Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1525020
Schoeps provided Plus, I really like how they sound. So, I purchased two more Schoeps microphones, but this time I opted for the CMC1 pre-amp body and two more MK41 capsules. There's no such thing as having too many microphones in your kit. This was super handy for the very common scenario where we had all four seats in a vehicle occupied by a principal cast member. For these scenarios, we would plant all four Schoeps mics. Typically, the CMC6's in the front and the CMC1's in the back. We maintained this configuration even in scenes with just two performers because of the tendency for the blocking to include the actors turning around and looking backward. Two plants per actor, no waiting! They were all mounted with swappable length "Ken Strain Arms," low-profile right angle XLR patch cables, and then 12-foot-long thin wire SMA to SMA antenna cables that ran all the way to the roof of the picture vehicle to the Audio Workbench mag mount antennas. These antennas (shown in the flowchart at the end of this article) use a magnet that is connected to the ground and shield of the coaxial antenna connection and when it is magnet- mounted to the top of the steel rooftop of the vehicle, it uses the entire steel outer body as its ground plane. The effectively turns the entire moving metal machine into the antenna for the transmitters. I don't use this cliche lightly. These rooftop antennas were an absolute game-changer! We used one antenna per plant mic and they we're photographed and established in picture! All vehicles were storm chasers, so antennas galore right? For our end of the bargain, we agreed to help the Property Department and set decoration by placing them in picture even when we didn't need them. These antennas allowed me to use each and every plant mic to provide a flexible dailies mix as they reached up to a quarter-mile of range to my follow van when needed. Typically, we were not that far away, but wow. When we were that far away, this really made my days easier. This doesn't mean my time capturing the plant mics in these vehicles from the follow van were drop-out free. They weren't. As much as I feel we achieved very impressive long-distance range results, the occasional digital RF drop out would occur. Another layer to this were the actor-worn lav mics. With the distance and physics working against them, for the most part, they would not reach all the way to me in the follow van no matter which picture car or camera car we were using. It was just too far away, the car was a metal box with faraday properties, and the transmitters L to R: Additional Utility Issac Sanders, Utility Sound Technician Brian Gililland, Sound Mixer Devendra Cleary, and boom Operator Patrick Martens Director Lee Issac Chung and Devendra Cleary CAS discussing sound workflow. Photo by Dan Mindel