Sound Is Your Friend
From the moment I got into the camera department, there was this very clear sense, although never stated, that the sound department and the camera department were at odds with each other. I’ve never understood it to be honest, and as the film industry evolves and younger members come in it thankfully seems to be fading. But there is still a weird animosity that many of us can sense.
Now, it’s true that one of the worst things to do is to nail a shot only to realize that there was a boom or a boom reflection in the shot, but the converse holds true too. The last thing a boom operator wants to hear is that they were in because the operator either misframed or changed their framing without letting them know adn of course, they dont wnat to grab perfect sound only to hear you screwed up. Sadly, when the reason for going again is found out, it's usually the boom operator who gets the heat, not the camera operator, because the people watching the monitor don’t see a misframe, they see a boom that shouldn’t be there.
Over the years, I have found that the boom op, when they are good, is often one of the people I rely on most on set. There is always that early days dating period that happens as you are feeling each other out and trying to figure out who this person is, but if that goes well, and you are both talented, you suddenly find that you have an extra set of eyes, extra set of ears, and an extra ally in your quest for cinematic perfection (which doesn’t exist btw).
Some tips I have come up with for making that relationship work and then a quick story. Mind you, this all assumes that I am working with someone who is good at what they do and wants to collaborate together. Sadly, this is not always the case, not only for boom ops, but for camera ops, and everyone on any set.
Before you start the show, shoot an email or text to the mixer, boom op and utility, to simply say hi, introduce yourself, and let them know you are psyched to work with them. This sets the tone before you even get to set.
The first day, make sure to seek them out and say hi.
Very early on, nicely ask the boom op to tell you if they ever have a plant mic anywhere. Most will offer up this information but there are some boom ops I have worked with who feel if they hide it well enough they don't need to tell anyone. I always explain to these folks that if they tell me where it is and I catch it on camera, that’s my mistake, but if they don't, that’s on them. Same goes with mic packs and body mics. Ask the utility to let you know where they have placed them so you are aware. Cars and car visors? Same.
As early as the first shot, once rehearsal is done and you've given your team the info they need, ask the boom op if you can show them the shot you are planning. This shows that you are aware of what they need and want you both to succeed.
Same goes for reflections and shadows. Ask them to walk through with you so you can check and they know what's happening. I’ll usually ask “Can you and I walk through the shot together quickly so I can see if I missed anything?” and then follow the walkthrough up with, “Everything good with you, anything you need?” Again, this allows them the opportunity to let you know if there is something that can make their job better and, potentially, the shot better, and at the same time, lets them know that you know how Important they are to be successful.
If you are working with someone who isn’t as experienced, and you are concerned about how they are physically going to get through a space, a reflection, or not throw a shadow, just ask them to walk through how they are going to do the shot so you can make sure. A good camera op should always be looking for these problems, just like a good boom op will always be doing the same.
If you finish a shot and the boom was in, either because of your error or theirs, don't make a big deal out of it. Quietly state that you want another and if someone asks why, explain what happened. If it was your fault, let people know it was your fault and conversely, if you feel it's appropriate, sometimes just take the hit anyway.
After each take, make sure to let the boom op know if there are any changes that they need to be aware of. As you finesse the shot, it often changes what they need to do and those changes will affect the boom op and how they do their job.
In my experience, if you start the show off on this foot, and you work collaboratively, it will pay off in spades. Your dance partner on the floor will become a second set of ears and eyes (remember they tend to hear more than you) and give you a heads-up on all sorts of stuff. Plus, in an ideal world, when things are going great and you suddenly need to change something up in the middle of a shot, a simple look will let them know that something is changing and they will be ready. A dream scenario, but sometimes it takes a little work. In the end, that all starts out with respect and communication.
Years ago, when I was just starting out on ER, we had a great sound team with a lovable crusty old mixer who had been doing it forever, and a boom op named James who was in diapers just like I was. He and I would run all over those sets, ducking and sprinting, whip panning and slamming around corners, and we had an absolute blast. I have no idea how he did what he did, but he was always right there and was often the guy to move something out of my way when I was about to bump into a cart or person. To say that we were a team would be an understatement as I’ve never seen a harder show for a boom op.
One day, we did a nine minute steadicam shot with about 13 major characters that, literally, took half a day to set up and accomplish. One of the big things about being a boom op, when you are having to maneuver in doorways, hallways and beyond, is figuring out how long the extendable pole should be that holds the mic over the actors. It needs to be long enough to reach in but not so long that they can’t maneuver around the set, actors, and camera. Watching this process is actually quite incredible and I have no idea how they do it.
Back to the shot. We rehearsed the scene, and James and the mixer were talking about how to pull it off. While it was a really hard shot for me (this was back in the days of film so I had to fly 1000’ feet of film rather than the usual 400), it was almost harder on him. James figured out how long the pole needed to be to take care of every part of the shot but one. There was one area where he just couldn’t figure out how to get behind me and still follow the action. While the mixer decided he could play that part of the scene on the lavalier mics the actors wore, we couldn’t physically get James out of the shot.
The mixer threw up his hands, said it couldn’t be done. As James and I were trying to figure out the physics of the move, unsuccessfully, one of us joked about how easy it would be if the hospital had a sound guy who was always in the frame so wouldn’t have an issue. As if a light bulb had gone off, James looked at me and said, “Why don't we just do that?”
So, with the help of the 2nd AD in charge of background, that’s just what we did. As I rounded the corner and panned into the room, following the actors, he was already waiting in place, dressed as a janitor standing with another janitor and I panned right through him. He was holding the boom up above his head, above the frame that the camera was seeing, and standing next to a ladder with another janitor on it, so he simply looked like a janitor holding something up in the air. As soon as the actors had passed him and I started coming around to the front of the actors, he simply fell in step behind me and by the time I was looking back at where he had been standing, the janitor on the ladder was leaning down to grab another long lightbulb tube that he was installing in the ceiling. No one ever gave it a second thought and if they did, it would just seem like a good piece of background action for a working hospital. To this day, it’s one of my favorite fixes and more importantly, our mixer with 40 years experience, was duly impressed.
The key to all of this is that this only worked out because James and I were a team, respected each other, and worked together to figure out issues. I understood that a problem for sound is a problem for camera and he understood that a problem for camera is a problem for sound. When it works like that, it’s simply the best, and getting there just takes laying a little groundwork ahead of time.
