Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469942
possibly becoming FOD, I decided to abandon them. The mics in the pilot's masks gave us perfectly acceptable sound whether their masks were open or closed. Ultimately, there was no a need to put a lav on the outside of their survival vests. Eliminating the lav and eliminating the FX mics enabled us to use only one PDR per actor, per flight. Given the FOD concerns, the less gear we put in the planes, the better. I also did do a lot of stereo recordings on the ground; the planes starting and warming up, taxiing away, taxiing toward us, taking off, landing, and doing flyovers. Fighter jets are LOUD. I mean crazy LOUD!!! You can feel the heat from their afterburners even when they are nearly an entire runway length away. The carrier itself was a challenge. Aircraft carriers are enormous! They can be the equivalent of up to twenty stories tall. Everything you bring onto them has to be hand carried up many flights of very steep narrow stairs called ladders. Carts can't be rolled through their hallways because there are multiple watertight doors that constantly have to be stepped over. All the walls, floors, and ceilings are made of metal, which does not make for a great environment for radio reception. Additionally, there is a ton of onboard Navy equipment that is transmitting a lot of RF. Naturally, on an active ship, anything that's transmitting cannot be turned off. Somehow we were always able to find enough clear radio frequencies to get the job done; it took a lot of scanning to make that happen. My main cart for Top Gun: Maverick was several stacked SKB cases. The larger top case contained a Zaxcom Mix 12, a Deva 16, two Lectrosonics Venues, a Meon power supply along with Comtek and Lectro IFB transmitters. This section held essentially everything needed to record all of the dialog on the carrier. The top section is relatively easy for two people to carry wherever it is needed. By adding a PSC Pelican lithium battery to the onboard Meon, it had all-day power. When the carrier was docked, I did all the scenes. When the carrier went to sea for a few days, I reached out to Eric Ballew, who had been my go-to consultant for carrier research. Eric is a Sound Mixer, who, while enlisted in the Navy, had been deployed on a carrier. Being "deployed" was very familiar territory for him. He did a great job on the work at sea. Thank you, Eric. In addition to all the inflight recordings and the work on the carrier, there was one other big sound challenge; a sailboat scene that was not boom-able and had to be lav mics only. This scene was filmed multiple times, in multiple locations. The big issue was that there would be a lot of wind on the lavs. This is one of the places where I've found that DPA lavs really shine. To me, the DPA's seem to be the most wind resistant of all the lavs I've ever tried. Each time, I would set up down below with a Deva big rig and a couple of 411's. Below deck on a boat is where those who get seasick, really get seasick. For some reason, I am not afflicted. On Dunkirk, I spent forty-plus days below deck on the Moonstone, a small wooden boat that would pitch like crazy in heavy seas. It was not a boat that was really meant to sail on the ocean. For some reason, while almost everyone else was incredibly seasick, I found I was impervious. I never even took Dramamine. I don't know why, but evidently I am immune to sea sickness. Each time we shot the Top Gun: Maverick sailboat scene, we wired the actors up with SM's and DPA 4071's. The lavs worked and sounded great, despite the high winds on the water. The DPA's always worked. Most of Top Gun: Maverick was shot at several naval air stations that we returned to multiple times. Each location had its own set of particulars that we had to figure out. At one base, this block of frequencies didn't work, at another, a different block of frequencies didn't, or there was a big humming noise in the corner that we couldn't turn off in that hangar. Top Gun: Maverick ended up filming for more than a year of principal photography, during which many old friends came and went, and all of us who went the distance had the opportunity to really bond with each other. With all the problem solving that each department had to do, we all did our best to help each other figure out how best to get the job done. Everyone on the main crew was extremely supportive of each other. It really was an extremely collaborative undertaking. For me, it certainly was a learning experience, both technically and philosophically. I came away from the experience with nothing but respect and admiration for every service member I met. From the pilots and mechanics who helped guide me to the PR Department that showed me the path to connect to the plane's Comms, to the members of the Navy brass that I later spent time with. Everyone was kind and thoughtful and extremely helpful. On more than one occasion, I had an Admiral sitting next to me at the sound cart for most of the day. They were thoughtful, caring, well-educated people, whose main objective was to do whatever they could to act in a way that would always minimize casualties for those whom they commanded. None of them took that responsibility lightly. I was very impressed. Summing up, Top Gun: Maverick was a very challenging shoot for all departments. Everyone, cast and crew, worked extremely well together. We all did our best to support each other, and to problem solve all of the unusual situations we were given. I'm proud to say that every line of the inflight dialog in the movie is from the production tracks. Even the labored breathing you hear from Tom Cruise in the trailer is production track. Everyone who worked on this film went above and beyond, and it shows. In the end, I think Top Gun: Maverick turned out to be a pretty darned good movie. Now, grab some earplugs and go see it on a big screen in an actual movie theater, with a nice loud Atmos surround sound system! Over and out, Mark Weingarten.