Hi All

Guess i should of introduced myself by now...i have been reading this forum and leaving some posts for that last few days...

my name is David Pastecchi...i have been a soundmixer/boom operator for a little over 30years now...and have worked on over 100 major films...but have always had a love for the small independent film maker...

i have always wished i could do the same, but starting out i never had the funds to do so...i bearly made enough money to pay my rent, when i started out. and anything i did have to save. started going into my equipment.

also..before i go any further...please forgive my typos and spelling as i am dyslexic (did i spell that correct)
something i have had to work with over the years and when i was young teachers would just say, " your kid is stupid..he cant read or write." they didnt know what it was back them.

getting back to post now...i think its great what all of you are doing...and any post i make is never ment to be taken in a bad way...anything someone gets onto film/tape/digital is a great feat...so my comments are made to maybe help someone on thier next adventure..never to put anyone down in any way...i wish i were you...

also...i have offered up my services many time to do sound on student films and small films that PA's are putting together that i meet on sets...if i have the time and they live close enough to me...i try to help them out all the time...i know a few PA's that went on to be Producers down the road and have hired me to do sound on thier films...

i do this because there is great untapped talent out there and most of the time they have a great little script and can pull off shooting it, but the sound always suffers, because of lack of funds to hire a good soundperson...cameras are cheap...a good little camera only cost a few thousand dollars at most...sound grear to do a great job...well lets just say i have over 100,000. invested in gear...and you have to know how to use it too...what works...what doesnt for each shot...amd keeping continuity in a scene as well...

so...thats why i am here...and love to read all your posts...although i have to strugle to read them sometimes..

so keep up the great work and i look forward to reading and seeing more of it....

I've noticed your educational posts.

Dave!

Great to make your acquaintance (even if just electronically ). My wife is a big fan of Lipstick Jungle and is sad to hear it didn't get picked up for another season. That's an impressive re'sume' you have. Please stick around because I'm discovering sound recording and mixing is so far my weak link. For instance, how do you control echo in rooms with little to no sound dampening without having to resort to looping in post?

thanks VP..

on the echo problem..and i say problem because its always a problem...there are always ways to get the echo reduced...you may not always get rid of it, but you can reduce it a bit...

i throw mats down on the floor where ever i can...out of shot and out of the dollys way...you can hang sound blankets around out of lights way as well...u can use cheap furny pads from home depot for those..i get my carpets from there as well...the one with the rubber backing that i can tape down so no one trips...if you have more money...you can hang sonex on the walls as well...and on big films i hang painters drop cloths from the grid above that the grips put up for lighting...on a stage we use Sound Down over sets...but everything else i mentioned is for locations....but sometimes there is not enough time to do these things...but always try to do something...i throw the mats down right away before rehearsal...then if they are in the shot i pick them up or move them a little as not to waste time later...

then there is the mic choise for the scene...i try to use one mic for a scene and not switch out mics per shot as to keep the sound the same for cutting later...so there is not a big jump in quality when cutting between shots...in a small echo room...i would use a hyper or even a regular cardiod as these will sound smoother in that type of room(they have more backend rejection too)...a shotgun would only make things worse...as thier backend sucks in way too much of the reflection(this being true for all shotgun mic patterns..its just the way they work)...and the ceiling is where you are getting more of your echo from...u can always wire someone as well...but i hate wires inside locations...i only use them if i have no other way of getting a mic in...

i could go on forever...but hope this helps a little

as for Lipstick Jungle...i only did the pilot and season one...i was invited back for season two...but was in the middle of doing "When in Rome" when they called...and i wouldnt of done it anyway...that show was a nightmare for sound...all those paper type dresses and oversize jewery...reflected sets that were a nightmare for boom...or anything else...the show was all about cloths and reflections...lol...

be well...keep shooting

Perfect, thank you. That gives me plenty of foundation for more research (and I practically live in Home Depot). And it also explains a lot since I'm using an ME66 shotgun in a blimp on a boom. Perhaps I can put something directly behind it to cut the reflections in the back end. I'd hate to have to buy another mic at this point, but I may not have much choice. I found out the hard way that it's practically impossible to remove echo in post.

Sorry for hijacking your thread with 20 questions.

hijacker!!!

just kidding...

i would start by taking the blimp off...i would only use a foam windscreen indoors and if there is no cueing that would create wind...i go naked !

putting something behind the mic would make things worse...

unless you are going to get into sound..i wouldnt buy anything else...as good mics most likely cost more than the camera you are using...but they do make a huge difference...rent one or borrow one if you have a project that you really want to make a difference with...and remember what you are recording onto...these cameras were not meant to do sound in the way we look at things...they dont have the preamps to handle good sound...and thier converters?? well they suck...lol

when shooting with a Digital camera i send audio to the camera (usually wireless as to not impead thier movement) as only a tool for playback on the set...not for editing later...they use my DVD-Rams for that...

but in the Micro Budgit the camera is the only sourse for sound...and you have to go directly to the camera...from whatever sourse you are using...whether it be the mic directly into the camera of from a small mixer the boom op may be going into before it gets to camera...(which is always a better choise as they have better preamps than you camera would have and more control over level and usually the ability to roll off some low end if there is a need to...and can usually send out a Line Level that your camera can usually handle better than Mic Level....

hope this helps

'sup and welcome, sound-guy.

That's my personal Achilles heel, the sound thing. I don't think I've made a single short that hasnn't needed serious correcting & adr afterwards.

welcome!