Boom

Operator Class

August 6, 2017

With Ken Strain

I’ve been a boom operator since 1993. I was 19 years old when I started booming.
When I was in high school, a film crew came and worked at my school, taking over
the quad, the hallways, the parking lot, and my actual classroom. I thought the
process was fascinating, all that cool gear they were using, and I wanted to be able
to work with it. I thought I should maybe go to film school, so I went to Valley
College to take their film classes, but I found them so boring. Too much theory and
watching black and white films of baby carriages going down stairs in slow-motion. I
just wanted to do the work on set with the toys. Out of curiosity, I signed up for
extra work so I could get on a film set. I was background with a buddy on the Tina
Turner movie, “What’s Love Got to do With It”, and it was her huge comeback
concert scene shot at the Palace in Hollywood (now called Avalon). The entire day
was a playback day, and I noticed this one guy leaning against the wall at the side of
the room with a boom pole and microphone, and he just yelled “Speed!” every time
they called “Rolling!” My lazy self wondered what this easy job was. So I asked him
and he told me he was the boom operator. Wonderful, I can do that no problem! I
was 19 years old, working at Home Depot at this point, and discovered that my
godparents’ daughter, who was studying at the Cal State University Northridge, had
a classmate who she did assignments with at home, and he was a sound mixer. He
said that he worked on movies in the summer in Poland, and he used a boom
operator, and he offered to train me sometime in the future since I was interested.

A month after Christmas in 1992, I was fired from Home Depot for snowboarding
instead of working New Years Day. I let this guy know I was available. One month
later, he called me in a bit of a panic, leaving messages on my answering machine all
day while I was out water skiing with friends. He asked if I could come in that night,
and take over for his boom operator who quit his low budget feature the day before,
and he would start training me on the job. Now, mind you, I had been water skiing
all day long since dawn. I agreed, after all, it was probably going to be just a few
hours, and done. I had no idea that when you start at 6pm, you end at 7am the next
day. Not only that, I was a complete mess on set. Sweat poured off of my forehead
completely soaking my glasses – there was no Air Con in this loft space downtown.
And it was all hard lighting for contrast, as it was a black and white film about an
interracial couple. I couldn’t believe how difficult this was. Somehow I was fooled - I
thought booming was supposed to be easy! Entire days of playback are so rare, and
yet I made my career choice based on one playback day.

I was on a heavy aluminum boom pole called a Robopole (converted swimming
pool pole), using a 416, and cables were draped all over me. Somehow, I got through
that day, and was invited back the next day. And the next. And I finished that job,
and thanks to still being able to live at home with my parents, I worked another 2
years solid with that mixer on one low budget feature after the next as a two-man
crew. I basically learned on my own, because the mixer didn’t come up as a boom
operator, and he was only 3 years older than me. We were kids. That mixer is Steven
Tibbo, who is the multiple award-winning mixer of Modern Family. He’s like an
older brother to me, and I still come in and work for him on occasion. It is always a
pleasure to see him.

I stayed with Steve for the next 3 years, until I got in the union when Bryan Cahill
brought me on to a TV series called “Courthouse” at Sony to replace the third who
was leaving to do a feature. That’s when I learned how union studios do it. Being
part of a two man crew was a very valuable experience though, it taught me to be
very sharp on the boom, and take lots of chances because I had no one else to help
me boom complicated scenes. And at this time, we were on a two channel Nagra
recorder, and radio mics were big and heavy and a last resort. It was just me, and
sometimes a plant mic or two, and very occasionally we wired actors. So I was
forced to boom scenes that now I would either not boom, or have two or three sticks
working. I really learned my limits (which as a cocky twenty-something, seemed like
there weren’t any) and the microphones.

To broaden my horizons and to see what would happen, I made the choice to not
stay with one sound mixer, but to move from show to show, working with different
sound mixers. I also took a 2-year break from working on TV series straight through,
and started working as a day-player. I worked jobs that were one to three days long.
This put me in a variety of situations all the time, and allowed me to really grow my
contacts and work with many different mixers and thirds. It also allowed me to
meet more boom operators, because I would be hired as a 2nd boom frequently. So
they became another source of jobs when they needed help or needed to be covered
for a day off. I picked up so many tricks and I never got bored of being on a show.
Not only that, as a day-player, you are under less pressure overall. Everyone is
cutting you a little slack, because you’re not there every day, you can’t possibly
know all of the ins and outs of that particular show. I just did the best job that I
could, and hoped to get called again in the future. This style of learning and meeting
new people is worth the job instability that everyone fears. Live cheaper, and work a
bigger variety of jobs. It will pay off down the road when you start doing whole
shows again, and you get 5 different mixers calling you. If people don’t know who
you are, it doesn’t matter how good you are, they’re not going to call you for a show
– only to day play. And even then, it takes referrals. Just because you’re union and
available doesn’t automatically make you worth calling.

In 2007 I put day-playing on pause, and did half of a season of Lost in Hawaii. It was
the hardest job I had done up to that point. The weather and locations, the camera
department, the directors, the sound mixer – everything seemed to be stacked
against me. It was a very humbling experience, and I really had to knuckle down and
give it my absolute best just to survive each day. After that I went on to work with
Von Varga on 5 seasons of House, and basically stayed busy working on TV series
since then. Now I’m sort of relocated in New York, waiting for Local 52 to open up so
I can start working there. That’s the beauty of this job – I can do it anywhere there is
a film business. I could even go to Hawaii and stay busy enough to have a decent life
there.

When I started out in this business I was a bit of a geek who loved film toys and
physically challenging myself, and at around the ten year mark, I realized that the
next piece of the puzzle was really learning to work with people. So I made it a point
to learn to co-exist with the various members of the crew, and see how well I could
integrate into the whole process. But I never stopped picking up new tricks and
thinking about ways to make this job easier and quicker. And that’s why I’ve decided
to teach – I want to share what I’ve picked up over the years in the hopes that others
can jump ahead and become even better than me, faster. And I want as many people
who do sound to become experts at it. I want to instill a sense of pride in what we do,
that it matters, even when others say that it doesn’t. If you’re going to do this thing,
you might as well do it beautifully and with passion, since no one is making you do
this. And no robot will be able to take this job from us. It is the people aspect of this
job that will prevent this from ever happening, until they create perfect animated
characters that they can license to other studios, then it will all be voice over and we
will be out. Till then, run with it. See where it takes you. I’ve worked in Thailand,
Cambodia, Utah, Nashville, Albequerque, Oahu, New York, and of course, my
hometown Los Angeles. And I have no idea where I’ll end up next!

This past year has been one of the most interesting years for me in my career. I
came back to LA from my limbo in New York waiting to get into local 52 so I could
work on a 9 episode series with Jay Patterson and our third Kris Manning called “I’m
Dying Up Here” about stand up comics. And this series we did in what I call the
traditional style of sound. Most of the show was on boom, and only occasionally did
we put radio mics on people – mostly for exteriors. We did a lot of mic plants thanks
to very cluttered sets that allowed us to hide mics everywhere. And we got great
sound. Then I filled in for 3 weeks as a third on a dramatic series. I did this so as to
educate myself on the position of the third. What I realized is that I am a terrible
third. I forget to jam the slates, I forget to turn in time cards, I forget all of these
important things. I warned them I would suck at third stuff, but I could wire and
boom. And we wired everyone for everything, yet the show was completely boom-
friendly. But as that guy at the bottom of the heap, I couldn’t change that. After that, I
went to work for Von Varga for 6 episodes of “Get Shorty” in Albuquerque, and due
to some unfortunate circumstances, the boom operator I filled in for ended up
taking over the third position, and I had the pleasure of working with an amazing
boom operator as my utility. Let me tell you, it is truly wonderful to have a gifted
boom man as your 2nd boom. We truly collaborated, and basically every day was a
great day. My job was so much easier since I didn’t have to worry about any of the
stuff I’m going to teach you all today. I left that show a bit early to fly to Hawaii and
do a Marvel series called “Inhumans” with Bobby Anderson mixing. And I had to
accept that filmmaking has definitely changed. We had 3 cameras shooting at all
times, and they had free reign with their shots. Bobby and I both love having the
boom all the time, but we had to accept that on this show, all the actors would
always have to be wired. Sound was an afterthought, and we had to fight with our
director to get the boom in there for shots where the wire just wasn’t working out.
So my wiring game got tighter, and I began to rethink our strategy as sound people.
Guess what I’ve noticed? We no longer boom wide shots. Once the headroom is
above three to four feet, it’s wires, unless they’re shouting. I was watching Tim
Burton’s Batman from 1989 on a recent airplane trip, and I noticed the sound of
perspective boomed wide shots. I did not like it! It sounded echoey and muddled.
That style is over. We want a clear sounding wide shot now, but with some
additional ambience mixed in. So get good at wiring. It’s the new standard, but use
those wires to give yourself the room to get good at booming and make mistakes.
Don’t use the wires to walk away from shots that just need a little problem-solving
and finesse to achieve. Sometimes by being bold, you might fail but you may realize
that just a small adjustment will give you success. You wouldn’t have known that
unless you tried. I’m my own biggest critic, and I’m always thinking when I’m
listening, “Can this be better? Can it sound sharper and more crisp?” I absolutely
adore sharp clean sound of the human voice in the sweet spot of a mic, and being a
part of that. It’s such a tiny part of the whole process, but hearing the difference on a
good home sound system or theater is very satisfying. And I appreciate anyone who
can do it, so why not make that part of your style? Just go after that sweet spot like a
tiger tracking his prey. It’s fun, remember?

As a side note, I must add that I do not have experience with the Fisher boom. There
may have been a couple of shows that had sets that I might have been able to bring
one onto, but by and large, most single-camera TV shows move so fast in tight sets
filled with dollies and cameras, that I can’t even imagine wheeling a fisher boom into
the set. So if you’re looking for insight about the Fisher, which is an incredible tool
and I highly respect it, I’m afraid you won’t find it here. But I’ve got plenty of useful
info that will get you by in your career without a Fisher boom. I’m saving that for my
“retirement” years, when you can work 2-4 days a week on sitcoms, sitting there on
a comfortable stool with your script and a monitor in front of you in a nice air
conditioned stage. Not a bad way to ride off into the sunset.

 Equipment Setup


- Use a boom pole that extends to 16-18 feet as your primary pole, and my
preference is an internal coiled cable with a choice of connectors at the
bottom. Five section poles get small enough to handle most tight situations
without having to find a short pole. The coiled cable rolls around inside the
pole, instead of slapping against the walls like a straight cable does. You also
keep your hands much cleaner, as you are not constantly coiling a cable that
is feeding into the ground (or getting bound up at the base of the pole).
Making length changes is also snap, versus paying out extra loops of cable
from your belt. And although the European and New York system of winding
a straight cable on the outside of the pole has the advantage of eliminating
cable slap during fast cues, it is not worth the trouble. You can’t instantly
lengthen the pole. The cable doesn’t like being wound like that, it will start
getting a little kinked up. And your hands will get dirty. You need clean hands
to make adjustments to the wireless mics on talent.

- I know that the new trend is to mount the plug on transmitter (POT) on the
mic end of the pole has the advantage of eliminating the cable entirely has it’s
advantages. But as a serious boom op who wants to move that mic quickly,
it’s adding the weight on the wrong end of the pole. The more weight you
add to that end, the slower you will move, it’s just physics, even if it’s a slight
reduction in speed. It also goes counter to my belief that you should balance
the load on both sides of the body as closely as possible. I am however willing
to test this arrangement out by adding a K-Tek Hodge counterweight. I would
much rather add weight and have better balance, then have less weight but
total imbalance. Safer for the body and faster mic movement.

- There are a number of boom pole manufacturers out there in the world, and
in general, they are all very good. I have used K-tek poles since 2000 because
they have always worked well for me in very adverse conditions. I discovered
that on the “Elian Gonzalez” story I worked in a storm tank with water up to
my chest, and my VDB pole just seized right up. The mixer handed me a K-
Tek, and it worked beautifully, with zero negative effect. And the knuckles
were easier and quicker to use. I’ve slogged through many downpours and
muddy situations in Hawaii on two different shows, and worked in 4 feet of
water with no issues at all with my poles. The reliability has been stellar, and
so I haven’t gone pole shopping – I just don’t feel the need. My other reason
for choosing K-Tek, is the sheer variety of poles that they have for just about
any situation. On “Lost” in Hawaii, I found that I needed a pole longer than 18
feet, and K-Tek not only had one long enough, but they also had two versions,
a 5 section pole, and large-diameter 4 section “studio” pole. I chose this pole,
because I needed to minimize pole flexing at full extension with a heavy
 microphone in a zeppelin outdoors with a sock and fur wind protection, and
a hogs hair rain hat on top of all of that. K-Tek also has the hodge
counterweight that you can use with heavier mics, that makes holding and
swinging the pole easier. I use the counterweight on my long pole, and my
rain pole. I’m going to start using it on the coiled cable pole too, since all the
base parts are modular and they can be stacked. For a geek like me who likes
lots of accessories and size variety, K-Tek is perfect.

