Days 18 and 19: Virginia isn't New York

Crewing on an out of town shoot after a two week break is a lot like visiting a best friend from high school who you've lost contact with over the years and have recently made the effort to reaquaint yourself with. Things immediately feel very comfortable, almost as though you haven't lost a step since you last saw each other. You recognize the individual changes that have occured between the two of you, but also recognize why it was that you drifted apart in the first place. Because each of you hate to be declared quitters you buckle down and decide to try to make the friendship work again.

This is the story of me and my out of town shoot in Virginia. It's all the same just a different location. All the same...

More to come on the experience...

Ryan the Sound Guy

A Strong Name

Little kids kill me.

Something happened for the first time in history on the last shoot that I was on. One of the leads in the film (a seven year old girl named Ariel), named her character's teddy bear after the sound guy. Yep, it's the first time in the history of filmmaking that a prop as been named in honor of the sound recordist. Look it up. I took it seriously as the tremendous honor that it was.

When Ariel declared to the crew and cast in the room that her bear was to be called Ryan, I responded by thanking and complementing her on the choice of such a strong name for the teddy bear. And then the crew laughed. Why? Ariel, accepted the compliment and went on to explain that her bear's name was Ryan and that that was a strong name whenever she talked about it. Obviously she got something that the rest of the crew missed. They continued to laugh at it being a strong name.

Alas, Ariel wasn't wrong. While surfing the web today I inevitably stumbled upon the front page of yahoo.com where there was a link to the top baby names of the decade. Having a fairly common name, I decided to see where mine stood. Where was Ryan, you ask? Top 10 folks. Here's the proof:


Of course she'd be closer to the nominal zeitgeist of this decade, her being born in 2002 and all. Little egg on your face, doubters?

Number 9 on the Most Popular Baby Names of the Decade the Sound Guy

Day 17: Wrapped V.4 (Feather to a Stop)

Wrapped shoot number 4 today. Twas a good one. 3 more to go.

4 shoots down, 3 to go, and a much need break on deck this week and next.

4 down, 3 to go, halfway to the finish.

4 down. 3 left. Exhausted.

4 down (5 if you include my own film), 3 to go, yet why do I feel more overwhelmed by life in general than I did before this production period started?

Ever get the feeling that you can't think in straight lines? Your mind is blurred from ostensibly being pulled in 100 different directions? You're too tired to form reasonable thoughts that exist separate from the day to day existence that you've been cultivating blindly? Rapt in the tireless search for release, balance, peace, happiness, love, stasis, sanity, etc. but trapped in the doldrums that spurred the search in the first place? Trapped in the doldrums, but certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that those doldrums are what you were meant to pursue in life? Adulthood. Purpose. Responsibility. The mind spins and spins, like the wheel of fortune hoping to avoid these of these like bankruptcy, to land on what? Meaning. Direction. Solutions. Miracles? Answered prayers? Realized dreams?

And, when you slice it up where does our actual existence fall in all of this? It seems to me that it falls in what one actually does. The "how" of being. What goes on in the mind hasn't anything to do with how one exists. Throwing oneself passionately into whatever it is that he or she absolutely aspires to and maximizing their freedom to be, is ultimately what eliminates the anguish of discontent that plants its seed and grows in the mind when one finds themselves not quite themselves. Matching mind and being is what leads to existential truth in an individual.

There has to be a third dimension to this truth though, no? This Taoist-like stasis, mixed with an element to elevate the balance from mere equilibrium to transcendent purpose. The element? One searches.

Please excuse the weird mood I'm in. I'm just tired is all. A true existential paradox is what I find myself in. I'm lucky enough to be living my dream right now, so why do I feel so out of it? Exhaustion. Which is why this upcoming break is going to be tremendously helpful for this particular sound guy. I need to get away from the world of film for a spell.

I get two weeks.

On film shoots some of the most difficult shots to execute are dolly shots. Every aspect of the shot must be executed precisely, like a dance almost, in order for it to prove effective on screen. Of course the most important part of the dolly shot is the dolly move. When moving the dolly it's important to start strong and finish strong. Just like taking off and landing a plane require the most care on the part of a pilot, starting and stopping the dolly must be done very precisely. Ease to a start, feather to a stop is how the dolly gripping lesson goes. I figure with all of the precision and work that has gone into this semester/last few months of my life I'll call this here post my "feather to a stop." A difficult shot completed in the long and winding tale of this school year for me.

Until the next shot...

Ryan the Sound Guy

Day 16: Clear Sound

Ryan, can you get sound up? We're going to be ready to shoot in 5 minutes.

Is sound ready to go? We're going to be ready to shoot in 10 minutes?

Is sound ready?

Sound, can you clear the frame?

Sound, you're still in the frame?

The boom is in the shot.

Is sound set, Ryan?

You're in the frame, sound.

This is a pretty wide shot, so it might be difficult to get good sound on, Ryan. And, um, the boom's in the shot.

Is sound ready to go?

Can sound clear the frame?

Do we even need sound on this shot?

This shot can be done MOS, right?

Let's do it MOS.

Sound clear the room.

Sound can you be ready in 15 minutes for the next shot? Plant a mic or something if you can.

Sound you're in the way. Plant the mic later.

