Portable, battery powered digital snake S-0808 8x8 Input / Output Unit The Roland S-0808 is an 8 x 8 digital snake designed for professional ďŹ eld recording and location sound applications. The lightweight and rugged construction make it ideal for ďŹ lm, sporting events, or newsgathering. The S-0808 is powered by REAC Embedded Power, External Battery Options or Power over Ethernet (PoE). External battery options include NP Style, V-Mount (IDX), or Gold Mount (Anton Bauer) battery systems. All inputs employ a high quality preamp with fully discreet circuit design resulting in outstanding sound. Input gain (-65 to +10dBu), Pad and full Phantom Power can be remotely controlled via a dedicated S-4000R Remote Controller or the free PC Remote Control Software (S-4000RCS). When using as part of a V-Mixing System, these parameters are controlled directly from the M-400 or M-380 Digital Consoles. The S-0808 can be used in conjunction with the S-4000M REAC Merge Unit to expand the number of inputs used in the digital snake conďŹ guration. www.rolandsystemsgroup.com/s0808
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FEATURES Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Cloud Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The forecast of the future
Solar on Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 A company with a green vision
Got WiFi? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Managing metadata the easy way
DEPARTMENTS President’s Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 A new chapter in our growth
From the Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Welcome to our tech issue
4
Technically Speaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Which preamp?
Been There Done That . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 CAS members check in
The Lighter Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
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Cover: Sound in the Cloud
CAS QUARTERLY
SUMMER 2011
3
THE PRESIDENT’S LETTER
Once again, summer is upon us. We find ourselves in the middle of so many different activities: family, friends, vacation, work, recharging our batteries, and so many other fun and interesting summertime things to do. The choices are many, and I am grateful to be able to partake in the Southern California lifestyle. There are so many options, it is difficult to narrow things down. Interestingly, this is also a similar issue for us on the Board of Directors for the CAS. This year, I have asked all of our directors to participate on the various committees we have set up to offer our membership many new and exciting activities from which to choose. The goal here is to use our brain trust, our varied experience and knowledge, and to pool our resources to come up with ideas to help the CAS grow, and service our membership. We have several committees actively working now to help us achieve our goal of expanding the reach of the CAS. Some of those committees include Membership, Seminars, Awards revisions, Awards category revisions, Family activities, Website revisions, and an International Branch research. So far, we have made significant strides on several of the committees. I am very excited to be a part of this new chapter in our growth. Your Board has been VERY active gathering ideas and beginning to give shape to our new direction. The demands of our all-volunteer Board can be very time-consuming, and I’d like to thank everyone for the commitment they have made for the good of the members. Soon, look for a new CAS website, built from the ground up to reflect our new ‘attitude.’ The site will be much more user-friendly, easy to navigate, and will serve as the central hub of our organization. As it grows, we plan to include access to online voting, nominations, the CAS Membership Directory, forums, Webcasts and podcasts, links to other organizations, and many more interesting possibilities. We are planning several events, sponsored both on our own and in conjunction with other sound organizations. The sharing of knowledge and techniques with our members is one of the most valuable assets we can offer to the sound community. The seminars will be of interest to all our members in post and in production. Stay tuned! As our overall health has improved in the organization, it has allowed us to think about a more widespread reach. The international sound community is getting more accessible every day. With the help of technology, we can reach out across the world and collaborate with others much easier now, so look for news on this front in the future as well. As John Lasseter said: “Art challenges technology; Technology inspires the art...” We plan to explore this idea fully. Our Awards committee will be working hard to revise our Awards categories and update them. We hope to increase recognition of the people who work so hard in our craft, adding so much talent and expertise to the projects we deliver to our clients. Also, our Awards Dinner committee will be working to make the high-profile evening enjoyable for everyone. Again, stay tuned... So, as we enjoy our summer, keep an eye out for the CAS and our new footprint. We are thinking carefully about our expansion and growth; cautious not to move too fast, but mindful of staying stagnant.