- Make sure that the cable is the proper length to the microphone, and tied off
well so it is not rattling against the pole or the mic mount. You do not want
the cable pulling or tight from the exit hole to the mic. Sometimes you will
have to adjust this depending on the mic or whether it needs to be threaded
through a blimp entrance, where you will need more cable.

- Use a proper boom stand. I won’t go to any job without it, that’s how
essential this is to me. Leaning your pole on against the wall is not safe,
anyone can pass by and accidentally bump it. Not having a boom stand gives
you away as a rookie too. It is inevitable that as a boom op, you will choose to
purchase or make a boom stand.

- You have many options, but here is why mine is the way it is. It’s small, but
relatively heavy. That means I can jam it in very tight spots and it is stable
enough to hold my set up safely. By using stabilizing kick outs, I can drop a
shot bag on the base facing the wind, and have stability. By having a disk on
the bottom, I can use the stand on the beach, and bury the bottom in sand,
and it is virtually locked into the ground, yet easy to pull up and out and
move, and re-bury. The relatively low height means I can use this in places
with low ceilings, and be able to pull the boom in and out without hitting the
mic. The hooks on the side allow me to hang cables, a microphone rain cover,
a tape roll, anything really. The small box comes in handy for holding the
transmitter, or any little things that you may need to set aside. Sometimes
someone hands me a com-tek and headphones while I’m on set. No problem,
I hang the headphones on my hooks, and put the com-tek in the box. If you
would like one made like mine, contact Kraig Kishi in Los Angeles at 310-
245-4238. It is not cheap, but it is a great investment, as it is absolutely
bullet-proof, water-proof, and essentially lasts forever with no rust since it’s
billet aluminum. The other plus is that the bottom disc is relatively small
with a thick edge, so you’re not banging yours or other people’s shin bones
when you’re walking with the stand.

- On my stand, I have a small camera bag attached to it. This bag is where I
carry a spare microphone. Usually, if I’m using a 50 and a CMIT on a show, I
keep the other mic in a mount, ready to go on my pole in case I need to
switch mics in between takes. This saves having my third dig up a mic and
run on set and bring it to me. Which brings me to…

 - Invest in a quick release system for the microphones. It really does save a lot
of time screwing and unscrewing microphones from boom poles. Ambient
makes a good one, but sometimes it sticks and gets hard to use. Sound Guy
Solutions has one as well which I want to investigate that uses a quick release
similar to bicycle seatpost lever.

- If you’re shooting in rain, use a pole that has a straight cable going all the way
from the transmitter to the back of the mic, so that you have no connectors
exposed to water. One connector goes straight into the mic in the blimp, and
the other connects to your POT under your rain gear, and I usually use a
plastic bag in an upside down nautilus configuration, so it stays protected
from water. I then put this inside a waterproof jacket pocket when I’m
working, or it rests in my stand at the ready. If it is actually a rainy day, keep
your boom stand and your boompole with mic under a tent or cover so that
it’s not getting rained on unnecessarily. I sometimes use a large zip-loc bag or
plastic garbage bag to cover the mic if I’m too far from a pop up tent or cover.
There may be a new rain cover solution for setups with a POT near the mic,
but I’m leery of connectors in the rain.

- If you are using a right angle on the cable on your boom (you should be), then
use a thin or cloth jumper when connecting to a blimp. Newer blimps have a
special jumper built in. If you put a right angle cable into a blimp, the cable
may be forced to touch the inside of the blimp if the cable exit isn’t right
below the right angle, giving you handling noise. In this case, a straight cloth
or soft cable coming out of the back of the mic will work better. And if there
is no actual handle on the blimp, then use something like an interlock on your
pole to connect the jumper to the boom cable, and bongo tie your excess
boom cable so it doesn’t rattle against your pole. Here’s an example of one:
http://ambient.de/en/product/boom-cable-interlock/

- Cut a piece of foot foam in a “T” shape with each part about ¾” long, and
wrap it around the right angle connector plugged into the mic. This protects
the mic and your ears from accidental overhead strikes when booming in
very low headroom situations. The mixer and your ears will appreciate it.
Sometimes I will even boom in a very tight headroom situation by pressing
the back of the mic against the ceiling, and this is only possible by using foam
there.

- If you are using a coiled cable to connect the base of your pole to a POT or
power supply connected to a transmitter, use a 14 foot PSC coiled cable, or
have a custom one made. I’m really leaning away from using coiled cables
due to their fragility and tendency to get caught on things when you’re
booming, I’m completely ready to move on to the transmitter being mounted
to the pole.

 - If you are using a coiled cable, have a straight cable made that can work as a
back up in case of failure. Coiled cables have notoriously short life spans. I
borderline hate them, but if you have to use a transmitter/powersupply
combo, you’re stuck using them.

- Have a 75ft or 100ft single line xlr standing by on the mixer or follow cart in
case of wireless problems. Usually, you will have virtually no time to fix, so
being ready with the backup will save everyone time.

- Mic suspension is vitally IMPORTANT to what we do – make sure there’s
enough bounce in the mic, but not too much where it easily hits the side of
the cage when using a mini wind jammer or heavy mic. Be ready to add a
band or change to a stiffer band if switching to heavier wind protection.

- When using a Schoeps with a gvc, use a PSC mcdonald mount. Other mounts
provide mic suspension in a vertical orientation, but not horizontal, so it’s
easy to have a lot of handling noise with a Schoeps gvc setup oriented
horizontally, parallel to the pole. I add foot foam to the base of the McDonald
mount that attaches to the pole, so that I can bump into low ceilings, or press
against them. I also undersling the mic, which means instead of running the
mic body over the pole, I run it under the pole, so that I can press the base of
the mic mount against a ceiling if necessary, and still cue side to side using
the foot foamed base as a fulcrum against the ceiling. Wherever I feel
something might touch something, I add foot foam. I’ll even add a little foot
foam to the inside of the McDonald mount rings, in case things get a little
crazy and the mic accidentally touches the ring due to a heavier windscreen.
Be careful with the cable route to make sure it doesn’t contact the pole when
the mic is bouncing around. You may need to add a bongo tie near the
entrance hole to make sure it doesn’t rattle against the pole. Do not pull the
cable tight to the inlet hole, or you will have handling noise and defeat your
suspension. Here is the latest version of the McDonald mount, which has
many improvements over the original that makes the double in price totally
worth it: http://www.professionalsound.com/specs/m5shock.htm This is
also a great mount for the regular size CMIT (the mini-CMIT won’t work in
this mount).

- When you use a mic in a zeppelin, make sure that the handle is correctly
placed. There are many positions for the handle, but the correct position is
NEARLY center, just a tiny bit closer to the rear of the blimp. If the handle is
almost to the rear, pull it apart and move it. It will make the mic harder to
rotate, and put too much centrifugal force on the mic, possibly causing it to
hit the sides of the zeppelin.

- Make sure that the suspension is also soft inside the blimp. Many blimps
come with overly stiff mic mounts inside with not very soft suspension. You
can often find the softer mounts from the manufacturer, and order those
 clips or bands. Otherwise, you will notice too much handling noise. It’s a very
common problem.

- Make sure the cable on the inside is not touching the mount or the inside
walls of the blimp. Also be sure that the front of the mic is not too close to the
front of the blimp, or you will be hitting it when you move. Conversely, make
sure it’s not too far back in the blimp, or you’ll be giving up precious inches of
headroom for nothing. About an inch (2.5-3cm) from the front of the blimp is
safe. It depends one how far the mic extends beyond front suspension. This is
another area that sometimes needs attention. Some mics are improperly set
up within the blimp, and they will rattle around and bump the inside due to
incorrect spacing between the suspension mounts for the size of the mic. Do
not worry if you can’t get a foam windscreen to fit inside the blimp – setting
the suspension up properly is more important.

- The more you pay attention to the little noisemakers in your setup and
eliminate them, the faster and more violently you can cue the mic and get
away with it, and the more cavalier you can be with your handling. You will
also notice how different mics have different sensitivities to noise. Make an
adjustment to your technique or your setup if you put a mic up and you
notice more handling noise.

- Make sure you have enough wind protection on your mic, indoors and out –
but not too much. Too much affects high end frequencies, and dulls down the
sharpness a bit.

- On the Sennheiser 50, I cut a small piece of black paper tape, fold over a tab
for easy removal, and cover the switch holes on the side of the mic. I noticed
that those holes are susceptible to wind noise, so a little cover helps there.

- For the mics that you use the most, check out the various windscreens that
are available for them. Good windscreens give the best sound and allow you
to cue rapidly. I carry a few 50 windscreens that I like because they are
shaped like a point. It gives me a little sharper visual reference of a line or
arrow towards my target, like a shotgun mic would. It also differentiates my
mic from the 2nd boom mic, which has a standard round windscreen, so
camera operators can tell who is who. If you work with someone and you
discover a particular windscreen you like, buy it. It’s worth having it
whenever you work with that mic, it’s like a tool. Anthony Ortiz bought his
own Cinela blimps because they worked so well, I’m tempted to do the same.
Even if you don’t get a rental, you will still show up and do the best job you
can using every possible edge. If you are interested in a pointy mkh 50
windscreen, you can both the standard dark gray and the velour covered
version here (I have both):
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=sennheiser%20mzw%2064
%20windscreen&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

- I recommend custom in ear monitors, like the etymotics er-4p:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004CXBJ6A/ref=sr_ob_3?ie=UTF8&qid=150
2303852&sr=8-3 Or the Ultimate Ears UE 4 Pro:
http://pro.ultimateears.com/products/custom-monitors/for-studio/ue-4-
pro which I may try next, due to the lower profile outside the ear. Not only do
they sound great and perfect for the voice, but they are also much more
comfortable than conventional over the ear headphones. I forget that I have
them in sometimes. Besides not having sweaty ears, it’s easier to wrap cables
and handle physical situations without balancing your headphones on your
head or having them sitting around your neck. It allows you to always have
an ear paying attention to the set or the mixer, but when you do need to
actually boom, you have the resolution you need to do a good job, versus
using a basic single-ear piece. This is crucial especially for the utility person.
Another distinct advantage I’ve found is that I can wear ear protection for
shooting scenes over my in-ear monitor. This way I can set my level lower on
my headphone, and be able to hear the dialogue I’m booming and not get
hearing damage from the gunfire. Normal Sony MDR-V6 or Sennheiser HD 25
headphones do not provide full protection from gunfire, especially when you
are close to it.

- Run the cable under your shirt, down your back, so it doesn’t get caught on
anything. The etymotic setup has a nice little clip that’s perfect for the top of
the t-shirt in the back.

- Get a backup pair of headphones, unless you really don’t mind using the
mixer’s spare headphones. If you headphones go down, it’s really nice to not
go back to the stone ages with big clunky headphones.

- Make sure the gain at the transmitter to your IFB is set properly. If it sounds
like it’s too hot, or too low, or distorting, work with the mixer to get it right so
that your working level is right around the middle of the volume knob’s
range of adjustment. Then you can make adjustments from there, and also
know that when you start rolling, you can look down, and visually check your
level to know it’s correct. Sometimes you have it set too low, because you’re
monitoring the set and it’s loud with a lot of work going on, and forget to
reset the level at the start of a take, which of course will make it too low, and
will throw you off a bit. So have a working level set at your end, and the
mixer’s end, that works the best ninety-five percent of the time. You want to
also try to eliminate hiss as much as possible. What I love about using IFB
systems is that there is a limiter there in case the actors get too loud
unexpectedly. When I was on a hard wire, if an actor cursed for messing up,
or shouted out to the director a question while in the middle of a very quiet
scene, my ears would get destroyed, and I almost had to walk away for a
minute just to wait for my ears to recover. Now, the wireless limiter catches
these stray modulations, and allows me to keep working. And I still have all
 the resolution I need to do the job. In order to get the best signal, I had my
own batwing antenna attached to the transmitter that I mounted on the
mixer’s cart to get more directional (longer range) signal out to me on set, or
running an antenna cable if it’s up a floor.

- If you know you will be working far away or in a set that doesn’t easily
receive signal, make sure you have a plan in place to “remote” the transmitter.
If necessary for a shot or scene, be ready to go on Com-tek or whatever the
mixer uses for general monitoring for the director/script.

- If you have to use an xlr cable, of course you wrap it under-over like a good
little sound person, but make sure you’re wrapping it in the style that your
hand doesn’t leave the cable, otherwise it takes you twice as long. If you don’t
know how to do this, practice until it becomes second nature. It only takes a
few days to get really good at it, and it will save you time on set.

- When you grab a cable off of the cart in a hurry, take a moment to make sure
that it hasn’t become tangled, so that you don’t end up with a giant mess that
doesn’t reach half the distance it’s supposed to. Usually you will
inadvertently pull the connector through a loop by accident, and ruin the
next 5-10 minutes of your life, depending on how long the cable is or how
aggressively you laid it out.

- At times, you may need to slide your hands along the pole during a shot, if
your hands stick to the pole, use one or two black soft cotton gloves to
facilitate this. I would only use one glove on the leading hand, I feel that using
a glove on the back hand keeps me from making sharp moves if necessary.