Ryan, can you get sound up? We'll be ready to go in five.

Ryan the Sound Guy

Day 15: Foreword/W.W.S.D.

Exhausted out of my mind and again, I CANNOT BREATHE. I think I may be allergic to New Jersey. Either that or the fates are conspiring against my half-marathon training. Either that or I'm now set to continuously relive the sleepless and asthma attack plagued nights of my childhood without my mom and dad here to nurse me back to ablelungedness. Either way this is a major downer, folks. I had such big plans for my respiratory system this holiday season. We were going to sing Christmas carols, run some crazy workouts in the freezing East River cold, and get toasty drunk on New Years together. Bummer with a capital B. Let's hope that the end of this shoot on Sunday will be the beginning of their rehab.

All complaining aside, I shall forge ahead and complete this post, as I've heard tell that that's what champions do. And, since typing is not talking you have the benefit of not having to listen to my painful, loud, and annoying cough (feel pity for my roommates though as they have to deal with that as well as my loud ass typing).

Thesis: I think that the problem with this blog thus far has been my inability to truly communicate the Sound guy experience. Sure I've complained and griped a lot (see above), but that almost never tells the complete story. So, I think that the task is upon me from here on out to dig deeper into my experience. To really ask myself the question, "What makes Ryan the Sound Guy Ryan the Sound Guy?" I must do M. Jean Paul Sartre proud by digging into the existential depths of sound recording. You never heard Sartre talking about the effects of drinking 5 hour energy on an empty stomach (though his best novel is titled "Nausea"). Camus never waxed philosophical on overindulging on french fries (though he did argue that one should embrace life passionately for all of it's absurdities, which I'm guessing is meant to include empty calories). Kierkegaard never likened his profession to game (though he did write under a few silly pseudonyms, my favorite being Johannes de silentio). No, the existentialists took shit seriously (pardon my french). And, I must do the same.

Problemata: Tomorrow, assuming that I am at least semi-conscious and not suffocating, these Notes, will contain a little more flavor. A little more deep sauce. Will be a little more hearty. Finger lickin' good writing is what I'm looking for here, folks. That's right, I want you to read this and be hungry for more (or just hungry because I seem to always be so at least we could relate on that). Can I dig deep and produce existential gold?

After all of this buildup I better be able to, but for now I pass out on my Macbook...

deep

Ryan the Sound Guy

Day 14: Shooting in the cold/Predictability

If there's one thing that I seriously dislike it's being cold. Being cold for long periods of time has the tendency to put me in a foul mood and I hate being in a foul mood as I feel that it's generally kind of selfish and very un-zen like when you're on a film set. There are only two things that do this to me: being hungry and being cold. But, of the two, being cold is the one that is always able to get the best of me, whereas being hungry is kind of like a minor inconvenience that only plagues me 97% of the day. The cold is like the mortal enemy that I'm set to do battle with until the end of time (Shredder) and hunger is like an annoying fly that I know that I can vanquish with a little bit of patience, ill karate moves, and a couple slices of pizza (the Foot Clan). Will I ever overcome the evil cold? Will I ever learn to be happy whilst being unable to feel my fingers and toes? Tune in on Sunday (Day 17) for Ryan the Sound Guy's battle with the nefarious winter air.

I actually shouldn't really complain given the hell that I put the crew of my honors thesis film at Michigan through. Writing a 36 page script in which most of it must be shot in the heart of Michigan winter and asking people to help you make it (for no school credit or pay) is more than even the nicest person can ask. I still have much love and respect for those guys and gals.

So I'll give bearing the cold a little bit of the old college try and do my best not to fly into a mad rage when a car passes by and an airplane flies overhead messing up the sound on a take all while I'm shivering uncontrollably. I will get a grip.

Part two: Maybe writing a blog day after long day of exhausting (and cold) shooting is just silly in itself, but I feel a decided lack of inspiration this week. I feel as though this has made itself apparent through repetitive and predictable writing here folks, and I'm not OK with that. I read an article today (on set :-0) that was sent to me via e-mail by my sanity prone friend Cathlin, about the staleness of the AOL brand. It kind of got me to thinking. No, not about the futility of AOL, but about this here blog. I think that I'm going to try to phase in some new style over the next couple days in an attempt to re-brand the Ryan the Sound Guy name. Long gone are the extensive complaining diatribes with stupid Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle references. Get ready for some fresh material.

I'm talking Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, Fresh...

Bet.

Ryan the Sound Guy

Day 13: Siiiiiiiiick

Have you ever gotten up in the morning convinced that you hadn't even fallen asleep? That happened to me this morning and I am struggling to keep my eyes open as I type this post. It seems as though that minor lung irritation of yesterday was actually the beginning of some kind of bug. Yep, that's right, I've taken ill with four days left of the shoot that I'm currently on. Boooooo...

I've been drinking fluids and taking medicine, but unfortunately will not be able to rest until Sunday evening. I'm hoping that this passes before then, but if not I'm in for some longgggg days.

On an up note I'm going to bed now (It's almost 7 pm as of the writing of this). Have to get up at 5 in the morning, so that means ten hours of sleep. Take that sickness!!!

Ryan the (Sickly) Sound Guy