Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1122919
29 faders on the mixer's right side, and temporarily taped off the Channel-4 fader of an actor who's not in the shot, using his label from his radio mike receiver. I also taped over his radio mike receiver's screen for good measure. I can tape off the faders at the top, full-open position, to keep them out of the way because the Cooper mixer can power off individual channels. I also label the faders with the character names on the front edge of the mixer. I usually don't have to highlight individual character's dialog on my script sides, but if I do, I use the same color as their channel. "Constant Consistency Continually" is my motto. In addition to numbering cases, you need to label their contents somehow, either by category (e.g., "CABLES") or more detailed contents. Whatever system you decide on, it needs to be intuitive and quickly learned because you may be using different crews from job to job. I do a lot of my business with one major equipment dealer and rental house, but I make it a point to buy a fair amount of stuff from another company as well. Not only does this keep both of them competitive on prices, but if I'm in the middle of the Sahara Desert and the camel kicks over my sound cart, I'm not limited to what one of them has in stock for immediate replacements. (Not an unrealistic example—in Morocco, my local third person accidently dumped over the sound cart in the street. Fortunately, it was rental gear.) Have you ever tried to set up a high-limit credit account on the spot, over the phone, with a company you've never done business with before? (Besides, I get twice as many free T-shirts, hoodies, and baseball caps.) Don't neglect to visit smaller dealer/rental houses as well. They may be willing to take more time to help you learn the equipment, or open the store at 3 a.m. Sunday to handle a last-minute emergency. PRE-PRODUCTION If you're just starting out and can't afford to buy everything at once, rent the recorder and radio mikes. They rent for a smaller fraction of the purchase price and evolve the most rapidly. WARNING: Don't buy a new model as soon as it comes out—the first few production runs sometimes have problems that require a hardware fix that is expensive or impossible! This happened to me twice—I didn't learn the first time. My first-run Vega diversity radios were in the shop more than on the set for several years. My first-run StellaDAT was so unreliable, I was happy when it got stolen. Also, if a well-established product suddenly is offered by the manufacturer at a discount, it may be about to be replaced by a new model—this happened to me recently after I bought $8,000-plus of name-brand lavs. Equipment insurance is as important as the gear itself, but takes an entire article to do the subject justice. When brand-new gear doesn't work out of the box If you don't know the director, research their shows on IMDb, and watch some of them to get a feel for the director's style and technique. Talk to people who have worked with her or him.