David E. Fluhr, CAS President of the Cinema Audio Society 4
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CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY MISSION STATEMENT
To educate and inform the general public and the motion picture and television industry that effective sound is achieved by a creative, artistic and technical blending of diverse sound elements. To provide the motion picture and television industry with a progressive society of master craftsmen specialized in the art of creative cinematic sound recording. To advance the specialized field of cinematic sound recording by exchange of ideas, methods, and information. To advance the art of auditory appreciation, and to philanthropically support those causes dedicated to the sense of hearing. To institute and maintain high standards of conduct and craftsmanship among our members. To aid the motion picture and television industry in the selection and training of qualified personnel in the unique field of cinematic sound recording. To achieve for our members deserved recognition as major contributors to the field of motion picture and television entertainment.
CAS SUMMER 2011 NEW MEMBERS Active Richard Hansen, CAS Alexander Markowski, CAS Danny McCullough, CAS
Associate Paul Andre Fonarev Alex Haythorn Michael Rayle Sheraton Toyota
Student Nicholas Cochran Robbin Grider Michael Jirasakhiran Michael Rich Colin Tipton
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FROM THE EDITORS...
Happy summer everyone! We’re pleased to share a rather technology-focused issue with you this quarter. To start things off, Karol Urban, CAS discusses cloud technologies and how some companies are applying this approach to post-production. Will Hansen, CAS provides a review of Sound Devices CL-WiFi hardware for the 788T. Paul Vik Marshall, CAS discusses the process of forming a start-up company and its green approach to location power—using solar power stations—in an interview with Aletha Rodgers, CAS. G. John Garrett, CAS discusses preamps in his “Technically Speaking” column while Richard Lightsone, CAS reminds us of the importance of adding the CAS initials to our names during documentation. Also, CAS President David Fluhr provides an update on the Board of Directors activities and the organization as a whole. As always, don’t forget to see what your fellow members have been up to in their “Been There Done That” and “The Lighter Side” submissions. The CAS Quarterly is produced as a service to our members on a voluntary basis. A special “thank you” goes out to those taking the time to contribute articles. If you have an idea for an article that you feel would be informative to the membership (we would love some post-production article topics), please email us at casquarterly@cinemaaudiosociety.org. Also, remember that our sponsors are professionals like you who understand the business and needs of our industry. We encourage your commitment to them.
OFFICERS
President: David E. Fluhr Vice President: John Coffey Treasurer: Peter Damski Secretary: David J. Bondelevitch BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Deb Adair Bob Bronow Ed Greene Tom Holman Paul Vik Marshall Scott Millan
Frank Morrone Lee Orloff Lisa Pinero Greg P. Russell Jeff Wexler
ALTERNATES
Bob Beemer Phil Palmer Joe Foglia R.D. Floyd OFFICE MANAGER
Patti Fluhr EDITORS
Peter Damski, CAS
Matt Foglia, CAS
Peter Damski Matt Foglia PUBLISHER
IngleDodd Publishing 11661 San Vicente Blvd., Ste. 709 Los Angeles, CA 90049 QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS:
Cinema Audio Society 827 Hollywood Way #632 Burbank, CA 91505 Phone: 818.752.8624 Fax: 818.752.8624 Email casquarterly@cinemaaudiosociety.org Website www.cinemaaudiosociety.org ADVERTISING:
Dan Dodd 310.207.4410 x 236 Email: Advertising@IngleDodd.com ©2011 by the Cinema Audio Society. All rights reserved. CAS®, Cinema Audio Society®, and Dedicated to the advancement of Sound® are all trademarks of the Cinema Audio Society and may not be used without permission. 6
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CAS QUARTERLY
ACTION.