- A mini pole is very handy in tight sets where you can’t get your full length
pole in position, but you need to cue, so you can’t plant something either. Due
to the fact that my K-Tek collapses down so much, I hardly ever need a short
pole, but when I do, I really appreciate having it. Most sound mixers have one
because they use it for over the shoulder work.

- For planting standard microphones, I use a mount that I adapted from
monitor mounts that I saw camera assistants using on their cameras for their
monitors. It’s from Filmtools in Burbank California, and it’s made by
Ultralight systems. You order each part until you have an articulating arm.
Here are the parts you will need to order: Mini Cardellini Microphone mount
clamp with 3/8” Thread (in black, if available), one 3/8” male Ultralight ball
adaptor and one 3/8” female ball adaptor, three Ultralight clamps, and two 5-
inch Ultralight double ball arms. I also recommend ordering an extra set of
ball o-rings, so you won’t need to place an order in the future for a $.50 part.
In addition, you can order the next size up arms, the 8-inch arms, if you want
extra reach, but not longer, or it gets hard to manage. This set up is far
superior to Manfrotto magic arms, which use a center knob to lock the ends
 in place, plus it is way lighter. There is much better articulation with this
system. I simply find the nearest available spot to clamp, then I place the mic
where I want it in space, and lock the joints starting with the one nearest to
the clamp. Filmtools will soon have a link with the whole kit put together,
until then, here is the link to the Filmtools page to put it together yourself:
https://www.filmtools.com/ulcosy.html

- Sometimes I if have no place to clamp, I’ll simply fold the mount into an
improvised triangle, and turn it into a makeshift mic stand. In short, this tool
lets you plant microphones quickly and accurately, and easily make changes.
It’s one of my favorite tools I’ve come up with for set work.

- Keep a roll of 3M Transpore surgical tape on hanging on your belt in a nylon
loop – it comes in handy all the time, not just for applying mics to actors. I use
it for planting mics in cars too. It sticks very well to nearly everything, and
tears off so easily.

- I also use a small pouch I keep on my belt (also from Filmtools, made by
“Ripoffs”) that holds extra Rycote Stickies, Superstick dots, moleskin, and a 4
pack of AA batteries. It’s very small, doesn’t get caught on anything, and
makes me ready for any on-set situation without waiting for my third to
bring stuff to me.

- Like many other departments on set, I carry a mini tool on my belt so I can
make mic mount adjustments, or tweak switches on the 50. My tool of choice
is the Leatherman Juice CS4. It has just the right tools to tweak and adjust a
lot of things we use on set, plus you can cut a branch or open a bottle of wine.
https://www.amazon.com/Leatherman-Juice-Multi-Tool-Columbia-
Blue/dp/B00JBOBCYE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502305986&sr=8-
1&keywords=leatherman+cs4

- Wear decent cushion shoes with good insoles. I made a huge mistake during
the TV show House MD of jumping on a new trend of minimal sole shoes.
After several years of standing and walking on hard surfaces, I developed
plantar fasciitis, and it is stubborn to get rid of at this point. Don’t make the
same mistake, wear the cushiest shoes you can. I’m now using Hoka One One
Arahi shoes, which are extremely cushy and springy, and as a bonus, give you
a little extra height. I also use Vionic Relief insoles:
https://www.amazon.com/Orthaheel-Orthotics-Relief-length-
insoles/dp/B003JVZJ6C/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1502306438&sr=8-
3&keywords=vionic+inserts I’ve tried 5 different insoles, including custom
ones, and I always end up coming back to this insole. It only lasts about 6
weeks tops on a full time job before it loses it’s cushion, but it is totally worth
it. I find it on Amazon for about $35. This set up is literally the difference
between me developing a nasty limp or making it through the day in relative
comfort.

- When you’re working interiors, it’s best to wear a dark shirt. You won’t affect
the lighting, and you can manage reflections easier. Keep a long sleeve t-shirt
in your bag in case you need to cover your arms. Black gloves too, in case
your hands are obvious in a reflection. Outside, I wear lighter neutral colors,
as black shirts will overheat me in the sun. I save that for occasional
reflection issues. Do NOT wear bright or fluorescent colors. It can bounce
light on to the actors and cause you to look like an idiot. Keep your clothing
choices neutral colors like gray, black, or earth tones. I recently discovered
Coolibar long sleeve T-shirts for working in the sun, they have a bamboo
blend and totally protect you from the sun without overheating you:
http://www.coolibar.com/product/Men/Shirts-Tees/Long-Sleeve-T-
Shirt/pc/2146/sc/2201/155339.uts They have womens as well. They were
great in Hawaii in the direct sunlight and humidity, especially when paired
with a lightweight sunhat.

- Having a chair to sit in is an essential piece of off-set equipment (my boom
stand is my on set chair). My recent acquisition is the Walkstool Comfort, also
available on Amazon. It’s a simple tripod chair that comes in different sizes,
and folds up extremely compact, so you can throw it in your bag and bring it
on any job, large or small. Don’t forget to label it with your name, phone
number, and Sound Department. I forgot my mine on a location once, and it
made it back to me thanks to being labeled. Choose your size:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N29XW6/ref=twister_B00977SYS2?_en
coding=UTF8&psc=1

- A set of highlighters, I use the Sharpie 10-count highlighters from Office
Depot or Amazon. I prefer to highlight the lines of dialogue so I have an
instant visual reference of who has the most and who has the least number of
lines, without having to take the extra step of reading the name above each
line. I didn’t used to do this, until I showed up to a new set to shoot a 12
person jury deliberation scene that was 7 pages long and only one actor was
our regular. The rest were guests, and they had been rehearsing the entire
day before, so they knew all of their cues. I had no fast way to tie the names
to the faces so quickly, and then read each name on the script (we had 3
booms), so by highlighting them, I was able to use a quick visual reference. I
pick an external characteristic or stereotype, and use the nearest color
match I can think of. Pink for young woman, yellow for blond person, light
blue for main male character, regular blue for authority male or older male,
purple for black male, green for child, red for troublemaker, orange/pink for
matriarch figure, orange for other male, or redhead. That’s how I do it usually,
as starting basis. So going through the script that day, I assign the colors
based on character appearance or if it’s a TV series, I’ve assigned all of the
regulars the first week, and guests float in on other colors. I do this every
morning, and it gets me tuned in to the days work.
 http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/823213/Sharpie-Liquid-Accent-
Pen-Style-Highlighters/

- Keep a roll of very thin paper tape in white, yellow, and pink. On black
windscreens, I put a small ring of tape near the tip of the mic, this is very
helpful for operators and the sound mixer to see your mic in the image area.
These days sets are getting less and less light, and so it’s getting harder to see
black windscreens against dark backgrounds. Using different colors allows
you to distinguish between the boom operator and the 2nd boom.
http://www.filmtools.com/14papertape.html

- I finally found the best tool for cleaning female xlr connectors. In Valley
Village, there is a cosmetic supply store for professionals in the industry, and
they sell mini swabs. They’re like Q-tips for your ears, but much smaller, with
a stiff plastic rod. They are a perfect fit for the female XLR connectors, I just
drench them with De-Oxit, and swish them around. Get the round head, not
the arrow point.



























 Basic Technique


- My number one advice to newer boom ops is to ignore all the images you see
of boom operators working with their arms over their heads. This is a high
fatigue position that puts a lot of pressure on the rotator cuff, and opposing
forces on the spine (weight going down one arm, and being pulled up the
other arm). Please, instead practice keeping the pole at about shoulder level,
and using the elbow of the leading arm to brace against your body, and the
rear arm hanging down off the pole. You have the advantage of using the
weight of your arm as a counter weight, and thus reducing the upward force
on that side of the body. This saves your arms, and you can do very long takes
this way, because instead of using your muscles, you are using your bones to
take the bulk of the weight, and the weight of your arm to keep the pole up.

- By keeping the pole low and your arms bent versus extended, you have the
ability to make larger movements back and forth, before engaging your legs.
Your range of motion is much bigger overall.

- If you are average height or shorter, stand on an apple box or use a 6-step
ladder, or stand farther behind camera in order to reach over the lens. Do
whatever it takes, because long takes are here to stay, and if you want to last,
you need to get this part right.

- Sometimes, if I know I won’t be moving around very much, and I have the
room, I’ll over-extend the pole by about ½ to 1 section, and let that section
act a counterweight. It has the effect of making the pole feel lighter.

- The other advantage in bracing the pole against your body is steadiness.
Using your skeleton as the base takes muscles out of the equation. As your
muscles fatigue, you lose steadiness. Strength training can really help to
counter this, but technique does as well. You must learn and practice
steadiness. Not only is it smoother sounding, you also gain the trust of the
camera operators. They will allow you to get very close to the frame without
worrying, because you can do that without bouncing up and down. Pay
attention to your mic’s position, and see if you’re steady. Make steadiness a
high priority in your skill set. Lawrence Commons likes to practice with a
bottle, doing mic touches to the top of a bottle, and circling the mic around
the bottle without knocking it over. In Thailand in ’95 I worked with an old-
timer from England who boomed with no head phones, and at full extension
with an 816 in a blimp. He could gently touch someone’s ear or neck who was
looking the other way, and since mosquitoes were everywhere, their
automatic reaction was to smack themselves. But I was very impressed with
his incredible steadiness. Cultivate this robotic level of steadiness, especially
 when the actors aren’t moving. When they settle in position, you should be
barely moving 1-3 centimeters up or down. I cringe when I see my third
booming a stationary actor, and the mic is bouncing up and down 12-18
inches for no reason that I can tell. It’s usually due to their arms being
overhead unecessarily. Find that line, and if you’re relatively new, back off a
couple of inches, and practice keeping a steady hand. It also makes you look
like a pro, which is why you’re here learning this.

- Switch directions frequently, as necessary. Do not get attached to booming in
one direction. Far too many boom ops work in only one direction, and I see
them struggling when they could be having an easy time of it. By getting
comfortable booming in either direction, you will be able to get around
obstacles easier, be able to look at the camera, and walk forward instead of
backwards when booming next to a dolly that’s moving down a track. It can
also allow you to get through multiple takes where they’re not cutting the
camera. Between keeping the mic in the shoulder position, and switching
sides after several takes without cutting, I can manage very long takes
without fatigue, because I’m evenly distributing the work across both side of
my body. If I have a fairly elaborate set of cues, I probably won’t switch sides,
because I develop too much muscle memory in of the course of several takes,
and you have to rebuild it by switching. But it’s interesting to do, and if you
continue to challenge yourself by switching directions whenever it makes
sense, you will sometimes forget which direction is your dominant direction,
because you are always pointed in the direction that make the most sense for
the shot. When I do very long takes (10 plus minutes), I switch sides to cut
down on my hand going numb. I think bicycle or weight training gloves with
gel inserts in the palm might be a useful way to mitigate this effect, I will look
into it on my next project.

- This is going to sound obvious, but always start with the first section, and
then extend the rest of the sections in sequence. I’ve seen way too many
thirds and boom ops actually start extending the second section, which puts
more weight away from you, and of course, slows your cuing speed. And it’s
not good for your back or shoulders to put more weight out away from you,
so you need to minimize that weight going out. Plus you are hiding one
section of your pole, so you’re losing that length. Rookie move.

- Give a quick check behind you before extending, especially in a tight space.
Even though people should never walk behind you, especially when they are
about to roll camera, sometimes you get people who aren’t paying attention
walking behind you, so just have look so you don’t poke someone or get
tangled with something.

- Extending the pole the right length takes experience and it will eventually
come naturally. Make adjustments frequently to compensate for actor
movements, and your space limitations. If you extend the wrong length, on a
 tight set you will know it – you won’t be able to catch some of the dialogue.
Also, when you are relatively new, and you nail the length of the pole for a
scene, make a mental note of where on your closest section you extended,
and that way you’re not guessing each take. I still do this when I’m in a set
that punishes you for being off in length 3 inches if the actor leans forward.

- Turn your entire head towards the scene, don’t look with a sideways glance.
Get both eyes directly involved, that’s how you maintain your depth
perception and accuracy. I figured this out when I was a rookie, and a mixer
would tell me that it sounded off, and but it appeared that I was right on top
of them, so I thought there was no way to improve it. But I discovered that if I
really crane my head towards the actors, I can very easily nail the distance.
Once your distance is set, you can relax your head a bit, and rely more on
your ears.

- Become familiar with the pick up pattern and reach of your microphone. The
place to really learn and feel this is in quiet locations. During rehearsals, see
what happens to the voice at different distances. See how the mic behaves
when you split between two actors talking. Listen to the sharpness of the
sound when you don’t perfectly aim at their mouths, so you can see how
large the mic sweet spot really is. During lighting, when you are looking for
your position, the stand-ins are usually talking to each other. They don’t
mind if you have the mic overhead because you need to check for shadows.
Pretend to boom them, and listen to the mic. Aim for mouths, foreheads, and
chests, and listen to the differences. Switch mics after a few takes, and try the
scene again. Notice how the size of the sweet spot changes depending on the
acoustics of the room. A very quiet room that has no echo will have the
largest sweet spot, and a very ambient live room will be completely
unforgiving and the sweet spot will be really tiny and close proximity will be
especially important. This kind of “A/B” experimenting will really give you a
feel for how the mic behaves. You can look at pictures of pick up patterns and
lobe patterns and circuit diagrams all day long, but you won’t learn the best
way to use a mic until you actually USE the mic in all of the different
conditions and situations you encounter out there, and you get an
understanding for the strengths and weaknesses.

