Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1531981
22 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Spring 2025 somewhat introverted and shy playing position (performing for your idol can't be easy) was such that it would a: be impossible for me to avoid Timmy's voice, and b: that, from below, I would have the best shot at getting in front of his mouth. Then the job became trying to balance the sounds of the guitar and Timmy's voice. Between you and me, I love this kind of booming: Mixing with the 416 is a kind of three-dimensional auditory puzzle that is so rewarding when you nail it. Different parts of the guitar produce very different sounds: The sound hole is more bassy and boomy, wherever the strings are plucked can have a lot of finger noise and be quite harsh, the frets lose the bottom end and can over-emphasize the sound of the fingers moving between the frets. The twelfth fret is usually the sweet spot, or at least a good place to start. I found myself with the tip of the 416 somewhere around the tenth fret pointing back toward the twelfth and up at Timmy's face. After a little searching it clicked, and sounded great, of course we kept all the other mics for safety and in case he looked up suddenly, Jerry would be there, matching my distance to ease the transition. On top of all this, we recorded a clean guitar pass with our Music Producer, Nick Baxter, playing, and some impulse wave sweeps using the same mic placements. This way they would have more elements and options to help maintain the same sound and feel across different angles. Newport At the Newport Folk Festival, we had a lot to figure out; live singing, amplifying it for the crowd and the musicians, recording general ambience, and a whole bunch of characters in the wings having side conversations and the occasional brawl. It was also a ton of cabling. With this in mind, we were able to secure a permanent spot in an on-camera tent behind the stage. But this also meant that when we were doing sound checks, the board was on the wrong side of the speakers and too far to make any quick adjustments or mute a channel while you're working on it. I ended up setting up a small Wi-Fi network to be able to control the Allen & Heath SQ-5 mixer via the SQ MixPad app on my laptop. This made a huge difference in my daily check to make sure nothing got unplugged and more importantly, meant that Tod could set some basic speaker levels and EQ's while the speakers were actually pointed at him. Since Timmy never wore in-ear monitors, the on-camera monitor wedges had to be fully functional, and this was one of the crucial examples of collaboration across departments. Our Production Designer, Francois Audouy, had construction build custom speaker cabinets for our wireless QSC speakers. Thankfully, they also fit the tube amplifiers for the pair of Neumann M582 mics we used for the main vocals and guitars throughout the festival. Normally, the playback operator would have control of the speakers, but since there wasn't any playback Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) ready to ride off into the sunset. Photo by Macall Polay Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) and Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) on set. Photo by Macall Polay