My friend Alex Messer approached me with an opportunity to be a sound supervisor on his module for his Ba Photography degree. Moving image.
I was given the film treatment about the idea. The idea was based on Alex and his colleague’s ideas about wales. One of their colleagues grew up in wales and has experienced the deprivation of the country.
I read into the brief and really liked the idea, it gave me thoughts of using the atmospheres to really bring the place to life and showcase its vacancy.
Alex told me they had booked an Airbnb for 5 days in wales and for me to prepare my equipment to take to record sound on set. I decided to take the sound devices mix pre 8. MS set up with the 418 Sennheiser. I also took with me a set of DPA 4060 Omnidirectional microphones. I chose the 418 for directing the mics at specific sounds. The area we were going to was going to be very rural, even farmland at times and I felt the super-cardioid polar pattern allowed me to capture things more directly, and with the side figure of eight polar pattern for a wider range. The DPA mics were for a great field capture. They capture an area amazingly and are very hot on the gain. I’m going to be using the coat hanger method from Chris Watson.
The three days recording went well. Numerous locations in extreme / casual weather. This trip taught me even more so about gain structure than the previous work. Recording in extreme wind and figuring out how to avoid it. Recording animals and landscapes. Handling equipment and organising my bag. What to bring on a hike to record audio and how to look after my equipment on a solo mission. Making sure the files were backed up and safe. Supervising all audio on set.
I’ll update once we’ve started working on the post production. I’m waiting on the first draft to come through before I begin editing the audio.