What I Did

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to be the production sound mixer and boom operator for a short film called First. The experience on the set and with the crew was fantastic. I had one of the best times that I’ve ever had with this crew, and also faced challenges that I’ve never had to face before. The short film pushed me outside of my comfort zone and allowed me to grow beyond my previous abilities.

This film was shot over the course of 6 days, presenting some challenges beyond the standard difficulties of filming inside homes. Not only was I working around tight spaces, odd angles, air conditioners, and soggy lawns, but I was also having to play the wonderful game of battery management. The biggest hurdle that had to be overcome in that area was simply the availability of outlets in the gear room. The gear room was a small sitting room that was shared between myself and the camera department, so coordinating for space to have all of our batteries charged and ready was something that needed daily attention.

Another challenge that I had not faced before was running a wide variety of lavalier mounts. Each actor is different, and the situation is different, so it's not uncommon to have to use different techniques for different actors; however, this short film stretched me because I had never tried to make a lav stick to a 4-year-old before. The adults and teenager were no problem, a few foamies and a lav consealer with a vampire clip, and they were all set. The 4-year-old, however, was more challenging. She had an incredible ability to make stickies fall off and wraps loosen. It was a challenge to keep the lav in a useful place. In the end, it was simply a matter of frequent check ins to make sure that we could keep the lav in the right place and reapply whatever double-sided tape was being used at the time.

Working on the film and with this crew was an absolute blast. I loved the energy and the camaraderie that this team formed within just a few short days, and I am incredibly proud of the work that we did.