Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1455123
SPRING 2022 – LOCAL695.ORG 25 We test seven brands with each actor). The chosen lav then accompanies that actor from vocal prerecords through post. In prerecords, the music mixer adds our boom and lavs to the big fat studio mic, giving post the option to start the song using the same mic I used on set for dialog. I also attend the vocal prerecords, placing mics, and helping actors maintain the scene's energy—if they're dancing or emotional in the scene, the sound of that dancing or that emotion needs to carry through. We approached live singing for WSS and TTB as if we were cutting an album: Microphone placement is always our top priority. It's everything. We battle hard to place the mics where they need to be. Film sets need to be prepped acoustically. Non-period and extraneous sounds need to be eliminated. Every actor/dancer who needs to hear music for whatever reason gets an earwig and a Thumper for background dancers. Creating individual mixes for the music department enabled them to listen to live vocals in one ear and prerecorded vocals in the other. This also works very well to keep singers in sync for lip-syncing PB songs. For big loudspeaker playback scenes where the speakers have obliterated the possibility of recording anything useful: After the company finishes filming the music scene, my team hands out earwigs and IFB's to all the actors/dancers. They then repeat the entire musical piece as a wild track without singing. Instead, they make all the other sounds they did while filming—dance steps, prop sounds, non-scripted vocalization, and ambiences. We plant effects mics for specific sounds and swing booms at various perspectives to capture a true, in-sync Foley/ambience track. This wild track is another opportunity to record good FX or ambience. The production sound team are the eyes and ears on set, always scoping for anything in front of or near the camera to record. Another trick we like to slip in for vocals is to record the first line of each song live on set with the same mic used for dialog to help the transition in post. My crew is everything! Without them, I would be dead in the water. For the last fifteen years, my team has consisted primarily of Jerry Yuen, Mike Scott, and Terence McCormack Maitland. Each of them is amazing and genuinely committed to advancing our level of sound on every film. I've been very fortunate to work with this talented team. In the end, whether we're recording dialog/vocals on a lav and a boom simultaneously, capturing multi-mic sound effects, Wild tracks, musical Foley tracks, or ambiences, my goal is to give most sound as much variety and as many elements as possible for the mix. It's no different from any form of art-making; you need a full set of tools to realize your vision. I believe musicals have become the most complex, challenging, and rewarding films to record. There are so many elements to deal with (and so many personalities to navigate!). In addition, musicals bring out the best collaboration between the production and post-production sound departments. Most films I've worked on don't usually lock in their post sound team until after production. So on musicals, it's refreshing (and incredibly helpful) to get to talk before filming begins. I couldn't be happier with the TTB and WSS final mixes. They are rich, complex, subtle, smooth, and beautiful. But, most of all, they are real (or as real as you can get without filming one hundred percent live and painting out booms). In addition, both films' music is stunning, adding excellent quality and depth to the overall mix—without overpowering the detail. Terence McCormack Maitland prepping headsets and a couple booms for a dancer wild track on West Side Story Acoustic treatment to the concave ceiling for the live song "One Hand One Heart" inside the basement of a church.