Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1487667
28 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Winter 2023 for wider shots, with the CMIT taking the primary role on exteriors, as well as the Neumann KMR 82 and sometimes the Sennheiser 8070. The big change from the first film was his switch to the Shure Axient wireless system after he first used them on In the Heights. Mank was actually the first film released that used the Axient Digital system on set. Despite being shot after In the Heights (and West Side Story), it was released many months earlier. "The Axient Digital system, from my end of it, has been very stable and user-friendly. It has handled lots of transmitters running simultaneously in difficult RF environments, generally without a fuss. It will manage the frequencies of all the transmitters with Show Link, which is really nice, as I already have enough to worry about." Drew explained why he continues to invest in his equipment package. "One of the big issues is that we are independent contractors. You've invested a lot of your money over the decades to build an ecosystem that you keep populating with more equipment that is still reverse compatible to what you already had. The thought of changing it all over is a huge investment that no one is gonna pay you for. You're not going to get a penny more from a producer because you've got this system or another system. But it's part of your cost of doing business. Because you know the twist that you're feeling in your bowels when it's all going haywire ... what would it be worth to have that go away? "I use the Cantar X3 as a recorder, with a Cantaress mixing surface for tracks one through twelve, and a Cantarem 2, alongside for those scenes when I need to expand to tracks thirteen through twenty-four. In the end, I was able to get my cart to most places where we shot, however, I also wanted to have a bag rig setup, and have the ability to leave the transmitters on the actors for times when I'd be in a more mobile mode. If we have to shoot on the docks or the boat or a car, I could just grab a bag rig that had the receivers matching the existing transmitters and go over the shoulder. "I used six Shure ADX5D's (actually these were some of the very first ADX5D released) in two PSC 6-Packs (as they're Drew's cart being loaded onto the yacht by crane. Utility Ryan Baker and Boom Operator Patrick Martens visiting the Parthenon.