fed the A and B buss outputs of the Cooper, two of the outputs of the BOB88 are the A and B returns. A loom is permanently installed on the cart that allows easy hookup of a Cooper 306 to the system, which brings my input channel count to fourteen. The loom terminates in a 25-pin connector that feeds the 306’s, ISO’s to Dante; six additional radio channels to the 306’s inputs, the cable gangs the busses of the two mixers together, including power. This allows me to add the 306 in less than five minutes, when needed. An analog Cooper front end, into the digital domain of Dante—the best of both worlds.

I have twelve channels of Lectrosonics in two Venues. The Lectro’s are used for all body mics and condenser plants. The Tx gains are all set between eight and ten to avoid limiting at the transmitter. I am using an Audio Ltd A10 Rx with two A10 Tx mounted on booms. All condensers used are Schoeps: CMIT-5U (x3), a MINI CMIT for plants, MK-5 (x3), MK-41 (x2), a MK-4, and a MK-8 for MS. Sanken COS-11’s for body mics and the occasional plant. Two channels of Lectro IFBT4 feed the Village and my crew, and there are two Comtek BST-25 Tx for earwigs. The two IFBT4’s and the Audio Ltd A10 Rx are housed in a repurposed Lectro 200 series quad rack. All Rx and Tx connections to the cart are on twenty-five feet of RG-8X, with the antennas on a mast that can be raised seventeen feet.

Two Mac Mini’s reside on the cart, one is connected to the Dante network, the Lectro radios, and PixNet, along with Wireless Designer, Dante Controller, and a few other nifty production applications. The second Mini is used exclusively for playback. At the expense of six rack units’ worth of real estate, a Marshall V-MD171 17” 2K monitor is used for computer display, via HDMI. The Mini’s are AC powered by a 300W sine wave inverter. High-speed hubs manage two fast CF readers, SD and micro SD readers. A Remote Audio Speak Easy is the on-cart speaker. A second Speak Easy is on the support cart as a quick, small, battery-operated PB unit.

I monitor the cameras on a Blackmagic Duo, with an additional Duo available when shooting three or four cameras. All of this is powered by a PSC Zeus 35-amp supply, the cart draws about 15A, and the entire cart weighs in at about three hundred and ninety pounds.

I have a dedicated bag rig with a 788/CL-8, Lectro SRC’s, and an Audio Ltd A10 Rx. For insert car work, I use my Cooper 306 feeding a Sound Devices 788T-SSD.

Two Anchor/Shure combos are used as Voice of God systems, and when big guns are required, a pair of Crest LQ 15P powered speakers come out.

At the wrap party for Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Kris Manning (2nd Boom/Utility) turned to me and said, “You know, this was the job that everybody wants.” He was correct; a show where the creator’s vision was strong and clearly communicated. It had a worthy cast, every key was hand-picked, a decent budget that allowed realistic scheduling on the part of the AD’s, and from the top down, good production sound was a family value. And a couple of days a week, I got to watch Nathan Lane act…

The Art of the Oner and Mixing

by Mathew Price CAS

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP) and her husband Daniel Palladino, starts in NYC in 1958. It follows the travails and adventures of Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel (the extraordinary Rachel Brosnahan), a nice Jewish housewife living a seemingly perfect life with her husband Joel (Michael Zegen) and her two young children in a fabulous pre-war six-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. After Joel confesses to having an affair with his not-so-bright secretary (on the eve of Yom Kippur, no less), Midge, getting drunker by the minute on super sweet Manischewitz wine, finds herself back at the Gaslight Café, the seedy downtown comedy club where her soon-to-be ex spectacularly bombed earlier in the evening. There she delivers a profane and hilarious confessional stand-up set and catches the eye of Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein, always hilarious) who realizes she’s seeing raw talent unlike any who’s played there before. A career is launched. Hilarity ensues.

After years of mixing mostly heavy dramas like The Sopranos, through the gorefest of The Following and Season 2 of Marvel’s brooding Daredevil, I landed on this 1950’s Technicolor-movie musical-screwball-dramedy which is shot like a major motion picture. The Palladinos love their rat-a-tat, super rapid-fire dialog and Maisel does not disappoint. It’s brilliantly funny, a feast for the eyes and ears and a truly wonderful show to be a part of. It’s a very special set to be on and every day-playing actor and crew member who joins us remarks on how family-like and fun it all feels. It’s also the most challenging show I’ve ever mixed; the word “compromise” is not in anyone’s vocabulary.

