Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277927
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 67 Gavin will configure the cameras while Dan does all the setup of the experiments. In addition to the talent, we had a small crew consisting of a producer, stereographer, editor, and myself. PRODUCTION Once we got to set, the realities of new workflows made the pace extremely slow at first, which is common. Because the shot is super-wide and there are no other angles to cut to, typically, scenes in cinematic VR are much longer and also need more rehearsals. If talent, camera, audio, or props mess up during a take, you need to reset and take it from the top. In this way, shooting for VR is much more like a live-action stage play than shooting for TV and film. The first three days we shot two episodes. But by the end, after a rhythm was established, we were shooting episodes in a half day or so. It also didn't help that the first two episodes we shot were the most complicated: exploding airbags that shot colored powder in the air and falling back into a bathtub filled with water in the vein of Inception. The bathtub episode pushed me to the limits of my skills as a location sound mixer. In addition to the constraints of shooting for VR, we were also in an empty rock quarry in the middle of Texas with major wind. Several times during the episode, Dan falls back in a chair from an elevated platform into a bathtub full of water and paint. During pre- production, we discussed that he wouldn't be talking immediately before or after being submerged. But once we were on set, we realized if we stopped down every time, the reactions wouldn't be authentic and the viewer would lose immersion. I rigged up the transmitter with Nexcare tape, added a couple layers of plastic bags, and used a safety pin and a Hush lav concealer to affix it to the inside of Dan's shirt upside down so water wouldn't fill the capsule of the DPA 6061. Because the wind was so gnarly, I had Bubblebee WindBubbles on both guys, which really saved the day because they did a great job of blocking the wind and the open-cavity design allowed water to flow out, so they only got slightly waterlogged. I didn't love the wet sound, but it was useable and didn't break the scene. There was also a Sennheiser MKH 416 in a Spacer Bubble by the camera to help pick up the splash sound and some of the dialogue—which was a lifesaver later in post. We even had a conversation on set about painting the boom out, but the idea was rejected because there were lots of moving clouds in the background, a harsh shadow from the sun, and being a stereoscopic camera means they would have to paint it out twice. After each scene, I would de-mic Dan, air out the capsule, and dry off the pack. Dan also had to refill the tub (by himself), so I was afforded enough time to be ready for the next take. Gavin joked to me, "You are really up against it with this one," and I answered, "Uh, ya!" There ended up being eight episodes shot over three separate weeks of shooting, each with its own obstacles to overcome. The second week, I was on another shoot with Oculus and unable to make it, so I reached out to local Austin mixer Siegen Bretzke to fill in. He was briefed on how we shot the first episodes and what challenges there were and did a great job recording in a difficult situation. I took another trip back to Texas in early March to wrap up shooting the final episodes and then dove into post-production. AMBISONICS Like with any project, you need to find out what the delivery specifications are for the platform that it will be released on. In this case, there were eight episodes ranging from 12 to 16 minutes, and the final mix for Oculus was an ambisonic spatial mix with a stereo head-locked file. Ambisonics is not channel-based audio like stereo or 5.1, but is an encoded Camera setups