Here we are on the final stretch of my journey as a sound guy and I have one final plot twist to reveal. Ready for it? I've given up my post as sound recordist on this shoot to take on the low man on the totem pole role of of boom operator. (Cue dramatic strings). Alright, so I guess this isn't a major surprise. I didn't drop out of film school during the last week of production or anything which I'm sure would have been genuinely shocking.
Instead of manning the mixer on this my seventh shoot of sound duty, I'm the cat holding the mic above the actor's heads. I'll do my best to capture what this is like in my posts as it has been a while since I've done this as a job on a set (I think since junior year of undergrad). I can say this now though, besides having tired arms, the boom operator ALWAYS has to be on standby. At least as a mixer you have reasons to not be ready for a take. Nobody, however, has patience for an unprepared boom op. Mean stares, glares, boos, and hisses greet he who asks for five. Being a boom op means being on hand always. Maybe a life lesson awaits me on this shoot.
Ryan the Sound Guy
it could be worse. you could be doing sandy hallack's dry cleaning.
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