Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1399159
Fall 2021 – LOCAL695.ORG 29 Rehearsals com- menced in the week prior to produc- tion start, but with actors at home. Jake Gyllenhaal was given a dupli- cate Bluetooth headset to practice with, as adjusting the attached boom mic was impor- tant to his action. Zoom worked well enough to get everyone connected, at least for these rehearsals. Admittedly, Day One of shooting was buggy. The issues we encountered were too many Zoom users, not enough band- width, as well as a lag that proved to be inconsistent, causing a varying offset between "real time" and "phone call time." I pivoted quickly for Day Two (and beyond) to a cellular-based system, where everyone phoned into a conference call and remained muted until their turn. I had two cellphones in the conference, one for output (I captured the aggregate phone call on an isolated track) and one for input so I could provide sound effects and vocal cues to the actors in the conference. JK Audio's Bluekeeper provided the interface between cell- phones and the mixing panel, and the application Soundplant was employed for triggering audio cues. Multiple audio sends had to be used as well. For example, the lighting dimmer board operator, who needed to coordi- nate the illuminated call signal at Jake's desk with the calls occurring in the story, wore a Lectrosonics M4R receiver with pre-fade boom mic in his left ear, post-fade phone call track in his right ear, and channel one of the walkie-talkie in both, all routed through my Sonosax mixer. As much as possible, the filmmakers wanted to film the drama like a play. That is, let it run as long as the narrative (or the camera card) would allow. With takes that often exceeded twenty-five minutes, the strain on Knox White, my Boom Operator and frequent collaborator for twenty-five years, would be substantial. Production agreed to rent an exoskel- eton system for Knox to wear that would help alleviate the physical strain on his body from holding the boom for such long periods of time. Fellow Boom Operator and Local 695 member Bryan Cahill was able to set us up with a rig and instruction. Knox was able to monitor his boom mic in pre-fade listen, while Comtek and the dailies mix were fed the scratch phone call, allowing both sides of the call to be heard. Granted, the phone call and the picture were out of sync, but that's a mat- ter easily fixed in Editorial. I monitored the phone call, Knox's boom, the actor lavs, and my laptop, busily switching solo between them. When production was completed, I was able to retrieve the actor-recorded audio from all ten actors' kits and at last, provide clean isolated tracks to post production. In all, this little COVID-friendly movie, simple on the face of it (one main actor, mostly seated, in just two rooms), had a great many moving parts and proved to be among the most challenging projects I've worked on. But since the craft was able to assist the star rather than hinder him in order to best tell the story, then I'll say all the extra effort was well worth it. Special thanks to: Peter Schneider and all the helpful folks at Gotham Sound for their support. Patrick Martens and Stephen Vittoria, whose command of language is enviable. Ten actors' kits (ready to ship) Boom Operator Knox White with AirFrame exoskeleton system, mask, and goggles Jake Gyllenhaal as Officer Joe Baylor in the LAPD Communications Division. © Netflix