- The reach and pick up pattern of the mic affects how background noise
comes through. Microphones have gotten quite good at sounding natural in
this regard, but they all behave different as well. When you arrive on a set
with a steady background noise, like traffic, rivers, ocean, equipment hum,
fan noise or anything that can’t be changed or turned off, take your mic and
orient it in your working position, and fish around for a position or an
orientation that rejects the most noise consistently. Some mics have a wider
pick up pattern and less reach, and don’t necessarily need to be in a precise
orientation for maximum noise rejection, because they don’t pick it up very
well. What you get is a very even background sound despite your mic
 movements, and if the headroom is good, the results can be quite natural. In
this regard, I really enjoy using the 50 over the 416. I can do all kinds of
moves and tricks with the 50, and really blend dialogue together smoothly,
and the background noise stays consistent. With the 416, I am locked into an
orientation that I can’t waver from, or the background completely changes in
a very noticeable way. The CMIT is very good at this as well, but with even
more reach and gain than the 50, yet I can still boom very naturally. I have
still have to pay attention to where the background noise is coming from and
adjust for it, but the shift in the background noise is not jarring like the 416,
it’s more like a subtle blooming.

- As you can see, I have an opinion about microphones and which ones I like.
My favorite mics allow me to really play around with mic orientation and
position, and get results that sound very natural to my ears. I can wax poetic
about the CMIT and the 50. I love working with this pair of mics - show me
these mics, and I will make good sound for you. I sometimes ask younger
boom ops what their favorite mic is. When I hear, “Whatever the mixer wants
me to use”, to me that means they don’t really understand or notice all of the
differences in the mics or what they are capable of – yet. I want to change
that. Try the different mics in various situations, and pay attention to what
happens. Always go for the best sounding mic for the situation, do not be
married to one solution. If you hear anything strange, like weird background
shifts, echoes, or reflections, weakness in the voice – anything that sounds
amiss, try changing the mic orientation a little, or switch mics. I find myself
using the CMIT for longer reach situations, and outdoors. On stage, or
interiors, I like to start out with the 50, especially if I have live interior
location. A 50 really can shine in live acoustic places. And both mics match
well to each other, so you can have two booms with the two different mics
and it will totally work. I do not care that they are from different
manufacturers – they play well together.

- Let’s talk about a very hot topic on the internet – mic angle. There is no best
mic angle. I do have preferences, and they are partly logical, and partly feel. I
oftentimes for no reason other than a feeling, will bump my mic out 10-15
degrees. That’s NOTHING. But it feels like something to me. So here’s my
game plan. First of all, my favorite mics are not as sensitive to background
shifts based on angle, so I can play around with angle to suit my needs more.
I keep the mic slightly angled out to start with, and as I begin the scene, I
make changes to keep my actors on-axis better. I may go more vertical in
order to cover head turns better or catch an actor who is turned away from
me completely. I may angle 45 degrees out if I have a 2nd boom and I want to
minimize phasing, or I’m coming from below, or I’m doing a walk and talk
and need to minimize foot steps and give myself a little bit of wiggle room by
staying in front of them a little farther. The point is you must use your ears to
decide how to best angle the mic, not the internet. Got it? Good.

 - Sometimes due to shadows or unusual framing, you will find yourself
booming from below the frame instead of above. This is something that
needs to be undertaken with caution. First of all, alert the actors that you will
be coming from below. You are now working in their zone of action, and you
need to be careful not to be distracting, or even get in the way of their
movements or props. It will get tricky. I usually put the mic in a 45 degree
orientation, and stay out in front of the actor. This accomplishes two things:
first, I’m not in their immediate space, I’m not crowding them. Second, it is a
better match to an overhead mic. If you jam a mic close to an actor’s body
pointed up at their mouths, you get a very similar sound to a radio mic. It’s
dry, and it does not have that natural air that an overhead mic has. By
positioning the mic in front of the actor about 18-24 inches, with a 45 degree
angle, you can actually match an overhead mic on another pole working
during the shot.

- The other reason you always want to have good headphones on when you
boom, and not just rely on your vision and a single ear-piece, is that you need
to be able to react to fast changes in level. It should become like a reflex, the
instant someone gets loud or soft, you should be making an adjustment in
distance. This happens fairly naturally with good headphones. Some mixers
run very hot set ups, and distance during yelling parts is crucial. Others run
very conservative low levels on the transmitters, and they can give you
feedback on how much you should back off. Always ask at the start of a show
how the mixer wants you to handle loud portions.

- Backing off from a yelling moment is an art in itself. If you back off too much,
especially on a tight or medium tight shot, you can introduce too much room
acoustics when you’re in a pretty live space with lots of hard surfaces. If
you’re shooting in a corner of a baffled soundstage and it’s exposed and open,
you can back off all you want. Your ears will control your movement. If you
find that your space is limited, and you can’t put enough distance between
the mic and the actor, go off-axis a little bit as well. Not OVERLY, but about
45-90 degrees, depending on the distance and the microphone. Wide pick up
pattern mics like the 50 work best for this technique, mics like the 416, not
so much. Communicate with the mixer your particular limitations, and they
can work with you in riding gain. Mac Ruth mentioned that this is a very
important skill, he calls it mixing with the boom. By changing your proximity
with the level, you can keep the mix very smooth and even, instead of forcing
the mixer to turn the gain up and down and change the whole background. So
you will need to find through experience and careful listening how much to
back off during louder sections, so that you can find that perfect balance of
keeping excessive levels in check without introducing too much room
ambience. To do this, you must listen to whatever the mixer asks you to do
first and foremost, and follow his directive. Most mixers want you riding gain,
but a small handful do not, they want full control of the level at the board, but
they will tell you that.

- When booming in a tight space, your pole length is limited. To set your pole
length for the scene, move the back of the pole up against the wall, with the
back of your hand, then run your mic out to the closest distance the actor will
be to you. That is your maximum length, and now you have to use your arms
and legs to reach the actors in the other parts of the scene. If you can’t reach
one or more of the actors, see if you can set a second boom for those parts. If
you can’t do that, then wire them. You should be able to tell when you see the
blocking and where they are going to put the camera, what your strategy will
be.

- Check your wireless transmitter for low frequency roll off. Set it at least 70hz,
I prefer 100hz of course. Every little edge helps to cut handling noise. Some
mixers will ask you to check the transmitter if you’re making noise, and ask
to raise it to 100hz. That’s someone on your side.

- Try to stand next to camera or near it. Not only does this allow you to hold
the pole comfortably by bracing it against your body instead of overhead, it
lets you see the monitor and check it every now and then. It also puts you in a
good position to pivot with the shot if it’s a panning shot.

- If you do have to hold the boom straight overhead, pull your shoulder blades
back and try to keep a straight back. You will have more strength and it is
healthier on the shoulders. You will also get a better view of the set, as your
arms move back and out of the way. My friend Adam Sanchez in New York
says imagine you’re squeezing a quarter between your shoulder blades. You
are transmitting the forces into your skeletal structure and not so much on
the connective tissue, which is how pain begins to manifest.

- Do your very best to stay out of actor eye-lines. Sometimes that is just not
possible, and you are stuck standing right behind the person they are
speaking to. In those cases, don’t look directly into the actor’s eyes – look at
their forehead. I’ll let my eyes wander off a little if the shot is fairly static and
doesn’t involve heavy cueing. Since actors usually become very comfortable
with me, I almost never get called out for being in their eyeline.

- When booming close-ups, try to minimize the length of the pole. Extend 1-2
sections out. Get as close as you can without being intrusive to the process.
This is pure physics and inertia – you can make fast micro adjustments in mic
position much easier on a shorter pole, and you can hold the mic steadier. If
you’re overly extended for a closeup, being very steady and responsive is
much harder. There is a lag time in movement due to pole flex, and any
unsteady movement in your hands gets magnified out the farther the mic is
away from you. When I’m forced to boom a close up from full extension
(doesn’t happen often), it’s enormously taxing to maintain steadiness and
responsiveness, and it is impossible to be as good as you would be on a
 shorter pole. You have to give yourself at least a couple of inches of wiggle
room, because you will need it. With a short pole, you can sit right on the
frame line if necessary because you’re steady.

- It is rarely necessary to boom right on the frameline. It is only during very
soft-spoken scenes, or softer scenes with background noise, that I actually do
this. Most of the time, depending on the shot, being 2-6 inches from the frame
line will get you a natural sound that matches the picture. Over time, as you
get comfortable with the microphones you are using, you will have a feel for
this. Use your ears. If you notice the sound getting fatter and sweeter as you
get closer to the frameline, then do it!! It’s part of the fun of this job, getting
that fat sweet sound. Your growing steadiness and confidence with the boom
will allow this happen. But do not needlessly ride the frame, as you will risk
more frequent frame incursions and lose the trust of the operators.
Operators have enough on their plate without worrying about what you’re
going to do.

- Another thing I like to do during very soft, quiet dialogue, is to pull the
windscreen completely off of the mic. Not only does this enhance the
sharpness, it can get your mic about 2-3 centimeters closer to the frame line.
But you must be very careful here, as an actor can have a hard exhale and
blow right on your mic and make noise, so if this is a danger, position your
mic closer to the forehead. If it happens twice, put the windscreen back on.
It’s not worth it. Also, warn the sound mixer that you’re going to that, or the
noise you’ll make will be startling.

- When booming a walk-and-talk backwards with a steadicam or handheld
camera, take higher steps so that you don’t trip on anything that may end up
in your path. Don’t shuffle. Also, when you have to make a turn or round a
bend, keep a note of an indicator in your peripheral vision that indicates it’s
time to start shifting position. Walk the shot without camera several times
and make visual peripheral notes. Do not try to be a hero – if booming a
walk-and-talk seems too difficult or dangerous or noisy, do not bother,
especially if the wires sound good. If they are not perfect, work on them.
Sometimes you walking along just adds to the noise floor, or creates a hazard
for the camera department because of the speed of their movements. Just get
the slate, and set yourself up for the landing at the end of the walk and talk. If
there’s stationary dialogue or effects at the top of the shot. Have a 2nd boom
for the first part or the last part. Do the harder part yourself.

- When you are cueing between two or more people, try to position yourself
“between” them (from a distance), so that you are swinging the boom pole
from person to person, instead being off to the side, where you have to pull
the pole forward and back to cue. It is much harder to finesse fast cues this
way.


- For quick head-turns, there are two things you can do. First, try to remember
where it happens in the dialogue. It is usually motivated by dialogue or action,
and happens in a regular place in their dialogue. Then you can do a quick
move to cover it by being physically ready. It’s fun when you can perfectly
nail head turns. If it seems that a quick head turn is happening randomly,
then try angling out a little bit (no more than 45 degrees) toward the actor.
This will minimize the off-axis effect of the head turn if you can’t quite keep
up, and it will sound fairly natural, just not as sharp as an actual head turn
cue.

- When an actor talks downward, position the mic a little bit farther away from
them than normal, and flatten the angle of the mic by rotating the pole, so
you can try to “dig” out the sweet spot without getting in the frame. If it is a
mix of dialogue talking down and up, you can try planting something near
from below, or use their radio mic to pump up that part. If I notice that a lot
of dialogue is spoken straight down, I’ll make sure they are wearing a radio
mic as a safety in case my efforts on the stick are unsuccessful. And don’t put
that radio mic very close to their mouth high up on the chest like you would
an exterior scene - keep it close to the sternum, so it blends better with the
boom. It’s like your secret 2nd boom.

- You can use the pick-up pattern to reject noise being created by the actor’s
business with props, or footsteps. Simply angle the mic as much as possible
(at least 45 degrees, or more!), and using your ears, listen to keep the actor’s
voice in the bottom edge of the pick-up pattern, so that whatever they’re
doing is completely out of the pattern. You can also do this for walk-and-talks
to keep the footsteps quieter, and make it more usable. The pick-up pattern is
your friend when you want to reject noise, and keep the voice on-mic. If you
were doing this, the mic would look like you were pointing at the top of the
head, and possibly over their head, for maximum noise rejection.

- Booming two people with one mic requires knowing the dialogue, a fairly
close proximity between the actors (grey area here), and decent enough
levels. If it’s normal speaking voices, and they are farther than two feet away,
make it two booms if it’s a close-up. It allows for recording of natural sounds
and reactions, without missing any of it, especially if they’re not wired. Why
wouldn’t you wire the actors?? Because the headroom on the wide shot
wasn’t excessive, and you knew you could boom it without serious
background noise issues or acoustic problems.

