Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1530210
38 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Winter 2025 and negotiate with Directors on films this size for close boom coverage. If it happens, that's great and we will be ready to deliver those tracks, but if the Director and DP's strategy is to shoot sizes that do not complement the boom, then me and my team are absolutely ready with high-quality lav tracks. One of the very first lessons I learned when testing for Les Miserables was that when recording live singing, unlike dialog, it is not flattering to have any air or width around the vocals. Camera perspective is irrelevant, the vocals need to be closely mic'd otherwise, the shift in perspective creates an uncomfortable attention to the picture editing process for the audience. For this reason, I needed to have two lavaliers on Cynthia and Ariana at all times. This was for different reasons. Cynthia was wearing a witch's hat in a lot of the scenes where she was singing live. By rigging the brim of her hat with a DPA 4061 lavalier which was about an inch above her eyebrows, we had an absolutely outstanding close lav position that sounded as good as a close boom. Not only was it in perfect proximity to her mouth but it also followed her, just like a boom, on her head turns. However, over the years, I have learned that although hat rigs are great, there is a risk that the actor will want to remove their hat at any point during a scene and it is my absolute redline not to try and negotiate or influence an actor's instinctive performance in any way. I am there to support the cast. For this reason, I knew that we also needed a body mic on Cynthia as well, which we could immediately cross-fade to if and when her hat came off. For Ariana, the reason we needed two lavs was slightly different. Her beautiful Glinda dresses were often low cut and frilly. We needed to go into a position that exposed the lav to the least amount of clothing rustle. That often meant placing the mic on the side of her dress. This sounded great if Ariana was looking directly forward, but the pickup pattern would fall off severely if she turned her head to the side her mic was not on. So, we put a mic on both sides of her dresses, in the mirror image of each other. This meant that Nancy, the Dialog Editor, could cut between the two mics depending on where Ariana was looking as she spoke or sung. It also had the added benefit of giving Nancy two choices on dialog or vocals where she could pick the lav with the least amount of clothing rustle. It was a win-win! Whenever we needed to place the lavs in positions to avoid clothing rustle that caused unusable or poorer quality production sound but was now slightly visible to the cameras, a quick collaborative chat with Pablo Herman, VFX Supervisor, resulted in an immediate agreement that he would disguise the mic in VFX. I am not saying we put the mics in full view like Les Miserables (well, maybe a couple of times!), but we knew the mics were edgy visually and could be seen on some angles on close-ups. Pablo's support resulted in our costume department having complete confidence that everyone had their backs and that working together as one big team would ensure that no lavs would be seen in the finished film. Jon Chu was completely supportive of this workflow. The first time he noticed Ariana's lavs, I remember distinctly Jon said, "Hey, I can see Ari's mics" to 1st Assistant Sound Arthur Fenn, who was usually right next to him on the set. Arthur replied, "We're all good sir, Pablo is dealing with them." To which Jon just said, "OK, great," and never mentioned seeing lav mics again. During the filmmaking process, every day was a magnificent insight into remarkable talent. From Jon's incredible energy and his ability to make his cast feel supported by building an atmosphere of playfulness. He encouraged them to try different things as they performed. He was ready to hear their suggestions and to collaborate fully with his film crew. His DP Alice Brooks has been working with him for a long time and the respect and understanding they have for each other really helped create a unique atmosphere on the set where, as a cohesive filmmaking team, we were encouraged to explore many possibilities. When I made suggestions to Jon, he was always open to my requests, but at the same time, steered this monumental ship called Wicked, with a steady and experienced hand. It was as if this project was completely meant to be under his leadership; he created an openness and trust on the set that was inspiring.