Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277960
26 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Summer 2020 My crew on the first season of The Mandalorian consisted of Ben Wienert on Boom and Veronica Kahn on Utility duties. I could not have asked for a better sound crew. They both stepped up to the challenges of this show and excelled. It was a pleasure to have them on my team. This show has its own set of unique challenges when it comes to sound. When watching the series, you may have noticed that our lead character, The Mandalorian, has a very shiny costume. We see absolutely EVERYTHING reflected in it! Production loves seeing the reflections of the environment rolling by in his helmet or the stars reflecting in his suit as he's flying through space. There was always a delicate balance of how and where the boom can be placed to stay out of all these reflections, and my team did a fantastic job of doing just that! Unlike most other episodic television shows, we are fortunate that most of our main characters have one costume that they wear throughout the season. This enables us to build microphones into costumes and leave them in place. We built a microphone and transmitter inside The Mandalorian's helmet. The first season, he had six different helmets. We built mics into each one so we were always prepared no matter which helmet he would wear. He also usually wears an earwig to hear the other actors, as well as the VOG mic from the director. We have actors in animatronic masks and some with prosthetics that also need the earwig communications to hear direction properly, as well as to hear the other actors. To facilitate communication on our sets, we always have the VOG and speaker set up and ready to go. I record the show on a Cantar X3 using my Cooper 208 mixing panel. My Boom Operators use Schoeps CMIT's and a combination of Sanken, DPA, and an occasional Countryman B6 for lavs. When we plant mics, it can be a Schoeps CMC6/41, CMC6/4, or DPA 4098. As a Production Mixer, The Mandalorian has indeed been an exciting show, and one with unique challenges. I'm proud of our great sound team and an excellent collaboration from our filmmakers and crew. Together as a team, we have all learned so much, and I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to be part of this groundbreaking show, utilizing techniques that I believe will be the future of filmmaking. When we were able to position the screens where they could best be utilized, knocking down unwanted sound reflections, it allowed us to capture usable dialog in this challenging environment. On the set of The Mandalorian, season one. © 2020 Lucasfilm Ltd.