- If the shot is wider, and the headroom is bigger but not out of reach of your
mic, say the CMIT, and it sounds good, you can boom wider spreads between
actors with one mic. In fact, it will make good sense to do so because with
two mics working you might not be able to get far enough apart or angle
away from each other enough to avoid phasing. I sometimes will start a scene
 with two mics, then realize it’s causing more problems than it’s worth, and
have the 2nd boom stand down. Use those mixer ears to be able to tell what’s
working.

- If one actor overlaps another actor and both actors are being boomed by you,
start to angle the mic slightly away from the first actor (making sure they are
still in the pick up pattern) and towards the second actor, right before the
overlap occurs. Then point directly at the actor who overlapped. Even if you
have to keep doing this for each line. It’s better than “averaging” which is
what cautious boom operators do. That’s when you pick a spot in the middle,
usually straight up and down, and just play the pick up pattern. But you
won’t be hitting the sweet spot, unless you actually cue to each person
talking, even if they are close together.

- Having the dialogue memorized completely, or at least the part that you are
responsible for booming, will help make your cues more natural and
“instinctive”. You will also be able to handle script changes and
improvisations easier. I’m not the best at memorizing, I use brute force
memorizing. I study the scene over and over, imagining the actors doing each
of their lines, and imagining myself swinging a stick over them. If I have a
particularly big scene that’s 3 or more pages and many actors, I will take an
hour on my own time, whether it’s at home or at lunchtime, to learn the
dialogue in and out, so as we shoot, I reflexively know to

- Reflections are an issue, but with some attention and communication, a lot of
reflections can be managed. If you’re shooting into flat planes of glass, see if
they can be adjusted one way or the other (gimbaled glass). Sometimes with
multiple cameras, they set the glass to avoid each other, but now you are in.
So be there working with the camera department to reach a solution that
works for everyone. It’s not a guarantee, but they really appreciate seeing the
boom man hang in there and work with them, rather than showing up late
and then asking for help right before they roll. Nobody likes that.

- If you can’t adjust the glass, then try to manage the reflection. First, see if you
can turn off any light behind you that gives away your mic silhouette. Wear a
long sleeve black shirt and even black gloves if they see your arms. If
possible (ie, ask the dp), have the grips set a 4x4 flop behind you, to create a
wall of black that you can disappear in front of.

- Sometimes you can just hold very steady, and because of the patterns in the
reflection, they can’t see you. This takes some boldness, but try it. Have a
wireless mic as a “Plan B”. This is how you sharpen your skills without
putting too much pressure on yourself. Mic the actor, then challenge yourself
to boom them until you’ve exhausted all of your avenues.

 - If you’re not able to do these things because they love what they see in
reflection (it happens a lot these days), try hiding behind the actor in the
reflection. Sometimes you can find a position that allows you to put the mic
right above the frameline, and it’s perfectly hidden behind their head and
body in the reflection. You won’t be able to move the mic up, so you are in
this tricky position where you’re locked in a tiny horizontal zone. If you go up
one inch you’re in reflection, if you come down one inch you’re in the shot, so
you have to be STEADY AF. If you can pull this off, you’ll actually amaze
yourself. You may need to switch to a smaller microphone to do this, and you
may need to angle the mic out at a 45 degree angle. The point is, don’t give up
on reflection shots, try everything you can. The working crew will see your
tenacity and be supportive. Or they’ll think you’re crazy. Either way, don’t
give up instantly. Think about the physics at play here, and have fun with it.

- If an actor is speaking into a window and you can’t get in front of them,
position the mic about 3-4 inches away from the glass over their heads, and
point at the reflection of the sound coming from the glass at forehead level.
You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how good they sound. And if they sound just
a touch weird, it’s ok – that’s why God invented EQ. If you try to position your
mic right next to the glass in order to be “in front” of their mouth, it will
sound weird. Try it, you’ll see.

- If you see the rehearsal and you see potential reflection issues, wire the
actors. This is a back up so that you can continue to challenge yourself to get
it on the boom. It will only help you become a better boom operator, and you
will be surprised how much you can actually get. Sometimes, it won’t work
out, but that’s ok. Just don’t give up at the first sign of reflection.

- If you are working just outside of cars, the windows and windshield can be a
problem as well. Play with your positions right away. Work closely with the
operators to looks for reflections. You can’t see them, but they can. Look for
your safe zones where there won’t be reflection. Dialogue happening in front
of a car is safe from reflections. Dialogue next to a car can be problematic,
unless it’s tight coverage. Most cars have curved windows that reflect the sky
and area above actors’ heads, frequently you won’t have a chance on the
wider shot unless the actors’ heads and bodies are blocking the reflection. If
there is space, sometimes you can come from below.

- Walking the pole. Sometimes it’s necessary to walk your hands down the pole
in order to get from a distance to close, or vice versa. Just do it carefully, and
if it’s too difficult, use a 2nd boom or a wire.

- Alternatively, collapsing sections while booming works very well. Find your
closest position, and the first sections that you need extended, keep the
collars loose. Then you can pull the sections in as they approach. You can
 only do this on poles that have internally coiled cables or transmitter
attached near the mic.

- You will find yourself needing to work from a ladder. First of all, ladders are
dangerous. Use them with caution, a fall from a ladder can give you a serious
injury. If you need to go over a set wall with a ladder, make sure that the
ladder is tall enough so that you are not standing on the very top section to
reach over the wall. That’s a recipe for disaster, as you are usually having to
be quite physical with your movements when you are coming over a wall.
The irony is that a taller ladder has a wider base than a shorter ladder, for
stability, so when you place a very tall ladder next to a wall, you are going to
be further away from the wall. So you may find yourself leaning out a little in
order to get over the wall. Make sure that the base is absolutely level and no
cables or uneven flooring is causing the legs to teeter a bit. Ask for help from
the grips, they can bring some wedges and sandbags to stabilize a ladder, and
sometimes if you or they feel it’s necessary, someone will stand on the first
step of the ladder to stabilize it. I’ve even had chain screwed into the wall and
around the ladder for more stability, especially if it’s tall. You may need to get
a furniture blanket to lay over the sharp edge of the wall so you can lean
comfortably over it. You may even need to use an extension ladder if the wall
is quite tall, or even a small man lift. The grips will help you solve this
problem it’s what they’re best at.

- Coming over a wall or going up in the green beds can solve a lot of lighting
problems, and allow you to be out of the way of the cameras, and sometimes
pull off really cool 360 shots that would be impossible if you were on the
floor next to camera. One boom op I know, Doug Shamburger, uses going
over the wall has his main technique whenever possible. He prefers staying
out of the way and having the reach and accessibility that you can get up
there, and he is undoubtedly a master at it. It is not my preferred mode of
working. I do it if it’s the only way to get the shot on the boom. The biggest
issue with going over the wall is gauging the headroom. It’s not easy to tell
when you are looking straight down at the actors just how high your mic is in
relation to the frameline. By looking down at the camera, you can’t tell if the
camera is tilting a little higher or not. You have to make an educated guess,
and you just don’t have that horizontal frameline reference that makes
playing close to the frame easier from the floor. Often I’ll want to get closer
the actor from above, but it really looks like I’m going to be in the shot. Then
I’ll finish that particular shot, and come down to the floor if it’s possible, and
I’ll see that I sound better, because now I have my horizontal reference. One
way that I try to offset this overhead view, is by coming over the wall on a
longer pole from a wall that’s farther from the actor and camera. Then
instead of working straight down, I’m working at more of a horizontal angle
from over the wall. This is not always possible, but that’s what I aim for as my
“A” position over the wall.

 - If you are shorter, get used to using a ladder. Maybe even buy your own 6-
step that you can customize. I’ve seen them before, and it’s not a bad way to
go. It gives you a nice high perch, where you can boom sitting down on the
top platform, or stand or straddle the ladder, and work. This allows you to
maintain the boom at shoulder height, instead of arms overhead. Remember,
we are in this for the long haul, and we want to survive years of this.







































 Dealing with Lighting




- Sometimes, getting your boom over an actor through tricky lighting seems
like a magic trick, or what I call, “stealing the Mona Lisa”. We’ve all seen those
movies where the thief goes to steal an art piece from a gallery, and there are
laser beams everywhere that they have maneuver around. That’s what
booming is like sometimes. Occasionally, in order to not throw shadows
everywhere, you will only have a very narrow channel to work with, and
your movements will have to be precise and steady. Here are some common
scenarios that you will find yourself dealing with.

- Learn to quickly identify where your key light is coming from. If it is a hard
light, that is, light with very little diffusion, you will mostly choose to
approach from the opposite side of that light. For instance, if camera-right is
the hard key, then camera-left will be the bounce or fill, or nothing at all, and
that will be your first choice in position, as the boom shadow will fall out of
frame to the left. If I stand to the right of camera, but left of the light, I risk
some shadows. If I go to the right of the key, I’m in serious trouble, I will have
boom shadows all over the set, and it becomes nearly impossible to make any
moves.

- If your key light is big and soft, you have much more leeway in finding a place
to boom. There is much less light hitting the background from a soft key, so
you can even boom from the right of the key if that’s the best spot to cover
the action. But don’t assume, always check by putting your mic out there.

- If you are in a room with overhead can lights in the ceiling, most of the time,
the dp wants those on for the background, to give it depth and contrast. You
can usually ask to have certain ones turned off over the actors that are
causing you shadow problems. Chances are, it’s not good lighting for the
scene, with harsh shadows on their faces. Often they are lit with plenty of
nice studio lighting, and the gaffer just forgot to turn the overhead lights off
because it wasn’t noticeable, so you’re actually helping them as well as
yourself.

- Many sets are lit with fluorescent tubes. The key to booming in any lighting
that is a tube, whether it’s LED or fluorescent, is to cross the light in a
perpendicular manner. The shadow becomes much less of an issue. If the
pole is parallel to a light, you will have a massive shadow across the set, and
it becomes much more difficult to hide, and really reduces your movements.
Pay attention to all the tube lighting on the set and what the orientation of
the tubes are. I will watch a gaffer set up a kino flo and in my mind I’m
 already planning on my strategy depending on what he does. If they set it up
horizontally over the camera, then I will position myself either directly
underneath it, or over it, so minimize my shadow. If I try to stand off to the
side, I will get a massive shadow all over the set. If they set up the light
vertically, I’m usually ok, and have pretty good freedom to move about. You
will see what I mean when you start paying attention to this detail.

- Occasionally you will find that hallways have tube lighting overhead. My
approach is mostly the same, if the tubes are oriented parallel to the hallway,
I will either have to pick one side or the other of the actors to throw my
massive pole shadow, and angle towards them. If there is room, I can short
pole from the side, or come over the wall from the side. It all depends on the
blocking. If the tubes are perpendicular to the hallway, which is fairly
uncommon, then you can treat it like a normal soft light source.

- By the way, a soft light source becomes a hard light source the farther away it
gets. When it comes to working around lights, big and soft is your friend. The
smaller the source, the harder the shadows.

- Even if the lighting seems brain dead easy, like a big soft source one side, and
big fat bounce on the other, or the sources are very natural appearing like
light through windows, and soft practical lamps, always put your mic in
position with stand ins, and look carefully. You may discover a mystery hard
shadow that’s coming from apparently nowhere. You look around from your
spot, and you cannot see where the hell that shadow is coming from. In that
case, ask the stand in to let you stand in their spot for a moment, and put
your head where their head is, and look carefully. Chances are, there is a tiny
leak coming from a lamp on set that wasn’t wrapped thoroughly, or a gap in
the set that’s letting in stray light from a lamp lighting another set, or even
worklight off in the distance sneaking a shaft of light in. It has no effect on the
look, but when you have your mic in position, you have an obvious mic
shadow. It’s easy to get too comfortable on a show with very soft easy
lighting, and forget to check for these stray light leaks because they don’t
happen all the time. But they must be found and dealt with while the set is
active with lighting department.

- Some shows favor lights hanging overhead, in order to provide maximum
freedom for the actors and cameras. This solves their little problem of
causing camera shadows when making moves, but causes many problems for
us. If you find yourself on this kind of show, you have your work cut out for
you. You will need to stay very focused on what is in the frame, and what is
out, and work on putting your shadows just out of frame. You may be on a
ladder to get over or to the side of a high light source. Or coming from below.
Usually, as precaution, you will need to wire the actors.

 - Watch for lighting equipment coming in over the actors’ heads. There are
times when soft lighting or flags are set right above the actors heads, just out
of frame, right where you need to be. When you see that happen,
communicate with the key grip or the gaffer to see if the same effect can be
achieved while giving you some space to work. Sometimes you can actually
work around it by getting aggressive with your mic placement and moving
quickly, but that takes experience and confidence. If you don’t feel like you
can easily handle it, come up with an alternate plan. If they don’t adjust it for
you because they can’t (you have to pretend like that’s not complete bullshit),
then try planting a mic in that area, either from below, or right next to or
within the lighting equipment that they hung.

