Soud Decisions, Part 3

Amongst the various departments on a given shoot, lighting, grip, and camera generally have the most impact on a sound crew. Besides the usual personality, equipment and working method differences that might arise (which vary from crew-to-crew, state-to-state, or country-to-country –- leaving language and terminology barriers out of the equation), each of these departments can be sources of unwanted sounds, or noise, depending on one’s perspective.

Furniture can be a source of unwanted noise, too. Creaky tables, couches, and especially chairs are rife on sets, be they practical (at a real location) or fabricated (on a soundstage).

Costumes can be noisy, as well, or difficult to radio mic [more on radio mics later]. Stiff leather jackets can creak; earrings, bracelets and necklaces might jingle; stiletto heels could click on hard floors. In such cases, if the costume hasn’t been established yet, one might persuade the costume designer and director, with the actor’s assent, to replace a noisy article of clothing or jewelry, or to modify it in order to minimize the problem. A fairly common example involves a set of keys (actually a prop, not wardrobe), which a security guard might be required to have.

If an actor insists on wearing noisy clothing or using a noisy prop, and they’re one of the stars, chances are the sound is going to have to be compromised. In such cases, once the sound department has made their case and suggested solutions, there’s nothing more they can do, and they have to put up with it. The only thing the sound mixer can do at that point is to record a verbal and/or written note on the log, tape, disc or drive that they’re aware of the problem but were not allowed to resolve it. Of course, this is small consolation to the post-production sound personnel, and may irk some parties.

When shooting in Italy, a country that not-so-long ago looped its own movies, two colleagues of mine -- working on two separate productions in different years -- told me how inconsiderate a lot of the locals were about making noise or talking while the camera was rolling. Considering their ADR history, perhaps the crews hadn’t yet adjusted to maintaining relative silence during a sync sound scene. Despite having been a “live sync sound” industry since the mid-1920s, some U.S. crews occasionally neglect this basic tenet of respecting soundscape integrity. Even if a scene doesn’t have dialog in it, maintaining as much crew silence as possible is often recommended. We’re not only recording words, we’re capturing the sounds of doors opening and closing, engines running, heels clicking, sighs, cries, moans, groans, grunts, back pats and gut punches, etc. Sure, like dialog, these things can be replaced, but why not avoid the extra expense (and potential headaches) in post-production if at all possible –- which often is the case. Unfortunately, even directors tend to forget this, magically forgetting to zip their lips when shooting their stars walking across a street and rummaging through a desk. Somehow these directors feel they must direct these often relatively mundane activities as they’re being shot, ruining an otherwise fine sound take.

Directors can get away with screwing up their own movie’s sound, but the rest of the crew has less clout, and no excuse, for much of the racket they generate. That includes generators of the power used on a set. Although “gennies” are fairly quiet compared to, say, a consumer-model low-output portable generator, they don’t need to be parked right next to a set where dialog is being recorded, especially if it doesn’t involve yelling and explosions, which might drown out the gennie’s rumble. Yes, folks, we can hear that low-level rumble, particularly when it’s parked near a set in the middle of an otherwise extremely quiet nowhere (for example: a desert, a forest, a field), where no urban or suburban ambient sounds can help mask the engine in question. At least in a city street or alley, the unwanted sound of a gennie can potentially be masked by other industrial/mechanical sounds blended into the sound effects tracks, if necessary. Also, don’t park a gennie next to or between substantial hard surfaces, such as tall walls, because the engine’s sound bounces off and all around the place in such areas.

If any of these noise-reducing options aren’t feasible for generator placement, the resultant noise can be somewhat mitigated by mounting a large sheet of plywood, and/or foamcore, and/or furniture pads on C-stands or high rollers or combo stands, then placing this baffle in the path of the gennie’s vents, as close as possible, while leaving “breathing room” for the exhaust. This amounts to erecting a thin wall between the primary noise source and the set.

Minimizing any camera noise is the duty of the camera crew. With film cameras on the way out, the noise might not be as obvious in most cases, but some video/HD cameras have their own electronic and transport noises that can be easily detected in quiet scenes and when the camera is close to an actor. Often the only (and perhaps best) solution is to drape the camera with a blanket or other muffling item. Sometimes there’s a mechanical adjustment to be made, which is likely something the rental house or manufacturer could or should do. Before starting a project with an untried camera, try to do a camera/sound test to determine if such adjustments are required, or if another camera is needed and obtainable.

TO BE CONTINUED