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Capturing the Moment. For feature film, documentary or ENG, the new MKH 8060 delivers top quality sound to complement your exciting visuals. Compact, rugged and reliable, the MKH 8060 features a symmetrical RF condenser design and short interference tube that suppresses off-axis sound without coloration, producing extremely natural and detailed results. Ideal for boom pole and camera mounting due to its compact size, the MKH 8060 is Sennheiser’s first short shotgun to interface directly into digital systems via the MZD 8000 digital module. www.sennheiserusa.com
MKH 8060 Short Shotgun Microphone
Which Preamp? by G. J ohn Gar r et t , CAS
I
I got the suggestion to write something about mic preamps, so here goes. Note that this subject could take books to write; I’m just going to touch on a few points. Also, I’m always open to ideas for subject matter, please don’t be shy! Up until I started in the business, pretty much the only mic pres one would find in the field were in the Nagra. Studio mic pres were often custom-built by the studio or modified from other services, i.e., the Siemens V27s mic pres at EMI, built from telephone line amplifiers by post-war German scientists
who were forbidden from working on military technology. That’s right, if it had not been for WWII, we may not have had The Beatles (or at least EMI studios as they existed in 1960)! In the ’60s, an explosion of good studio mixers and mic pres came about due to advances in capacitor design, smaller, lower powered tubes, and the availability of the transistor in quantities. Companies like Neve, Trident, API, MCI, etc., began making state-of-the-art consoles, and rack-mounted mic pres went into production. As technology has advanced, designs and components have changed. Nowadays, you can get high gain out to several hundred thousand Hertz, THD figures in the very low thousandths of a percent and otherwise very accurate performances. There are still tradeoffs made in amplifier design, but those tradeoffs often result in a characteristic sound that the designers are trying to achieve. For the sake of simplification I’d say there are a few key factors that help shape the characteristic sound of a mic pre. First, the way the box couples to the outside world and to itself have a great deal to do with making Box X sound like Box X. Direct coupling, servo coupling (kind of an electronic transformer, impedence-wise), capacitive coupling and transformer coupling are the ways signals get into and out of mic pres. Also, using different combinations of these methods gives a different characteristic sound or tonal coloration, independent of any EQ. Next, whether the preamp is solid state or a vacuum tube hybrid. Yes, plenty of preamps use tubes today; transformers and tubes make for a warm-sounding recording. Another factor is components used in the design. Different op amps sound different, and different types of capacitors affect the overall sound. Today, there are hundreds of outboard mic pres available and many of them use slightly different designs to emulate other rare, expensive and sought-after preamps. So if you find a manufacturer whose preamp fits into an API lunchbox, chances are it sounds more like an API than a Focusrite, and if you look at
API mic preamp
Red8
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the circuit, I’d be willing to bet you’ll find it uses the same type of input and output coupling as the API. In the studio, mics are paired with preamps to achieve a desired sound with a particular source. I’ve seen people audition mics and preamp pairs for two weeks until they got the sound they wanted. The differences may be subtle or dramatic, but getting that sound is key, and hopefully worth the effort. In the field, we have to make everything sound right with just a few microphones and generally one kind of mic pre; the ones built into our panels and recorders. We also have to do it right now! In the video world, the mic pres built into most camcorders are not what I would call stellar. The audio chain in some very high-end video recorders leaves a lot to be desired. In this case, external pres may buy you a little better S/N (signal-to-noise) but almost all outboard mic pres are analog in and out. If the audio section in a camcorder is not very good, the converters are usually worse, so you’re not buying a huge upgrade in sound unless you follow your output with good A/D converters and the camcorder in question takes digital sends! Now, if you have high-quality motion picture recording gear, you’ve got very good to excellent mic pres already. They are probably characterized as transparent, or maybe smooth and satiny and they handle the wide variety of sounds we record on location. There’s no need to buy external mic pres, and if you did, I’d recommend you buy the same model for each recording channel. It might be a lot of fun, but not very practical to record a movie with a rack of Neve 1063s. If you’re looking for a great mic pre for your studio, you have to consider the microphones and program material, see what your predecessors have done, and wade into the sea of outboards, keeping in mind the coupling scheme, components and the sound you really want. And that may take you a couple of weeks. • CAS QUARTERLY
SUMMER 2011
9
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
