Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1057466
25 I needed a small multitrack capability at this stage and experimented with the Zoom F8 and the DPA 5100 surround mic which we could easily hide in the BMW M5 cars. Given we had several cars with different camera rigs, their relative low cost made it possible to hide one in every car. We used radio mics on the actors, primarily so that we could record a rushes track for editorial purposes. This also allowed McQ to monitor performances in a follow vehicle. Supervising Sound Editor James Mather, his dialog editors, along with Re-recording Mixer Mike Prestwood Smith, would later decide which of the mics worked best. We also mounted transmitters on various parts of the car exterior with DPA 4160 mics to get sound FX. We followed the chases in a specially adapted high-speed-chase vehicle with antennae mounted for sound and video and remote camera heads. The van was rigged to carry McQ, DP (who also operated a remote head camera), video assist, another camera remote, and 1st ACs. We would chase the cars or motorbikes whist shooting either from cameras mounted on the action vehicles, tracking vehicles, or very often, an electric bike. We always had a team pre-rigging the next car or bike to be used after a shot was complete. Our team rigged mics on every camera tracking vehicle whether it be the Russian Arm, an electric camera bike or ATV. The rear-mounted mics on the cars and bikes were rigged close to the exhausts, while others were mounted close to the engines. I was particularly looking for FX that sounded real, knowing that sound FX editors could use these later as a base to create a much bigger soundscape. I was not always looking for super-clean FX but usually something raw that sounded more documentary style rather than super-clean FX. That said, I did usually try to record clean interior ambiences in 5.1 with the DPA 5100 surround mic. The Grand Palais sequences were set in a big music event with lasers, light shows, and projected graphics that all had to be in sync, so we worked closely with an AV company to provide audio playback linked to a timeline based on timecode from playback to ensure continuity from shot to shot of graphics, sound, and lighting. Several weeks were spent working in Paris shooting a major action sequence alongside the River Seine. The sequence is where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) once again meets Soloman Lane (Sean Harris). Sean had previously established that the voice of his character was quiet yet menacing. It was not easy to record during the mayhem of the wild action sequence, but we managed to capture it while retaining his performance. The following location was in Queenstown on New Zealand South Island where we started with sequences set in a medi-camp prior to shooting helicopter sequences. Steve Harris joined our crew here, as he had worked on several films in New Zealand, thus very familiar with the landscape. Many of our locations required travel by helicopter, so I needed an ultra-small shooting rig that could give me the facilities of my normal rig yet fit easily into a helicopter. I built a rig on one of the larger all- terrain Zuca carts fitted out with a Zoom F8, a custom- built aux output box with the ability to send feeds to video and comms, an IFB transmitter, a Lectrosonics VR field with six radio mic receiver channels powered by a lead acid block battery in the base. Photo: Chiabella James. On our first helicopter shooting day, the 1st AD told me with a grin, we would be starting with dialog on the first shot and had dialog to record from Henry Cavill hanging outside a helicopter. Fortunately, I had already taken the precaution of having bone conduction earpieces made for Henry. These were invaluable when connected to a Lectrosonics PDR to record his dialog in flight. I also needed to record sound FX inside the helicopter, and I used the smallest multitrack with timecode that I could find, the Zoom F8. We fixed a DPA 5100 5.1 microphone to the interior roof and hid the F8 under a seat. This was done so if it were caught in camera, the 5100 could look as if it were part of the helicopter. We were able to start/stop and adjust levels on the F8 without needing to access it by using the F8 controller app on an iPhone. Similar to the Paris chase sequences, I wanted the FX to sound real and not like enhanced library recordings. Thus, a little wind Zuca cart with Zoom F8