How I work
Don’t fight the location. Work with it. Record it.
A waterfall, a market, cicadas, traffic, an air conditioner nobody can switch off: all of that is going to be there whether I like it or not. So I get the microphone close enough that the voice sits well above it, hold that position so the takes cut together, and record the place properly on its own so the edit can use it rather than fight it.
For directors: with actors
- Miking up in the right sequence alongside costume and makeup, and rebuilding the rigs as often as the costume changes.
- Watching the blocking, and in the director’s or the DOP’s ear when it is needed and nowhere near it when it is not.
- Young casts are familiar ground. A chaperone is present, I explain before touching, and the kids thread the lav under their clothing where they can.
For post: how your files arrive
- Sync, naming, track layout, report format and one contact agreed with your post team before the shoot.
- Everyone who speaks in the mix and on their own track, named by person, one track map for every recorder.
- Timecode from one master, jammed to every camera and recorder at call and after lunch.
- Room tone and wild tracks at every location; one merged sound report before the DIT leaves.