I first heard of Maisel after the pilot had been shot and found out that Picture Editor Brian Kates, a friend of mine who had edited a couple of features I had mixed, had cut it. I reached out to him because it sounded like a fun show to work on. I loved the idea of mixing a musical comedy, especially since music is my first love, and we all need a good laugh, especially these days. It turned out that the pilot’s mixer had already committed to another show before Maisel got picked up for series and Brian had already told production they needed to hire me. The lesson being always be good to your post people!

As an Audio Ltd wireless user for more than twenty-five years, I finally made the switch and now my core equipment is all Zaxcom. I’m running a full RX-12 receiver unit, a Mix-12, and a Deva 16. With the latest sell off (again) of our frequencies, and the shrinking of the radio spectrum, I’m very glad to have frequency agility and the ability to record right on the Zaxcom transmitters. That has saved me many times! Their ZMT transmitters are tiny and our cast loves them. My primary boom mics are Schoeps CMIT’s and MK41’s. My lavs are generally Sonotrim’s, Sanken COS-11D’s, Countryman B6’s and the new Shure TL48 which I use exclusively for Rachel.

My approach to mixing Mrs. Maisel is the same as my approach to everything that I (and I’m sure all of you) mix, in that I strive for a clean, full, and very rich vocal quality. Maisel is ALL about the words (and music); our average script is approximately 85-90 pages for a show that runs just under an hour, and almost every word makes it in. There are no car chases, gunfights, or explosions, so there is no place to hide and they HATE looping! Because it’s a period show, whenever we’re exterior, I have to be extra diligent about any modern-day noises that might creep in.

Of course, we all prefer booms instead of wires, but wiring our cast is just safer for me, it gives me much more flexibility and, because of the show’s signature long take “oners,” we tend to see in all directions. Also, it helps me if the shot changes at the last minute or in case the actors get out of range of the boom. Since the dialog zips by so quickly, post loves all the wires as it helps with the clarity of the consonants, but there’s always a boom to keep the tracks alive. The Palladinos love their wide shots, often without tighter coverage. Many times, characters start very deep in the frame and come into close-ups or vice versa, or we’ll go from room to room and in and out of doorways. The mixing challenge there is finding the best spot to transition between the radios and the boom as seamlessly as possible.

For one of our crazy shots, in the S2E4 episode, “We’re Going to the Catskills!” we put a wide lens camera across the road from the Weissman’s summer cottage as they arrive and unpack for the summer. It was a half-dozen people yelling and overlapping to each other from all of the rooms while going from inside to outside and back. It was such a great challenge to just wire them all and hold on for dear life! On any given day, it’s pretty typical that I’m easily running between seven to twelve tracks (or more).

Our number 1, Midge, almost always gets wired at the beginning of the day, mostly because her corseted infrastructure makes it time-consuming to do at the last minute. Our great wardrobe people send me a photo of her costume and I pick what I think is the most appropriate lav for it; I’ve always felt that you wire the clothes, not the actor. They rough it in and when she gets to set, I’ll fine-tune it. We work so closely together that I think of us as the “SoundRobe” Department.
In that same episode, there was another big set piece that’s a good example of the show’s approach. It’s set in the main hall of the Steiner Family Resort, a place meant to typify the old Jewish Catskills—the land of canoes and knishes—where families would go and spend the whole summer away from the sweltering city. It’s also where some of our funniest comics like Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar, and Mort Sahl, among so many others, honed their comic chops.

In the episode, Steiner director Pauly (Saul Rubinek) introduces our MC, Buzz Goldberg (Brandon Uranowitz), who starts the “Initial Dance Challenge,” where you can only dance if it’s with someone with your same initials. Pretty silly stuff. There was a big band pre-recorded by our Music Producer, Stewart Lerman, and about thirty to forty highly choreographed, spinning and stomping couples, swing dancing on a wooden floor to Benny Goodman’s classic, “Sing Sing Sing.” Midge Maisel dances and talks with a number of them while the Steadicam swirls around the dance floor in a big, unedited nine page oner. In addition, Rose (Marin Hinkle) and Abe Weissman (Tony Shalhoub) had dialog and there were eight dancing talkers, along with the host, and MC (both wired and also on a live stage mic). I also had a boom out and took music and timecode feeds from our Pro Tools operator.

