Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1075515
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y W I N T E R 2 0 1 9 25 My only interaction with an F1 was using it as a backup while doing a couple months of classical recording decades ago. Were you using the F1 for actual location recording? No, I put my F1 to use recording VO/narration and sound effects. Did you jump on the DAT bandwagon? I owned a DAT machine, but couldn't bring myself to use it as a primary format. However, I was instructed to use it as primary for a distant location project. Day One, we're in the middle of gypsum dunes, the windstorm kicked up, it was a white-out. The scene looked amazing. The DAT didn't make it through the day, but the Nagra backup did! So, I found a better solution in the high-resolution, four-track, open-reel Nagra D, which I became more or less synonymous with for well over 10 years. I needed three machines, not just one. The second as a backup and for additional tracks later on and the third for transfer. I know I caught a bit of grief over it, was even called a "bit queen" for the higher resolution, but it was a sweet sounding recorder. Do you recall any bumps transitioning from tape to disk- based recorders? When the big change occurred from linear to disk-based recording, the transition was fairly swift since traditional transfer operations were closing down throughout the industry. Once disk technology became adopted, higher track count formats followed steadily. You have an incredible body of work that includes thou- sands of scenes. What are a few that come to mind off the top of your head? Well, I liked the authenticity in Lindsey's drowning scene in The Abyss submersible through Bud's resuscitation effort in the moon pool. In the first Pitch Perfect movie, Anna Kendrick's "Cups/When I'm Gone" audition scene was a nice instance of a collaboration between the director, DP, and myself for the live record. Live records are often a good chance to discuss filming options. The bank heist scene from Heat was a dynamically staged sequence. With that scene, in order to augment the sync footage and provide post production with more options, we did lunchtime recordings all week with each one of the weapons used during the scene in each of the urban environments in which they occurred. Is that okay? That's great! You've probably recorded under unusual circumstances as well. Oh, sure. In the pre-OSHA days, I had mixed in car trunks, sometimes with the lid shut. I am pretty compact. I've also been strapped up on the roof of a city bus in a speed rail cage, spent months below deck on boats on the Pirates films, in the bowels of a train on The Lone Ranger, squeezed below a desk on the bridge of a container ship on Blackhat. My goodness! Nothing makes me appreciate the safety of the mix room more than hear- ing things like that from our production mixer colleagues! Understandably! Given the caliber of projects you've worked on, you've probably had some pretty awesome boom operators and team members through the years. I have had plenty of good fortune in this industry, but none more so than with the men and women I have had alongside me doing the decades of work. There has been much deeply rewarding work along the way, but it has rarely, if ever, been easy. Our department is a tight unit of only three people, four only under the rarest of circumstances. As the technology evolved, our department's load increased. Yet the greatest talents of the crew I've had the pleasure of working with haven't been the degree with which they practice their mad skills, or how well they've been able to adapt to the circumstances, it has been the strength, love, and support they've shown me and to each other. I know that we've often spent far more time with each other than we probably have had with our families, and I know that it's only one part of what has made it hard. If each and every one of them hadn't put their heart and soul in those projects, I couldn't have accomplished a thing. With my heartfelt thanks to all: Mark Agostino, Jon Ailetcher, Nicholas Allen, Michael Anderson, Don Coufal, Rene Defrancesch, Thomas Giordano, Jeffrey Humphreys, Randall Johnson, the late Fred Johnston, Alana Knutson, Peter Kurland, George Leong, Jason Lewis, Joseph Magee, Kevin Maloney, Robert Maxfield, Thomas Payne, Mathew Price, Brian Robinson, and Knox White. When you're away from the set, what do you enjoy doing? I enjoy getting on a bicycle and climbing whatever hills I can find with some pals, even better if I can do it with either or both of my two sons. I like cooking, wish I'd be a better baker, but it is a new thing and I've still got plenty of time. Cocktails have fairly recently entered my life and I am enjoying doing the research. Ha! Any closing words? Looking back, I'm sure there was no better way than I've found here to learn that you can't control everything. Sometimes when I just relaxed and had a little faith, some really amazing things have occurred. So with that, I'd just like to thank the CAS Board for this honor and my family and friends for all the years of support. • More climbs awaiting my son and I on the Angeles Crest.