by Richard Lightstone, CAS
I
am always happy when I see the end credits of a motion picture, a television network or cable production and the re-recording and production mixers have the initials CAS after their names. This brings me to my first point; we dropped the “periods” (C.A.S.) to a more modern CAS, over a decade ago. (A reminder of this change was published in the Summer 2010 issue of the CAS Quarterly.) However, the real issue here is actually getting those CAS initials after your name in the credits. I have heard many a story of the frustration from CAS members on the unpredictability of having these coveted initials appear after your name. So here are a few practical tips on securing them: First, show those initials everywhere; on your email, business cards, social media, checks, mailbox, even your license plate if you dare. Then make a habit of including it on ALL your paperwork. Those of us in production now have a veritable mountain of paperwork to fill out, with undoubtedly some of the most obscure forms. My rule is to put those initials after my name in every one of those 20, 30 or more places I have to put it. But the most
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important place is in the “Deal Memo” or “Contract” that asks you how your credit should appear. However, there is no contractual obligation for the producer or production company to honor that request, and they do have boiler plate legal language telling you something like “Credits are not contractual and up to the discretion of XYZ, LLC, its subsidiaries, etc., etc.” In fact, there are some studios and network business affairs departments that refuse to use any guild or society initials at all. Do not give up and make sure that the CAS initials appear on your “Start Form” or “Star/Close Form,” your “Production Deal Memo” AND the “Crew Information Sheet.” This last form is how your name will appear on the Crew List. It’s my thinking, and this is only my theory, that when production has long ago wrapped, and weeks or months later, when the titles are being “shot” (do they still “shoot” titles anymore, sorry to date myself?), that no one is looking at your deal memo, but instead, they use the final and Producer/Studio–approved version of the Crew List. I always get those CAS initials after my name on the Crew List and usually the initials CAS are right there after my name, on credit crawl. •
CAS QUARTERLY
SUMMER 2011
11
FORECAST:
PARTLY CLOUDY Clearing the Fog of Cloud Computing Services
There’s a growing nebula of new services forming in the virtual ether as “clouds.” Perhaps you’ve heard of it? The technology is still in its infancy, but the potential is enormous. Current cloud services cross the gamut from data storage to application hosting to multi-user accessible workspaces. A “cloud” is simply a cluster of virtual servers available via a digital link that enables you to access a shared pool of configurable computing resources. In fact, there’s a good chance you have probably been using cloud computing yourself for some time. Google Docs, iCal, Netflix, Vimeo and YouTube are amongst the many commonly used, Web-accessible services that share and refresh data via clouds. When you access a Web-based email application such as Gmail or Hotmail, you are accessing the email application and data remotely. The data and software don’t exist locally, but on your provider’s servers within a cloud. Your Web browser is simply displaying the information that the cloud is generating. Clouds offer up numerous services through the Internet or a local network through a Web browser (such as Explorer or Firefox) or a service-specific application. But no matter the service, your local computer often acts merely as a terminal. Behind the scenes, a cluster of computers communicate via a central server, following set protocols, managing requests, and observing traffic via software that allows all or some of these individual computers to communicate and manage requests appearing as one computer. As with all new technology there are concerns. The big three for cloud computing are security of one’s data, privacy of individual users, and ownership of assets held on thirdparty servers. The counterargument to these concerns is the perspective that cloud service providers can only survive if they have the ability to provide safe and reliable space for their clients. This is their entire investment and there are 12
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by Kar ol Urb a n, CAS many authentication techniques available to ensure only the proper individual can reach the appropriate information. Mike Gitig, VP of Business Development at Gobbler, explains, “The main disadvantage of cloud computing is the requirement that users be connected to the network. The concerns about security, hacking, privacy, etc., are not unfounded, but have largely been exaggerated.” In fact, Gobbler claims to have “Military Grade Encryption.” In addition, user agreements continue to grow in complexity and thoroughness in order to more clearly state the rules of asset ownership and security. Cloud providers boast many advantages. Based on the provided service, they can lower rent, IT personnel costs, and computing costs to large companies by offering off-site software, processing, IT management and physical storage of necessary