To handle all of that, we had a six-person Sound Department which is always fun since we’re usually overwhelmed by seemingly dozens of camera people. My crew included my Boom Op, Carmine Picarello, and my Utility, Spyros Poulos, who had been a Music Producer for many years, and works with me planning much of the mic placement for our live music recordings. There were more tracks than I had radio mics for at the time, so I brought in an additional mixer, Julian Townsend, to handle the overflow. I assigned him specific cast and he fed his sub-mix to me which I then folded into the rest of my mono mix for dailies. In addition, we used more than thirty earwigs and had a thump track ready to go.

Unlike many comedies I’ve mixed where you wire everyone, let them go and the actors all ad-lib, I’m at a real advantage with Maisel in that we tend to get a few rehearsals. They’re needed because many of our shots are elaborately choreographed. Mixing as much episodic TV as I have, the dreaded “Let’s just shoot the rehearsal and see what happens” approach rarely applies, and I’ve gotten pretty spoiled by that. In addition, Amy and Dan insist that the scripts be very strictly adhered to—every word, comma, and pause. Our principal cast understands that, but I’ve seen an actor terrified of flubbing a word or two near the end of a big, multi-page oner, knowing we would have to reset to the top, especially after multiple takes. I once had a wire on an actor who was so thin, I was faintly picking up her heartbeat and I could hear it beating faster the closer we got to the end of the scene. It even stresses me out!

They’re so adamant about it, we even have TWO script supervisors at all times, one to watch for continuity and the other just to listen to the words! That’s another first for me, but it speaks to the highest level of quality they demand, and the time and money they pour into this unique show.

All of our stand-up performances are filmed with at least three cameras. They are lit with hard spots so, for consistency from shot to shot, we don’t even try to boom them. I always wire Midge but keeping it clean is challenging because of her custom-made wardrobe, and hyper-critical because if it’s at all scratchy, it will get into the reverb that’s always added when they “worldize” every set we shoot in. Ron Bochar, our Re-recording Mixer, swears by Altiverb. By the start of Season 2, at my request, our Prop Department, along with Gotham Sound, started to modify many of the on-camera vintage mic shells with Shure lav elements from their new TL series. They sound really great with nice, smooth off-axis response. We always hard wire them and I use them as my primary source.

In the show, Midge Maisel is what we call a “stalker,” in that she roams the stage holding the mic during her set so her relationship to the mic is pretty consistent. Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby), however, leaves it on the stand when he performs so I always have my finger on his lav fader for the times when he turns his head or backs away from the mic and I’ll blend the two while trying to avoid any potential phasing. Sara Stern, our Dialog Editor, uses Auto Align Post to help. On the other hand, it often sounds very natural to lose him a little when he does go off mic.

Another challenge, though more for editorial than for me, is in getting clean performances without too much of the audience’s reactions bleeding in. As production mixers, capturing the performance and keeping the dialog tracks clean are our primary directives. I remember mixing scenes on The Sopranos when all of the guys would get together in a room and we’d do wide masters where everyone is having a blast and joking and laughing, then when we would go in for singles, I would try to limit any off-screen overlaps in order to keep the on-camera tracks clean. It would suck the air right out of the room and the performances would just go south. On Maisel, Rachel and Jane Lynch (Sophie Lennon) understand, and are amazingly good at faking it. When we bring in actors for the day to play some of the old-time comedians, they can get really thrown by the quiet background and you can see how it can affect their performance. For the sake of a good performance, I let the background go, strive for the punchiest dialog and just hope post can fix it when they lay in all the background.

When I am given the time to get a take with the background actors silent we then record wild tracks with all manner of reactions, from chuckles, guffaws, and swelling laughter to different levels of applause. Some of Mrs. Maisel’s jokes are directed at the women in the audience so we’ll also get reactions just from them. Post now has a well-trained loop group that are brought in to supplement and fill out the tracks because ASP is very specific about what she wants to hear.