- If you are working outside in the sunlight, and they are not putting a silk over
their heads to soften the light, then you will definitely need to wire the actors,
at least for the wide shot with a lot of headroom. And when you go in for the
tighter shots, you can start finding ways to get the mic near them by
watching the ground, and making sure that your shadow doesn’t touch their
shadow. It takes a lot of concentration to keep the shadow just an inch or two
away from them. If you can’t cover a head turn because of the sun, either try
it from below, or have the mixer help you out in that moment with the wire.
Some mixers are very good at blending wires in and out of a boom mix.

- When you are in a club scene, and there are lots of automated lights moving
around, you will more than likely have a shadow you couldn’t possibly
predict. You will know after the first take if you have a real problem. Figure
out which roving light is the worst offender, and adjust for that. You will
usually do quite a few takes in these club scenes, and it’s just a matter of
getting lucky. I’ve even seen my boom and mic shadow on a scene in “Get
Shorty” that was in a club, it was a micro-second on a shoulder, nearly
subliminal, and no one could have caught it. I just was looking for it.

- One thing that we have going for us, is that the human mind can only focus on
one thing at a time. When actors are talking on a screen, we are focused on
their faces and eyes, and nearly everything else in the picture is barely
registering. This was explored in detail in a book called “You’re Not So Smart”,
where people were shown a short film with horrendous errors in production,
including full blown actor swap outs with similar actors, and at the end, they
were asked what they thought about the film and what they noticed. The vast
majority of viewers didn’t notice any errors, and a large percentage didn’t
even notice when actors were swapped for other actors. My point is, we can
get away with a lot, so let’s try to, right??

- Which leads to working with shadows that are actually in the frame.
Sometimes, it is impossible to move the mic without putting a shadow in the
frame. You can oftentimes bury this shadow somewhere in the set where it
won’t be noticed, due to clutter or other shadows being present. Or if you
 hold very still, no one can tell what your shadow is. Only if you move does it
reveal itself. You can even move a soft shadow when an actor moves, so the
eye doesn’t register it. If you know you have a soft shadow, don’t just blab to
the operator that you have it. Let them find it, if they don’t, it wasn’t
noticeable. And hold your position until a few seconds after they cut and the
actor moves. This is one of our ninja moves.

- There are times when the shot is lit with a hard back light, and when they
turn around for the reverse angle, they don’t bother to turn it off. Question
the gaffer and ask if they can turn off the light. They either forgot, or they
really do mean for the backlight to turn into the key light (lazy). Either way,
make sure they know that you know what’s going on and just try to get it
shut off, or you will be dodging some pretty nasty shadows.

































Working On Set – You are a Sound Person:


- Your title might be Boom Operator, but the reality is that you are a sound
person. Your job is to represent the sound department on set, integrate with
the crew, and help the sound mixer get the results he needs, while staying
low key and keeping a relatively cheerful demeanor in very challenging
circumstances. You are the first stage in the chain that leads all the way to
post production, you can have a big effect here by thinking about how it will
all come together, and making decisions that will effect how the sound mixer
mixes the scenes and post works on them.

- The sound department actually needs all of the departments to get the best
result. Every single department can go a long way towards helping us get
good sound. We communicate our needs to all kinds of people, and work
together to deliver our best results. If the camera doesn’t help us with
framing, we’re stuck using wires all the time. If wardrobe doesn’t help us, we
get more clothing noise that we need to deal with. If lighting and grip doesn’t
help us, we’re stuck using wires again when it should have been boomed. If
script doesn’t call out scene numbers, we waste time finding out what the
scene is. If props doesn’t help us, we’ll have noisy props. So one of your
biggest assets will be your communication skills.

- Always maintain a friendly demeanor with the AD department. Even if they
are not very helpful, don’t let it get to you. Always state your needs if you
can’t make their situation work properly. Here’s an example: rushing to
shoot before your department is ready. Don’t fall for this one, stop them and
tell them you’re not ready, and give them a time estimate. AD’s only source of
calories is time estimates. If you don’t give them this food when they ask for
it, they get hangry. So when they ask, “How much time do you need?” or
“How long is this going to take?”, give them an HONEST and NOT OPTIMISTIC
time estimate. They may hate what they hear, and throw a little tantrum, but
the flip side is telling them what they want to hear, and not delivering.

- A favorite “time saving” tactic on sets these days, is “shooting the rehearsal”.
You can’t get away from this. The 1st AD’s favorite sound is the sound of
cameras rolling. If you’re not rolling, you’re wasting the day away. This is a
massive misperception of the filmmaking process, because it assumes that
you are just as good whether you get a rehearsal or not. This goes for the
camera department as well. As if warming up on a rolling camera is good for
everyone. IT’S NOT!! When you have an actual rehearsal for the shot of the
scene, you can calmly make adjustments, make notes, and fix problems in a
detached manner. It’s enormously productive, and it actually saves time,
because you’re not under pressure by a rolling camera and can make better
adjustments. When you are rolling on the rehearsal and you have mulitiple
 issues to fix, it’s harder to keep track and remember since you so fixated on
getting through the take in a more or less salvageable manner. So how do I
get through these “filmed rehearsals” without losing my mind? I treat them
EXACTLY like a normal rehearsal. They are usually a complete disaster
anyways, as sets that have these are usually underprepared to begin shooting.
But I mentally do not put any pressure on myself to hit a home run, I do my
best and take my notes and if I screw up and get in the shot, I loudly reply,
“Well that was a great rehearsal”. All of my fellow crew members who
remember the time before this trend when we were all shooting on film and
couldn’t afford to mess up a take so badly, know that calmly fixing and
adjusting your problems SAVES time, because all of your takes afterward
start out much better. Even actors like real rehearsals, so they can make sure
they’re props are working properly. If a scene is very complicated and tricky
for the sound department, and the odds of success on the first rehearsal are
low, say so to the AD, and ask for a real rehearsal. Insist on it. They will have
no choice but to allow you. And everyone else on the crew will appreciate it
too.

- I like to keep this mindset when I’m working with the tools we have: How can
I make this as easy to mix as possible? I’m always thinking about the mixer at
his board, how can I make his job enjoyable and productive? Let’s run down
some ways:

- When two boom mics are working in fairly close proximity to each other, say
6-7 feet apart or less, angle away from each other about 45 degrees for
maximum rejection, so there is less phasing. It makes it easier to mix
overlapping dialogue this way.

- If at all possible, keep boom assignments the same throughout a scene. If you
have a decent 2nd boom op, you will have no problem doing this, and it makes
life simpler for everyone.

- Be realistic about what you can achieve with the boom. More important than
being a hot dog boom op who can boom a conversation between two people
8 feet apart, is having a plan of action that is reliable and consistent. If you
tell the mixer that you can get a certain line, but it actually takes tremendous
skill and maybe a bit of luck, then you’re playing odds, and you’re not helping.
Better to go with the sure bet plan, even if it doesn’t pump up your boom ego.
Think you can get it as long as they don’t change any action? Skip it. New plan.
2nd boom or wire. Get over it.

- A mixer needs to hear an exact plan of action in order to make fader choices.
Never say you’re going to “try” to get that line. Or “Probably”. Or “I think”.
These are murky statements that they cannot work with. Sometimes, I want
to challenge myself to get a tricky cue. I let the mixer know in advance that
 it’s my intention to do that on this take, and if I fail, then here is Plan B. Which
is probably a wire.

- Always have a Plan B, and if you can, a Plan C. Always. Did I say always? Oh
yeah, always. And don’t just have the plan, have it ready to go on take 2 so
you don’t force the crew into a long wait staring at you work because you
didn’t foresee any problems with your grand plan.

- When you utilize a 2nd boom to break a scene up or to grab a line here or
there, or to cover the over the shoulder actor next to camera, be very clear
about what their assignment will be. As the lead boom op, you must always
try to go for the part of the scene that is harder. Or, the part that you are
better suited for physically. Sometimes I’ll boom a part that is better suited
for my height, and would be more difficult for the 2nd boom since they are not
as tall. If I was a shorter boom op, I would flip that equation.

- If in doubt, wire. It really takes experience to be able to analyze a set and
camera set ups and determine that wiring ISN’T necessary. Aside from scenes
where the lack of wardrobe makes wiring impossible, it’s better to play it
safe and be good at wiring and just do it if you have the slightest doubt in
your ability to boom the scene. This is not permission to give up and throw in
the towel at the first sign of trouble. No, this is your safety cushion to take
risks as a boom operator, and know that if you fail, you still have tracks.

- If you make a mistake, like usually missing a cue or headturn, or not
anticipating a yell, accidentally having too much headroom, dipping in the
frame –whatever it is, tell the mixer as soon as they call cut. Be the first one
to call yourself out on a mistake. Even if it wasn’t a very major error, and you
realize you can do it better next time. Say something. It shows you take your
work very seriously, and you don’t tolerate bad sound. Don’t pretend like it
never happened or hope that the mixer doesn’t notice. Beat him to the punch,
and say it first. You lose no honor, but you show your integrity in the art of
booming. Aim for your best, and when you fail, aim to improve the next take.

- As much as possible, your goal is to get good sound, but do it in a way that
gives everyone else respect for their jobs on set as well. When you accept
that everyone who is there has an important job as well, you will get
maximum cooperation from everyone, and your job will get easier. People
love recognition for how hard their job is or how well they’re doing it. If you
can think of something nice to say to someone, say it! If you notice anyone
doing a good job in a difficult situation, mention it. It only grows the feeling of
camaraderie and being part of a team, and it takes a team to get good sound.

- When you first arrive to a new job, introduce yourself to the mixer and third,
obviously, if you don’t know them, and begin setting up your gear. Pay
attention to the set though, you may need to drop what you’re doing to go see
 a marking rehearsal. When you go to that first rehearsal, you will begin to
make your crucial introductions. Number one person you need to meet is the
First AD. They are the crew boss, and you will interact with them heavily.
Then you want to introduce yourself to the camera operators, and the first
AC’s. You will be in frequent communication with them. Introduce yourself to
the dolly grip at some point as well – you guys will oftentimes be working
right next to each other, and making sure that you are safe and not going to
get your feet run over, or that you’re not taking a spot that he is going to
move towards. If you can meet the key grip and gaffer too, that’s cool, but
sometimes there isn’t enough time, so introduce yourself when you need
something from their departments. Wardrobe and props introductions will
happen when you need to work with them.

- As the crew starts working, have a quick discussion with the mixer about
what you are going to do, and communicate to the 1st AD who you will need
to wire and when. Go get a coffee, and come to the set and have a look at
what is going on. If the cameras have already found general positions, then
bring your boom pole onto the set turned on, and find your best guess as to a
safe spot for your boom stand. Be prepared to move it, or have someone else
move it. Now just start to pay attention to the set up. Have a look at where
the lights are going and what all of the sources are of light are. Be mindful of
doorways and the obvious paths for the lighting crew to bring in equipment.
Do not immediately start waving your boom pole around the set to check for
shadows, especially when there are ladders and crew moving lights around
and figuring it out. It’s annoying for the crew to have to work around you at
that time. Just keep watching, and start putting together an initial strategy
based on camera position, blocking, and lighting sources. Eventually, they
will have their first 2nd team rehearsal with camera. This first rehearsal I
usually just watch, in order to find the best spot to stand without getting run
over by a camera. These days, with two and three cameras shooting, our
choices are naturally limited. If I try to guess where to be before the first
stand-in rehearsal, I usually just end up getting in someone’s way. I’ve also
looked at the lighting by this point, and spotted my key, backlight, and fill,
and I’m beginning to favor a spot that will give me the best angle to pivot and
follow the actors movements, so I’m watching this spot or standing near it to
protect it. If it seems like there is plenty of room to work, I’ll stand with the
pole and fish around and start checking for shadows and problems. I’m also
checking the monitors on the camera and video village to see what kind of
shots they are doing, whether it’s just multiple wide shots, or a wide and
tight shot. Just because a shot is wide and tight, doesn’t mean you can’t boom
it. It’s the headroom, or the space between the actors’ heads and the top
frameline, that we are concerned with. If this headroom is very similar, then
you probably won’t need to have a discussion with anyone except the mixer.
If they are very different, you need to deal with it.

 - Pay close attention to how the show is framed. Within a few days, you will
see a pattern of framing emerge. Of how they fill the frame, how they
motivate the camera movements, how they set up the wide shots, etc. It can
vary from director to director, but usually there is a style. And if the show has
already been on the air, watch a few episodes and see what kind of shots are
actually being used. By knowing what kind of shots are actually being used,
you can pick your battles more selectively. If there is an angle that is not the
best for sound, but you already know they will never use that shot for any
reason, don’t sweat it. This part of the job will come with experience, you
won’t automatically show up on set and know this. Just make it a practice of
observing framing of the cameras, and see if you can spot patterns. Here’s a
good example. Watch a couple of episodes of Mr. Robot. Try not to cringe at
the horrible sound. What do you notice about the frames they choose? What
would your plan of attack be on a show like that? Get back to me with your
answer.

