Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469942
Summer 2022 – LOCAL695.ORG 25 IEM unit in the backpack connecting a harness to the helmet. Lav mic and ear pad pieces were built into each helmet. The backpacks also held power, lights, and fan controls for the suits. Zach and Colin had my IFB system feeding into the FS II pack to help check the actors and on-set staff for any issues. The Clear- Com FS II packs could be programmed to fit each person's need. The original request had the actors being fully dressed with helmet fitted in a dressing trailer off stage. Then, like all the NASA footage we have seen, walk them to the stage and on set. Challenges were revealed by the amount of crew in an expanded trailer with many frantic hands dealing with our young actors. Add in our technical challenge of having a good RF signal to ensure we were good to go. A harness was made to run through the stage wall to a small box version with antenna tree of our system inside the trailer out in the parking lot. This extended our ability to hear, talk, and network with the gear and our crew. However, we could not see anything, and what seemed like a good idea did not complete in a smooth or timely fashion on the first day of spacesuits. Sometimes the better solution is not always about more gear. The kids were not happy to stand for so long while this whole suit thing took place. Putting the helmets on is a routine of hold in the air, connect the harness, squeeze down, and fit to lock-in, without pinching the harness. For the unpracticed, this is another barrier if you are standing up. To listen to all of this and discern the flow while blind was a bit riotous in a kind observation. We evolved to having a simple, long wood bench made for our talent to sit on within eyesight of our carts on stage. Clothing and packs were done in the dressing trailer. The helmets and final fits were done on the stage. This helped us to calm the energized actors and work both front and back of the actors and stunts suiting up. We always got a "good to go" check before anyone left our care and walked onto the set. If there was an issue, we could address it right there with eyes on and all within COVID protocols with less people and more space at each step. Production adjusted the expectations to give us the needs to make good. Then we all got better at the process together. On first unit, we had six Shure transmitters going along with six IEM systems for the mix minus back to the talent, and then I had some Lectrosonics units running for boom and plants plus my crew IFB and video village on a Lectro IFB system. At no time did we have interference due to the homework in design and frequency selection Peter Schneider performed for us. We had full scans of all stages ahead of time, and we had the full cooperation of all departments using RF devices, i.e., walkies, running lights, camera crew, crane, controlling special effects gear, or visual effects capture devices. As much effort we put in to making the helmets work, we had to consider setups with the helmets off. OFF due to storyline and OFF due to the actor being off camera, and the helmets are a pain to put on and off long into the day. Having the same connectors on the harness break point as my own lav mics was a convenient savings. This was important since my transmitter system was different from the spacesuit units. Zach, our Boom Op, could see the first time an actor snuck up on set without a helmet and quickly pull a lav out of his boom stand kit to connect the actor back into our channel lineup … so the actors isolated in the helmets could hear the non-helmet person in the dialog runs or just any other interaction. Having these extra lav mics were good for backups, and good for on-set workflow, as well as those extra lines of dialog for post. I had lived through and learned more about other shows having the on-or-off face shield issue. Our helmets could remove the face shield for reflection issues. That was a bonus for us giving a more natural voice to record without lots of pressure build-up Sound Utility Colin Byer, Spacesuit Technician Jonathan Faber, and Comms Mixer Kyle Lamy place microphone and earpice in the helmet. Screenshot of Shure wireless workbench showing perfect RF levels and decoded bitstream quality, despite running the tx at only 10mW.