Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538148
26 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Fall 2025 played it wide, that was it. If they were jumping to a moving vehicle and criss-crossing the Warner Bros. lot, we had to get it. The wires always had to be right. The gear had to work. RF signal flow would be critical. Between Nick and I, we knew we had all the gear. The trick would be how we implemented it. From that first Zoom interview, we knew that good wires were a must. Thankfully, Evan and Seth value lavalier mics not only as backups to the boom, but as the primary line of attack, they sometimes need to be. Through reading the scripts and aware of the fluid camera movement that DP Adam Newport-Berra wanted to utilize, as well as dramatically wide vista shots at location, we understood that radio mics needed to be our most reliable weapons. Our first step was establishing a line between our wiring experts Rachel Schroeder and Kelsey Nie, and our very talented costume department. I was delighted to learn that our Trailer Costumer Suzanne Block was someone I had worked with on the series The Affair. Our first rule of thumb was the mandate set by Seth. We should never have an actor arrive to set in a costume to then learn that the costume cannot be wired. Suzanne and the Set Costumers were instantly on board. Constant communication between Rachel, Kelsey, and the costume department would be essential. They were instrumental in bringing to our attention future costumes that might be problematic or need special preparation. Despite everyone's best efforts, one costume that could not be wired, landed on set in Episode 105, "The War." That particular afternoon, we arrive at location, an interior scene in a small vintage townhouse in Hollywood, with a two-story living room and upstairs landing leading to a bedroom. We set up outside in the courtyard and Nick went inside to check out the apartment, returning less than five minutes later looking grim. The Grips already had a crane set up in the living room. Nick got a head's up from the Grips and our friends in the camera department. Evan, and the DP Adam planned to shoot the scene with no coverage, in one fluid shot utilizing minimal whip pans to "stitch" multiple shots. The action between Chase's character Quinn and her boyfriend Miles starts with the couple in the throes of passion in Quinn's bedroom. The camera then pulls back with her through a doorway to show Miles left sitting on the bed and Quinn now at the bathroom mirror. The boyfriend, then steps forward to her, and after a brief exchange at the bathroom door, the camera whips and lands on a crane arm, then drops with the actors as they proceed from the landing outside the bathroom down the stairs and through the apartment living space and kitchen. After a blocking rehearsal, one thing was clear, there would be very little that Nick could accomplish on the boom. Here's the kicker. Miles would not be wearing anything more than jockey briefs. The Costumers shared that per our directors, he would not be putting on a T-shirt either. I looked at Nick, it was time for a meeting with Seth and Evan. We explained our concerns to them and let them know it was a radio mic shot. Although they were receptive, they were pretty adamant that they didn't want the boyfriend wearing a shirt. In preparation for this very response, we offered a solution. What if Rachel gets together with the hair department and rigs a Countryman B6 into the actor's shaggy hair, with the flesh tone lav run down the back of his neck to a Lectro SSM mic pack that's stuck to the skin between his shoulder blades with Kinesiology tape? We realized from the blocking that he would be facing camera more than 90% of the time and the pack would be unseen. Our VFX crew led by Supervisor Sandro Blattner was phenomenal. How about they paint out the pack in the brief moment he faces away from camera outside the bathroom? There was a long pause while the directors looked at each other, finally Evan shrugs, "Yeah, why not?" Seth nods his head, "Sure." And that is my friends, how we wired the actor with the one costume that couldn't be wired. I honestly believe this illustrates a trait that makes Evan and Seth such successful filmmakers. They are willing to adapt to the needs of the crew who are working to achieve their vision. They are not afraid to hear suggestions and use all the tools at their disposal. Our main concern when it came to reliable wireless would be proximity antenna placement and frequency coordination for lav mics, booms, IFB's, Comteks, and camera coms, whether it be the friendly confines of our two-story office set on Stage 23 or out on location. Fortunately, under the guidance of longtime Warner Bros. RF wizard Ara Mkhitaryan, we knew we would be in good hands with frequency coordination on the lot. Off the lot, unfortunately, we were not a part of the formal location scouts, but our veteran producers indulged in a very unique request, by allowing Nick to have "RF prep days" at a few select locations. He would travel to a chosen spot and dial in a frequency chart, and scout antenna placement, prior to landing on the shooting day. With little room for error, and the fast nature of shooting, any RF pre-calculations were invaluable. We used a Ronin camera rig and there were shots planned where camera could start handheld, move to a golf cart or Grip Trix mount, travel across the lot, and become a "walk and talk" at a different location. Our crack "A" Camera Operator Mark Goellnicht, a tank of a man fresh off Mad Max: Fury Road, could either finesse or brute force the camera exactly where our directors and DP wanted it. Right off the bat, we realized