servers. Many sizable corporations find cloud services decrease the workload on their local machines as well as provide crucial applications to their workers on easily maintainable workspaces. Small businesses and private individuals can use clouds to keep their contacts, email, calendars, and documents available and synchronized on all their workstations and personal electronic devices at all times. And finally, as post-production professionals, we can currently use clouds to store data, provide virtual screening rooms for clients, and share access to sessions to all members of our teams without having to upload and download material via an FTP site at the start and end of the day. Some providers I have personally seen implemented in my workflow are YouSendIt and Dropbox. YouSendIt allows up to 2GB file delivery via email notification. You simply upload your files from your desktop and provide the email addresses of recipients. The recipients will receive an email with a custom link to instantly download the content to their local workspace. It eliminates FTP login process, the confusion of file location, and the possibility of bounced emails. Dropbox offers a desktop application and Web browser access to a folder located on a cloud and redundantly on your local machines. Wherever you may need to access this information you can. Currently, I am utilizing Dropbox as a synchronized shared workspace between multiple computers
to compose this article. Furthermore, you can grant access to any specific subfolder within your Dropbox with clients and team members simply by sending them an email through Dropbox. But the real advantage is that when working on an item in your Dropbox folder, the Dropbox program automatically synchronizes the information to the remote cloud accessible to all your permitted users and computers so that the information is always updated and correct without having to re-upload and re-download.
Cloud providers boast many advantages. Based on the provided service, they can lower rent, IT personnel costs, and computing costs to large companies by offering off-site software, processing, IT management and physical storage of necessary servers. Sound Designer and Senior Creative Audio Director Charles Deenen shared on his blog how he and his team integrated Dropbox into their workflow in order to work in a virtual group, sharing sessions almost instantly: http://www. cdeenen.com/DropBox/DropBox_Work_Flow.html. “Cloud computing, and especially Dropbox, has made the creation of an effective virtual post-production team a reality,” describes Deenen. “We’ve posted anything from ads to game cinematics to movies directly from Dropbox, and it has improved the collaboration process enormously. Gone are the days of sending your co-worker a digi-delivery for a review. Editors can instantly update a Pro Tools session, and mixers can grab those sessions two minutes later without having to worry about downloading. The workflow has sped up enormously. It’s like having a virtual SAN network between everybody involved. It also frees up the dozens of “copy save as” sessions you used to have. Everybody now works off the same audio files folder. I don’t think I could go back to the “ship/ receive method of audio post.” In addition, a new frontier of cloud services created specifically for audio production promises to affect a studio near you. This may be in the form of companies such as Gobbler, which claims to be currently “the only one on the market designed for pro-audio” or through industry-focused e-businesses that use cloud services to backend their offerings, such as Genlack. CAS QUARTERLY
SUMMER 2011
13
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Gobbler offers a service similar to Dropbox, but with some distinct differences designed from the ground up to be used by audio professionals. Their service, similar to Dropbox, is a backup, transfer and organization tool. But that’s about where the similarities end. Gobbler allows for media to be located across multiple drives. Unlimited data can be transferred using a proprietary lossless compression technology that can speed transfers up by as much as 60%. The synchronization of data will automatically stop when your DAW is being used and will start again when you are idle, and all of your data is catalogued and searchable. Mike Gitig of Gobbler describes the difference this way: “Existing services provide solutions to individual pieces of the media creator workflow, whereas Gobbler is a comprehensive solution that addresses all of the challenges from creation to preservation.” Genlack is a Web development and hosting service owned by a 25-year veteran of audio post that offers customized website development plans for television, film and video production professionals. While Gobbler is a combination SaaS (Software as a service) and a cloud storage solution, Genlack is a design and Webhosting firm that uses existing cloud services to offer its clients a complete media rich online service. As Steve Lack, President of Genlack, sites, “The main reason Genlack’s clients incorporate cloud computing into their workflow is the ability to scale without investing in additional hardware and systems.” Genlack uses a combination of Amazon Web Services, including Amazon S3 and Cloudfront to provide online screening rooms, large files transfers, and to