Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1505029
12 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Fall 2023 we didn't have was video assist. It existed but not on our show. The director just asked the camera operators if they got the shots. Imagine, no video village. Four or five years later, on another sitcom called Family Matters, we finally had video assist for the director (and reluctantly for the producers). The three cameras (yes, three) were even switchable for the audience. A dozen years after Take Five, the last film sitcom I did, had digital multitrack audio recorders, timecode slates, full duplex RF PL's, and wireless, switchable, color video assist. The technology helped but it wasn't long before film sitcoms were a thing of the past. After a couple of Oscars that are memorable for the train station location and the slap, we did the 95th at The Dolby Theatre in early March. I believe my first was number sixty- four at The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and I missed one year along the way, which equals … a bunch. Sometimes math is elusive. One thing is for sure, the A2's got in their steps and flights of stairs on this one. The orchestra, made up of so many great musicians, sounded terrific. Cip, you were truly missed. In one of my favorite moments, I had a chat with David Byrne while he put on his hot dog fingers for the dress rehearsal performance of "This Is a Life." Those were just the rehearsal hot dog fingers; he had better ones for the show. We do not have a particularly large A2 crew for the size and scope of the Oscars. Before we started, Steve Anderson, lead A2, put together a plan for cable runs, patching, microphone assignments, and workflow. When we got on-site, we installed cables, patched, and tested the connectivity. In 1979, when I walked into the maintenance shop at KTLA, there were signs posted around the work area. One said, "NOT DONE 'TIL TESTED." A simple and very important reminder. By midweek, we gravitated to more specific Oscar duties, all the while helping each other with projects as needed. Steve worked with production to mark a rundown with microphone assignments and kept us on track with tasks. Bruce built the RF Schoeps mic tubes and managed the sets and strikes as needed. Kim took care of the host mic needs using two Q5X transmitters with Shure Twinplex lavs for Jimmy Kimmel. Craig, with some guidance from Denali Audio Engineer Hugh Healy, patched and set up the many complicated production needs in the Orange Court parking lot, and then put lavs on presenters. Eddie and Damon set up the eighty-two input Oscar Orchestra, later joined by Dan Vicari. Then Damon took care of the guest bands, which came up hot on the stage elevator from the pit, while Eddie managed the performance RF mics. As you might imagine for a live show like this one, we practice as many elements as possible, including all music performances and award presentations. It is one of the few events that encourage all the presenters to come and rehearse, sometimes giving pop- up microphone operator Tom Streible an opportunity to note the height for each item which is subsequently adjusted on the fly for the winners. If you have watched or attended the Academy Awards, you probably realize that gowns are a very important part of the proceedings. Women do not wear their show attire to rehearsal, and they don't come to the two full run-throughs, one on Saturday night and one Sunday morning, a very talented group of stand-ins perform those duties. The first time Robyn sees the dresses is when she mics them in the live show. Many of you have put lavs on talent. Think about doing it on very expensive gowns that you have never seen, often hiding the mics, just before Oscar's audio patch and Kit Donovan's wall of fiber A2's Craig Rovello, Kim Petty, Bruce Arledge, Jr., Steve Anderson, and Robyn Gerry-Rose (Damon and Eddie were working). With Robyn on wrap day, 95th Academy Awards