Amy Sherman-Palladino was originally a dancer and watching her move through a space as she choreographs all of our oners with our incredible Steadicam Operator Jim McConkey is a joy. We don’t just have our AD’s move background through a scene, we bring in a choreographer for that. We’ll even play music on set just for McConkey to Steadicam to the music. ASP is very musical, has brilliant ears, and she’s incredibly sound-conscious.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has won multiple awards for music supervision and we upped the ante for Season 3 by sending our eponymous Mrs. Maisel on tour as the opening act for the Johnny Mathis-like singer, Shy Baldwin. He’s acted by LeRoy McClain, but his gorgeous singing vocals were voiced by Darius de Haas.

When it comes to the musical performances, we do something I’ve never done before. I call it “live to tape.” ASP is very specific that all of the recordings happen in the actual locations we film in because she wants the music to sound “right” in the space. For some of the smaller combos, my team and I will get an hour or so pre-call on the day to pre-record the band. Then we turn it over to Egor Panchenko, our Pro Tools Operator, for playback. We’ll use the usual combination of straight playback, earwigs, and/or a thump track in order to get the dialog as clean as possible. But the show gets pretty big sometimes and as the season progressed, ASP wanted more than pre-record playback, she wanted us to record the music live during filming.

This is made all the more challenging because LeRoy isn’t a singer. In S3 E3 “Panty Pose,” I experienced another first. After bombing on stage at one of her first big gigs, Midge’s manager Susie pushes Midge to get back on stage to regain her momentum. At some point, after the crowd grows and Midge gets her groove back, Shy, his manager Reggie (Sterling K. Brown), and his whole entourage show up. Midge cedes the mic to Shy but when his piano player starts “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby,” Reggie takes the lead vocal and Shy sits in on harmonies.

Amy wanted it all recorded live, so Reggie stepped up to the live stage mic (a modified vintage shell) that Midge had been using for her set, and my utility hid two Schoeps MK41’s on the underside of the piano. Where it got fun was when we placed Shy’s real vocalist, Darius de Haas, off stage with a clear line of sight, a Shure SM58 on a stand and a couple of sound blankets on either side of him to help isolate his vocals. He sang Shy’s harmonies live, while LeRoy nailed a perfect lip sync. I had never done live lip syncing before that.

Another live recording we did was in S3 E5, “It’s Comedy or Cabbage.” We recreated a classic Playboy After Dark episode that featured Lenny Bruce as a guest (you can find it on YouTube). It was a nine-and-a-half-page oner with ten talkers, dancers, and a jazz quartet with a vocalist who also has dialog. Although shots were cut in after the fact, we initially did it as another single-shot set piece. Everyone was wired of course, but we were told no mics could be seen except for a vintage prop mic on an overhead boom stand. My Utility, Spyros Poulos, devised a stealth mic’ing plan that worked really well. We hid a MK41 under the piano, the vocalist was wired, we snuck a bidirectional capsule between the tom and the snare, hid a Schoeps on a Collette cable behind the overhead prop mic and above the drum kit, another Schoeps MK41 hidden behind a piano leg facing the upright bass, and we wired the trumpeter’s sleeve. All in a day’s work!

One thing I’ve learned from Maisel is to embrace the wires. I started my career with a mono Nagra and a 416 and would love to be able to boom everything. Yet it’s just not practical and often not even possible to do that with the way films and TV shows are shot today. My advice is to really hone your wiring skills. I cannot tell you how many scenes we do on Maisel that are all wires, although I always mix in the boom to bring it alive.

The show wouldn’t sound anywhere near as good as it does without my crew, the miraculous work of our Dialog Editor, Sara Stern, and our very talented Re-recording Mixer, Ron Bochar CAS, who believes that “post production begins on the first day of production … the first time you open a mic on set.” A major benefit of a multi-season show is the deeper relationships and easier communication with our friends in Post, and we all know how important that relationship is. They can sometimes make or break us, and I’ve been very fortunate to be welcomed into the spotting sessions and final mix anytime I want.

Finally, the amazing vocal skills of every single one of our cast cannot be overemphasized. Tony Shalhoub is a national treasure, and everyone else is just a joy to work with. I have never heard anyone speak so fast and enunciate as well as Rachel Brosnahan. I am very fortunate to not have any mumblers or whisperers, so low signal-to-noise is never an issue. I cannot wait to start up Season 4 to see what kind of crazy challenges they’re going to throw at us. One thing for sure? Hilarity will ensue!