synchronize data on multiple machines. He states he made the choice to go with Amazon because “Amazon has servers all over the world and your Cloudfront requests are routed to the nearest physical location of the viewer. This allows the content to be delivered to the client from the nearest server to their physical location and increases both speed of download and how fast a streaming file will start to play and how smooth playback will be.” It appears cloud computing clearly has the ability to sling data around with more ease, but why are there not a slew of application hosting services aimed at providing virtual Pro Tools, Logic, or Nuendo systems? It appears the main issues are all too familiar. Mike Gitig identifies the main hurdles of audio production specific services as being “security,” “speed” and “file complexity.” But as security and compression technology advances, processors continue to get faster, and more bandwidth becomes available, we are sure to see many more flavors of services arise geared toward our specific needs. Gitig summarizes: “Digital media account for almost 70% of all of the data in the world and there will be more technologies built on the cloud to help manage and manipulate this data more effectively.” •
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CAS QUARTERLY
SUMMER 2011
15
A Green Sound Start-Up:
Solar on Set by Aletha Rodgers, CAS
This has been the year everyone is thinking and talking about going GREEN. You hear, “Being green is our future,” and “Companies with a GREEN vision will surely succeed.” In the film sound industry, one such company, Solar on Set (SOS), which began in March 2010, provides portable solar charging stations for cell phones and computers along with 4G “Hot Spots.” The four members of Solar on Set, Paul Vik Marshall, CAS, Patrick Gleason, Paul Leo Romo and Dave Stockton, recently got together to discuss the inspiration behind and development of their green company with Aletha Rodgers, CAS. How did Solar on Set get started? What was the idea behind the company? How was it formed and how did you get involved with SOS? Paul Vik Marshall, CAS: The quote, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” certainly applied in the creation of Solar on Set. On commercial sets I am often asked by clients, agency and producers to charge their phones on my cart. On one particular shoot I had been 16
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inundated with charging requests, all of which I refused. The first shot of the day was coming up and when I pressed record, my cart had no power! Paul Leo Romo: I was Paul Marshall’s boom operator on that set, and the problem was that when we were ready to roll sound, someone pulled what they thought was their phone charger, but it was really the power to our sound cart and we were unable to roll sound. Marshall: At that moment, Paul Romo and I mulled over many charging options and finally decided to create a portable solar charging station. We were going to be at the forefront of making the film and television industry greener with solar energy, plus we were going to make a lot of producers, clients and agencies happy! Romo: We noticed the industry was trying to go green and thought this would be a great benefit, leading to the idea of solar. Dave Stockton: We sat down and hashed out some research to find a niche to start out in the solar market. The name SOS was sort of a double entendre of course, meaning Solar on Set and SOS, the distress call to start the environmental change in the industry. Marshall: We needed help in building our charging station so Paul Romo and I brought in two friends, David Stockton and Steven Corbier, CAS to help out. The four of us worked on a design for the case, and thanks to Corbier, had our first case made. The next step was implementing all of the components into the case such as the solar battery controller/charger, AC battery charger, battery inverter and phone chargers. After many meetings between the four of us, we decided to create Solar on Set, LLC. The momentum that we had started with stalled when Corbier was given the opportunity to be a part of a long-term project overseas. We appreciated all the time and effort that Corbier put into the initial push on the project, but now he was out of the picture and we were at a loss. We had to find somebody to help us out on the engineering side. Serendipity is what I call it when one day I met a neighbor, Pat Gleason, while he was walking his dog and we got to talking about my predicament. Gleason listened attentively and finally asked me the question, “Do you know what I do for a living?” I had no idea. He told me that he was a semi-retired electrical engineer specializing in WiFi and large-scale communications systems. Gleason liked our concept and saw the potential and after I asked him if he was interested in joining us, he agreed and the void was filled. What inspired you to be a part of Solar on Set? Patrick Gleason: Paul Marshall approached me in September 2010 and explained the concept behind SOS. The concept and Paul’s enthusiasm won me over
Opposite page: Reflections off of the front door to the SOS shop; Above, top to bottom: The RayCatcher on the heli-pad in Griffith Park, Los Angeles; Ray 37a
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On location
Charging phones on the RayCatcher.
