Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469840
68 S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y As the bulk of us are aware, that type of shooting has long since gone extinct in all but the rarest of productions. Endless demand for mindless content, the advancement of the technology to make it possible to produce, and the current philosophy of production being led by teams of accountants, has completely redefined the process of moving from dream to screen. On any given day, most of us deal with multi-camera setups, multiple booms for dialogue coverage, huge cast counts, and maddening numbers of wireless mics for iso tracks, Comteks, IFB's, digital video demands, and audio sends that never seem to be enough. And while the cableman position still exists, it has evolved into FAR more than just wrangling cables. And, it has been aptly renamed "utility sound technician." In all of this, we have barely touched on the continual need for a 2nd boom operator to keep up with the multi-camera coverage that is being done now. A UST on a busy shoot day is often stretched thin just to keep up with the daily tasks, let alone having time to grab a boom and sprint to set to capture half of a scene. This puts undue pressure on the entire sound team that only serves to keep everyone in catch-up mode. The highly talented and very experienced Patrushkha Mierzwa has written a book detailing the bulk of what happens with the UST, and it is an astonishing realm of responsibility with an equally astonishing workload. So, the question begs, if the UST has been a one-person position for so long, why should we be arguing for a 4th? Can't we just get a qualified 3rd and be done with it? The answer is yes and no. Sure, we can get a qualified 3rd if there are any available. I have been told that in many markets, these well-experienced and seasoned techs are in very high demand and the available pool is not as deep as one would like. In some markets, demand is such that there are less than one or two persons ever available at all. To fix this condition, it is imperative that new people be trained in the ways of the art and be brought onto crews in an education position. Different regions will have different titles, such as utility sound trainee, UST 2nd, or what have you, but regardless of the name, the job needs to be filled and the replacements for our future need to be trained. The "no" side of the answer is that the workload is still expanding. In many situations, the sound team is working at a frenetic pace just to keep up with production, let alone getting ahead on the day. It is untenable and unreasonable to expect any person or team to work at this pace and under these loads without severely compromising the final product, which are clean audio tracks. In addition to the common tasks that we are all familiar with; wiring, pushing carts, getting power, coordinating with other departments and whatnot, the ever- expanding need for radio frequency coordination and deployment, the growing need for remote audio sends that have to be managed and maintained, the multitude of video feeds that need to be acquired, the waterfall of digital paperwork like timecards, and endless email chains are all tasks that the UST is assigned. THEN there is the continual need for second boom, carpets, foot foam, and chasing down offending noises around a location and the job seems more like the tale of Sisyphus than it does a desired career path. On Tim Allen's The Clauses: Kevin Compayre, Misty Conn, Todd Overton, and trainee Koehler. Bud Raymond's five-person team on S2 of P-Valley On Legacies S4: Mixer Shirley Libby CAS, boom Allen Lee Williams III (CAS Associate), UST's McKinney Lillian & Mike Sal