- More and more shows are shooting on three cameras. Not only does this
make our sets very cramped, it forces us to use wires more than we should.
In order to justify the expense of a third camera crew, the C camera operator
is busy inventing shots that will never make it in the cut, but definitely hurt
us in the sound department. Sometimes I will walk onto the set after wiring
first team, and I will see only two cameras on the floor. I’ll pull my boom pole
out and start fishing around for my position, and I’ll hear a voice call out from
somewhere, “Ken, you can’t be there.” I’ll squint my eyes towards the voice,
and there’s that sneaky C-camera, poking in from the corner of the set at
some weird angle or grabbing some strange coverage. Very few directors
know how to intelligently utilize three cameras in such a way that sound is
also included in the process. Just do your best, and see if the offending
camera can be shut down after they achieve their shot so you can go in and
get the important angles on the boom.

- Work closely with the operators and dolly grips. Stay tuned in and keep an
eye on their monitors. Knowing what lens sizes are in terms of framing is
generally helpful, but knowing what the actual shot is makes it more concrete.
Framing has become so “artsy” these days that just because the shot is on a
tight lens, doesn’t automatically mean you’ve got great headroom. Always
check the actual shot on a monitor, and if possible, keep a position towards
camera facing a monitor just as a basic occasional check, in case they zoom
out or in. Sometimes on the Alexa Mini, I’ll have the 1st AC turn on the little
mini monitor on the side of the operator’s viewfinder, just so I can make sure
I’m getting as absolutely tight as I can. Watch for changes in blocking that
could cause changes in framing.

- How to deal with headroom differences among cameras. This probably our
number one problem on set, and it is how mediocre sound is created.
Normally, what the AD staff and director and camera operators want is for
 you to keep your mouth shut, and just “do it on the wires”. But that’s not why
we became sound people, is it? So I have decision tree that I work from, and
it’s based on the situation. We need to play nice with the other kids in the
sandbox, but we also need to establish our needs. First, we see if we can
make it work with a longer reach mic – the actor may be loud enough that it
will work for the tighter shot. If not, then sometimes the mixer will go talk to
the director, and see if the shot can be changed to match headroom on the
wider shot. Or the mixer trusts you to go talk to the director and ask. (If you
have a really cool camera crew who respects sound, you can even ask the
offending camera if they can widen out to match. It’s rare to have that, but
when you do, it’s wonderful). Before you go to the director, make sure you
know that the wire sounds great. If it doesn’t, and you can’t seem to get it to
sound good, that’s important information. You then go introduce yourself to
the director, and ask him several questions. “Can this camera widen out to
match the other cameras?” Director says, “No, I don’t need a wider angle
there, or whatever”. Fine. Next: “Are you planning on even tighter coverage
on this camera angle?” If yes, then proceed as planned, and use the wire or
longer reach mic for this shot. Then get a nice tight sound on the next tighter
angle. If you do go ahead with it, and the wireless mic sounds bad, and you
can’t get the boom mic to give you proper perspective for that shot, then ask
the mixer if you can head back to the director, let him know what your
problems are, and make a new request to have a separate additional take just
with that camera that you can boom with proper perspective. You’re only
asking for one take, so they will usually agree to it, or, they may simply shut
that camera down and come back to that shot in the next piece of coverage.
Make sure that they know that the sound is no good for that camera, that
puts them in a more favorable position to shut it down. Or, maybe it’s one or
two lines that are no good. Tell them that, and maybe they were planning on
using the next tighter coverage to get those lines, so you’ll be ok. The point
here is that you are protecting your department, while cooperating with the
director and his needs.

- When the first shot is a big wide master that’s all on the wires, don’t just call
“speed” and check out. Not only should you be paying attention to the wires,
you should also be planning how you will boom the coverage. Many shows
these days do minimal to no lighting for the coverage, they simply zoom in
and they’re ready. So when the wide master is being lined up on set, start
poking around to see what your problems will be in the coverage. Warn the
camera operators so they don’t think you have no idea it’s a wide shot. Of
course you know it’s wide, you’re just anticipating for the coverage.

- When you communicate with the sound mixer over the microphone, be very
to the point, and keep the casual conversation level down. Often during the
times when we are rolling, there can be many different people listening. They
can only hear you, and not the sound mixer. If the sound mixer wants to talk
to you about something not relating to the shot, keep your answers very
 short, almost just “yes” or “no”. Do communicate openly and to the point
about sound issues. This way the director or even producer or script can pick
up on what we need, and they can be mentally prepared to deal with us.

- Steve Tibbo has an additional note – when working on ensemble series like
Modern Family, get comfortable bringing in a 3rd boom for large scenes with
many cast members. This helps create a smoother mix that doesn’t rely so
heavily on wires. I did a day on Modern that involved shooting the whole
episode in a day, on multiple sets that were all in communication with each
other via FaceTime. There were 8 boom operators. Covering all the sets.

- In case you didn’t already realize, if you get hired to 2nd boom, and you see
the main boom op (who might have hired you), make some mistakes and not
say anything to the mixer, or even lie about his position, bite your tongue and
say nothing. It’s just good politics.





























 Wiring Talent


- Wiring is a huge area of expertise. There are so many ways to wire,
accessories for wiring, and preferences, it’s truly a field that is always
changing and open for reinterpretation. Which makes it very interesting, but
also annoying since everyone has their own opinion on how to wire people
(especially on the interwebz). So without opening up some kind of major
discussion about wiring, I just want mention my favorite techniques, and let
you integrate or innovate. Your choice.

- Carefully watch the marking rehearsal. Make mental notes of what each actor
is doing and how they are moving. Look at head direction during key
dialogue (or the majority of the lines), placement and use of props, how
wardrobe interacts with their body or their props.

- As soon as the marking rehearsal is over, tell the 1st AD who you need to wire,
and when you will be ready to do it. If it’s tricky wardrobe that will take
longer than usual, let them know so they can bring the actors earlier.

- Set up your wiring system as efficiently as possible. By that I mean make
everything you need to wire talent as easily accessible as you can. You want
to reduce the amount of searching for and opening of bags, containers and
cases. I get very annoyed when I work at a cart where I have to search
through piles of little black zipper bags that have individual parts in them,
especially transmitters. My favorite set up is a tackle box for fisherman, that
Von Varga uses in his kit. It is a three-tray tackle box made by Flambeau,
model number 1737B. It is white and orange. All of his transmitters go on the
bottom, in numerical order facing up. The next tray up are all of the lavaliers,
grouped by color. The next two trays above that have every necessity for
wiring that you could need, or whatever I want when I work for him. This set
up results in the fastest set up times possible for me. Everything is on display
and reachable. If I need to go to a trailer to wire the actor, I just bring the
whole box. Or if my third needs to go wire, while I wire others at the cart,
they can grab what they need and leave the tackle box. Here is the Amazon
link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QFYA6M/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_tai_3LuHzb
MQZGTF7

- If any mixers are reading this, numbering transmitters is much more
preferable to color coding them. There is no universal hierarchy to colors, so
you telling me that Red should go first, and Blue second, is just adding to
possible mix-ups and confusion in the heat of the moment. When the
 transmitters are labeled in numerical order, and we agree that they go on the
actors by script order (first person talking gets 1, next person 2, etc.), then
we don’t even need to have a conversation about the wires. Or maybe 1
always goes on number one on the call sheet, and then everyone else gets the
rest in script order. Makes sense, and once again, no conversation needed. It
saves time and confusion, it really does. Ok, thank you for listening.

- There will inevitably be someone in the AD department who will be assigned
to bring you talent. You want to stay in good communication with this person.
Let them know exactly who you need, and how much time you need to be
ready to wire. Remember, this person is getting yelled at and harassed all day
long on Channel 1 by the main AD staff. They will have a tendency to hover
and ask you if you’re done, or how much time you need. Let them, it’s ok. If
you don’t exactly how much time it will take because it’s a new wardrobe
that’s trickier than expected, tell them. These people need constant time
updates. If you stay calm, and reassuring at all times, they will eventually
learn to trust you and will back off. If they send you everyone in the scene to
wire even though only one or two people are have the dialogue, that means
they are not paying attention. Train them to pay attention and ask you first
who they should send to you. As soon as you finish wiring someone, let the
AD’s know. They have a specific order that they want to send talent through
usually. Train them NOT to send a huge group of actors to you at once. It’s
annoying for a large group of actors to hang around waiting for you to finish,
and often they are just getting in the way. Advise them to send them to you
one or two at a time (if you have a third who you trust to wire talent).

- Do not let the AD department send you talent to wire before the blocking or
marking rehearsal. You need to see that rehearsal to know the optimum
placement of the mics. What if you wire someone that you always wire the
same way, and then they decide they are going to land on their back or do
something completely different? Now you’re re-wiring them to compensate
for the blocking. It’s a waste of time - don’t get bullied by the AD department
into “saving time” like this.

- You must respect and cooperate with wardrobe. Never start out in a
combative position, no matter how invasive or micromanaging they appear
to be. Usually, if they seem very involved in the wiring process, it’s because
the previous sound crew was doing something wrong. I like to view
wardrobe as my collaborators in the process, while making sure they know
that I really need to get the mic in the correct spot, while maintaining the
integrity of the wardrobe. The more respect you show for their department
and their need to make the wardrobe look good and is not compromised by
your mic placement, the more they will just leave you alone when you wire
actors. And when you need help, they will work wonders for you.

 - Sometimes wardrobe will point out that your wire or pack is showing. If it is
indeed in the camera frame, and a real problem, thank them, and fix it
immediately. Take the time you need to do it right. Get used to having an
entire crew watching you while you make this fix. I like knowing that
hundreds/thousands of dollars are floating by like a river while I’m adjusting
a radio mic. I guess I do well under pressure.

- When you approach an actor to wire them, introduce yourself in a friendly
way, and tell them everything you are doing as you do it. “I just need to have
a look at this dress/shirt/jacket, etc.” If there are multiple options for
placement of the transmitter, ask them if your “A” placement is ok, for them.
If not, they will tell you, and then offer your “B”. Many actors automatically
request an ankle strap. I find that sometimes reception suffers there, so I
acquiesce with a warning that it may not work there, but if it’s fine, that’s
what we’ll do. Maintain a calm, steady hand, and work quickly but carefully.

- When wiring children, ALWAYS have wardrobe help you. I don’t think I need
to explain why, but it is in everyone’s best interest.

- I am very picky and critical of my wires. I have no problem running onto set
and adjusting what I believe is a mediocre sounding wire multiple times.
Sometimes the mixer believes that it sounds ok, but I think it can be better. I
will keep trying if I think I can make a real difference, unless it is a very
difficult or emotional scene. I don’t want to keep breaking their space for
adjustments in that case. I wait and adjust every two or three takes if I have
to, and apologize profusely for having to do so. I am a master apologist.

- Try to maintain a similar distance perspective from the mouth on all of the
wires. Wiring is literally a game of millimeters, one tiny adjustment up or
down or out, can make a huge difference in the quality of the sound. In order
to get a smooth mix with the background, as much as possible, aim to have
the wires match perspective with each other. If four guys are in ties, that’s
not a problem, but if one of them is a woman with a low cut top, then you will
have a challenge. So in cases like this, my goal is, “best possible match”. If that
woman is saying most of her lines to one side, I’ll slide the mic up higher on
her top to the side she is favoring, just to get the better match to the other
person. I aim for getting the mic as close as possible to the actor’s mouths,
especially in noisy out door locations. If they are loud or yelling, then I go
little lower towards the sternum to let the mic breathe and sound more
natural and not overload. When I’m wiring, I’m either going for maximum
noise rejection, or maximum boom matching if it’s a scene that’s primarily on
the boom with a little bit of wires filling in here and there.

- Radio mics are an opportunity for creative problem solving. If you have some
challenging wardrobe, don’t just give up. First, really listen to the mic while
absolutely watching everything the actor is doing. That’s the first step in
 troubleshooting. Sometimes the mic itself is not rubbing on anything, it’s just
the wardrobe. You might need to add a Rycote furry to the wardrobe near the
radio mic just to cut down the noise, maybe try a hair mic or a hat mic
placement. Take suggestions from the sound mixer, he may have ideas, even
your third might have a solution. Never give up. The first take where you
solve a stubborn noise problem is gonna feel like winning the gold in the
Olympics. You will be standing on that podium while the whole stadium is
roaring and cheering – in your head.

- Oh, you want to try that hat or helmet mic? It’s going to take a lot of tape and
rigging, it might make the headwear heavier and uncomfortable, and it’s
going to sound GREAT. So be careful when you do it that it doesn’t affect the
shape of the hat or the actor’s movements, then go for it. It’s one of the best
sounding places to put a mic, and it’s never off axis.

- There is a perception on some shows that it’s better to have a female third or
boom operator wire the female talent. This is sometimes used as a
requirement for hiring. I have complete respect and love for our sound
sisters, but it is not necessary to be a woman to wire a woman. When it
comes to putting a wire on a woman, and really anyone at all, one must be
tactful and respectful, and most of all, calm and professional. At all times, the
focus must be on getting the best possible placement of the mic. You will
eventually find yourself reaching down a woman’s top and placing or
adjusting a microphone right between her breasts (that’s not your first time
wiring that person, however). Your demeanor must at all times be of the
consummate sound professional with a serious job to do. Always make sure
that a wardrobe person is there when you are wiring female talent. After a
while, there will be a comfort if you are doing things correctly and quickly,
and wardrobe may stop coming around to watch because they already know
you are good, and the actress will let you do whatever it takes, because it’s
much more efficient that way. This is when the show starts to feel like a team.

- How to handle this statement, “I do my own wiring,” from actors. Or “Can
wardrobe wire me?” This usually only comes up with females, and it’s
because someone in a project before you did not do a good job in providing
the comfort they needed to trust the soundman. Or they’re just nervous and
self-conscious. What I do is I allow them to do this, but I warn them that I
may need to make an adjustment or multiple adjustments if it doesn’t sound
good. They get what they want, and I have the final say. What ends up
happening is, either they actually do know how to wire themselves and it
sounds good most of the time (older actresses), and that’s just one less
person you need to wire. Or they really are awful at it (younger actresses),
and you have to keep adjusting it. If this is the case, I will tell them they can
save themselves all of this hassle by just letting me do it, or sometimes,
they’ll just decide to let me do it. Eventually, they give up and I end up wiring
them. When you give up your right to wire someone, ask for it later. It’s all
 about comfort, acting is not an easy job, you do your best not to add to their
stress.

- Use minimal tape. Sometimes I’ll let my third or the sound mixer wire
someone that I normally wire, because we’re in a hurry or I was busy
somewhere else, and the AD’s brought someone over to wire. Obviously, they
will wire the actor. Then I will usually have to go in and fix it because I’ve
dialed their mic in way more than they have, and I’ll pull up the shirt and find
15 pieces of tape on the shirt and skin. Completely unnecessary. On men, I
use three pieces of tape on the skin or maybe one or two on the shirt. If I can
put the mic on the shirt, and attach the cable to the shirt, that’s my
preference, as it will be less affected by sweat and it will not leave marks on
the actors skin. I like lots of slack on the cable, to allow for freedom of motion.
On their skin, I first attach the mic to the cavity between the pec muscles, as
high as I can go and not show through the shirt. Then I run the cable with
some slack along the bottom of the pec muscle to the side, and secure the
cable with a small piece of tape there. Then I run the cable down to the
beltline, and just above the belt line, I use my third small piece there. After
that it goes to the back, front pocket, or ankle. Or on a waist strap if. If they
are going to be sweating a lot, I will use a mic bra, which I discovered on Lost
with Bobby Anderson. This is a thin elastic strap with a mic holder and
Velcro attachment that allows the mic to be in the correct location without
worrying about sweat. On women, usually having them run the wire along
the bottom of their bra towards wherever the transmitter is located. I tend to
favor running the wire down along the side of the body. This prevents pulling
along the back, and works with natural movements like sitting down. And I
like to let them drop the mic down the front of their shirt, or bring the mic up
– I get them involved in the process so it’s not just me with my hands all over
them. The more sensitive areas I have them help me with, until the head of
the mic is in the general location where I want it, then I take over again and
attach the mic, or I will have them attach the mic EXACTLY where I want
them to do it. Often, when I do this, they realize that I really truly am a sound
professional who only wants the mic in its best spot, and they will after a
while, just let me do it. And I work very quickly, so we don’t linger too long.

- On women with larger breasts where the mic might get swallowed up
because there is no open space in between, and it will show if you poke it out,
be prepared to pick another spot, like on the shirt, favoring the side that the
dialogue is spoken. You want a pretty clean line of sight between the mouth
and mic, if you it looks like hooking it on the bra will not have a clean line of
sight, then don’t do it. Sometimes putting the mic on the bra induces noise
because the fabric of the shirt is noisy against the bra. Try to stay on the skin
in these cases. I try to go as high up before it bumps up against the fabric of
the shirt, or gets exposed.

 - When wiring ties, here’s how to do it: take a small square of Joe’s Sticky Stuff,
and fold over one side of it to create a “lip”. Roll the head of the mic in that lip,
so that there is essentially two layers of the stuff right below the mic grill.
Then, starting with the connector, and gently work the connector into the
bottom of the tie knot, and pull up and to the left (I’ve tried right, it doesn’t
hide the cable as well). Pull it all the way through until you’ve got the mic
head with the Sticky Stuff about to go into the knot, then gently pull the cable
with your left hand, and with your right hand carefully push the mic into
position just at inside the edge of the knot. You will notice that by inserting
the cable connector first, that you did not destroy the knot, you merely
widened the insertion point at the bottom of the knot so that you could have
room to position the mic head. Once you get the mic placed just inside,
squeeze all around the mic head where you’ve applied the sticky stuff. This
locks the mic in, and locks the fabric of the tie, as well as creating a safe zone
without touching the actual grill of the mic. Then, use one small piece of
surgical tape to run the cable along the backside of the loop of the tie, and
one more piece of tape to secure it to the loop where you drop the cable
down to the transmitter. If you do this right, you will have a fabulous
sounding tie mic, without disturbing the knot (you can even adjust the knot
slightly and tighten it), and you will be able to get the mic and pack placed
and done in under 3 minutes, sometimes in just 2 minutes. It is a very fast
process. If they are not wearing a jacket, then carefully run the mic down the
shirt behind the knot, and right where it goes into the shirt, use a small piece
of tape to secure it. You may need to keep an eye on it, sometimes the tie
movement or adjustments by wardrobe will losen this part. It’s just a fact of
life, you can’t always have a wireless mic rig that requires no further
attention.

- Sometimes, you can’t win. You can mess with a radio mic all day long, and
you can’t get the noise out. In that case, focus on getting the mic as close to
the actor’s mouth as possible so that the signal to noise ratio is as good as
you can get it. The latest versions of Izotope can eliminate clothing rustle,
which means that you can focus on getting a mic that sounds great for the
voice, and worry less about clothing rustle if you can’t seem to get rid of it
despite your best efforts. When I have the choice of a dull sounding mic with
no clothing noise, or a bright and loud sounding mic with some clothing noise,
I go for bright and loud. They can “fix it in post”.

- When you have clothing that’s difficult to wire, complicated, or needs extra
time, make sure you have wardrobe standing by. They can be very helpful,
and their presence is reassuring to the actors that you won’t mess up their
appearance.

- I always make the appearance of the wardrobe a priority. If you naturally
convey your attentiveness to how the wardrobe will look when you’re done
 wiring, guess what? Wardrobe will give you more leeway, and actors will give
you more cooperation because they will know that you’re on their side.

- Have Lectro RM on your phone. I use it all the time, because most of the time
it’s not easy to get to an actor’s mic pack. Figure out exactly where on your
phone the speaker is, and set the level quite low. Then put the phone right up
to the mic, so that you don’t change other packs that may be in the vicinity.






































 A Needle in Haystack – The Great Third/2nd Boom



- One of the greatest pleasures of working as a boom operator in the sound
department is when I have a truly awesome third, or utility. They do what I
ask without question, and usually, I don’t need to ask.

- All of you thirds and potential thirds out there, please take booming seriously.
It is an absolutely essential part of the job. Yes, you will get thrown on set at
the last minute sometimes, but a good boom op will make sure you are up to
speed and not overwhelmed.

- One of those little skills I nitpick about is booming the over the shoulder
coverage. You need to do exactly what the boom operator tells you, and you
need to listen closely to your mic. Try to match the distance of the boom mic
if the shot is very tight. If it’s not, then play a little bit close to your
foreground actor, so that it sound like they are closer and match the picture,
but do NOT get right on top of them if I’m set a little looser. It sounds very
weird to have a such a tight perspective in contrast to a looser one. Use those
ears, and make sure it sounds natural. Also, try to angle away at a 45 degree
angle to prevent phasing. In addition, there are usually noisemakers on the
camera like focusing motors, fans on HD monitors, etc. If any noisemakers
are present, and the actor is playing right next to the camera lens for eyeline,
please angle away from the noisemaker, as radically as possible while
maintaining the actor in the pick up pattern. You want to eliminate that back
ground noise shift between my mic which is out on the set in open air, and
your mic which is parked next to a noisy fan in a monitor which is not going
anywhere.

- Pay attention to what the upstage or more distant actor is doing in regards to
movement. Your position will have to change if they stand up. So you need to
split your attention between your actor and my actor in order to not get in
the shot. This is important, it’s very frustrating for the operator to try to
follow an actor, and the second they get up, there is big fat mic in the shot. All
that needed to happen is an adjustment, so pay attention to this. It’s crucial.

- Keep a tidy sound cart. When I need something during shooting, it’s nice to
be able to find it right away. Also, having a clear open space to be able to
prepare radio mics is extremely helpful. It gets confusing when it’s a mess.

- Use decent headphones when booming, otherwise you won’t be able to react
quickly enough during loud sections, or even react at all. We need you to hear
what we hear, so that we are all on the same page.

 - Get good at wiring, so that we can divide up wiring duties. I like when I have
my actors, and you have yours that you wire.

- Use a boom stand too. Don’t come on the set to boom, and lean your pole on
the wall.

- Be safe, and don’t run or move too aggressively on set. Bring what I need
quickly, but do it at a speed that means business but not panic.

- Stay tuned in to the set at all times. Things change from one take to the next,
and I may need you for something. When we’re rolling, you should not be
dozing off. Sure, check your phone or whatever, but keep one ear in and one
brain lobe on set.

- We love anticipation. Knowing what to do next and doing it without having to
be told comes from having experience, paying attention, and taking pride in
the job. It goes without saying, a third who always seems to have that thing
already done before I ask will never be without a job unless they feel like it.

- Having the flexibility and cheerfulness to accept my slightly oddball requests
is important. It shows that you’re a real team player. I know that I’m a fussy
boom op and sometimes my ideas are a little out of the box or strange. But
you don’t care, you just want to help. Good attitude, I love it. I would do the
same if I was a third for a boom op who was particular. It means I’ll probably
learn something new.

- Try to maintain a friendly attitude on set. It works wonders for getting things
done when you need help.

















 Noise Abatement (The Glamorous Part)



- Use rugs to cut down on noisy foot falls, and work with the camera
department to find where they are safe in the frame. Use gloves to keep your
hands clean, usually the rugs are filthy.

- Make sure that you cover the marks, and then have the 2nd AC stand by with
tape to make identical marks on the rug. After setting your rug positions, pull
the carpets back, and put your finger right at the “T” part of each mark. This
helps the ACs make the perfect duplicate on your rug. Do not let them lay
fresh marks on rugs. Inevitably, your rugs will need to move, and now the
camera department instantly lost their reference marks.

- Many floors have finishes that come off with standard paper tape. Use
painters tape, and pull the rugs up slowly.

- You can artificially extend a run of carpets by simply creating a 2 inch gap
between consecutive carpets. Humans instinctively step over that gap, and
with a long carpet run, you can get another foot or more this way.

- Try to run carpets before foot foam, foot foam has tendency to come off.

- Using the floor side of the foot foam, “clean” the shoe of dust and dirt, so that
the sticky side of the foot foam will have a better bite.

- Use a bar of soap on soles that squeak on smooth hard floors. Have actors
either sit and extend one leg at a time so you can hold their foot and rub and
cover the entire length of the soles of their shoes with a layer of bar soap. If
there is no a place to sit, have them face a wall and lean against it with one
hand in front of their shoulder, while they raise one foot, then take the soap
and rub the sole. It’s like you’re putting on horse-shoes.


- Keep an eye on the background and listen for their feet and miscellaneous
sounds. On indoor locations you can sometimes have them remove their
shoes once the shot is tight enough and the surface is safe.

- Black mouse pads make great coasters for drink glasses. Carry a few.

- Zipper handles and snap buttons often rattle – take tiny bits of Joe’s sticky
stuff, and use it to dampen these rattles by fusing the things that rattle
together. This also works well on keys that are hanging on police belts.

 - Use tennis balls on chairs that slide out, or use felt or Teflon pads.

- On doors that slam closed, use foot foam where the camera won’t see it, and
apply it on the noisy contact point. Examine where the first point of contact is,
and that’s where to apply it.

- Use WD-40 or silicone spray on noisy door or cabinet hinges. Always check
with set dressing before you do this, so you don’t seem oblivious. Often, they
can help and address the situation for you.

- If you have a set with blinds on a door, you can sometimes add the half-circle
adhesive weather strip on the right and left edges of the windows, and the
blind noise will go away.































 Conclusion

As you can see, there are a lot of little tricks to this job that add up to make it easier
and more effective. I try to remember as many things as possible, so if I’ve left
anything out, please reach out and contact me with information so I can keep adding
to this guide and make it as comprehensive as possible. I’ve got about 25 years
experience at this point, but it’s hard to scrape all of the peanut butter out of this jar.
What it really comes down to is using your ears critically, being willing to take
chances and try new things, not giving up quickly, and going with the flow and
adjusting on the fly. Every day is a little different, and every year the business
changes a little bit.

Thank you for your time and your ears!


Contact info:

Ken Strain
Kenstrain99@gmail.com
323-251-8821

Or find me on Facebook and message me.