to participate. Also, the fact that the other participants were also in the movie and TV industry would give the company a jump in the market. The roles of the others were explained as Paul Marshall, CEO and Sales, David Stockton, IT and Marketing, Paul Romo, the ability to get financing, and myself as engineering design and fabrication of the units. Stockton: For me, the real inspiration for Solar on Set was to make a positive environmental change in our industry that will hopefully spread to other industries. I like the idea of providing high-quality, environmentallyfriendly power alternatives. It is a win-win for all parities. I am excited to be part of a company that is spearheading this process and I enjoy working with its members. Romo: I saw the opportunity and thought it could provide a solution to a great need in our industry.
Who built the units? Where did the materials come from? Gleason: I fabricated all the current models. This included the design based on the concept, researching the materials, purchasing, inventorying, and final assembly and test. For the materials, the large-scale items like the case, solar panels and batteries were purchased through local Southern California vendors. The remaining materials such as the battery charger/controller, custom-designed panels, AC inverters, and all other electronic components were purchased through the Internet. Marshall: With Gleason’s background in WiFi, we decided to implement an Internet router and a 4G modem. The RayCatcher, the name of our solar charging station, would become a mobile 4G “Hot Spot.” After a lot of research into the components, Gleason began building.
What is your background or expertise? Gleason: I have 45 years of experience in design and development of large-scale communication systems for the public safety and train transportation markets. Also, as an independent consultant, I designed commercial Wi-Fi network systems. Marshall: My background is that I’ve been working in the sound department for 21 years. Romo: My background is that I am a boom operator in the industry. I also started a small business in the past, and I’m great with people. Stockton: For my educational background, I have degrees in computer sciences and electronics as well as a certificate in film studies. I help with the design specifications and handle much of the media website, printed materials, logos, and some of the product photos.
How long does it take to build each unit? Gleason: Currently, it takes one person three days to build one unit, but this can be optimized for larger volumes
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How are the units tested? Gleason: The final unit goes through a series of quality assurance tests to determine if the unit meets all electrical and functional specifications. Romo: Some of the testing occurs in the field when Paul Marshall and I are working on a commercial or film or television set. Stockton: Pat is our crack shot engineer who builds and does the initial testing of the units. As often as possible, we try to get our printing and materials from local vendors, and all of our custom fabricated parts are done here
“I like the idea of providing high-quality environmentallyfriendly power alternatives. It is a win-win for all parties. I am excited to be part of a company that is spearheading this pro–Dave Stockton cess and I enjoy working with its members.”
“I see Solar on Set becoming a company that meets the charging needs of private companies and the general public –Paul Vik Marshall, CAS around the world.” with local film industry vendors such as Modern Studio Equipment, Reyes ToolPouch and A&S Cases. Marshall: On testing, Paul Romo and I have been working the prototypes on commercial, film or television sets for the last eight months. The RayCatcher has proven itself from the get-go. Field-testing has been a rewarding experience. Not only do we put our units through the rigors of company moves, our units get feedback from producers, crew and passersby. I heard you mention the RayCatcher. What are the different models? What do they do? How do they operate? Gleason: The RayCatcher is a solar-powered battery charging system for all cell and “smart” phones, laptops and other 12V devices; it includes a Wi-Fi “Hot Spot” station accessing the Internet through the 4G Mobile Broadband network modem. The Shadow is an AC-powered charging station for all types of cell and “smart” phones, laptops and other 12V devices; it includes a Wi-Fi “Hot Spot” station accessing the Internet using dual 4G Mobile Broadband network modems. The VoltBox is a peripheral 12V power distribution system containing eight independent 12V plugs for charging phones, LED lamps and battery chargers. The VoltBox is powered by an auxiliary battery unit. Stockton: The RayCatcher is our solar flagship. It’s a solar-powered charging station for laptops, phones and has 4G WiFi access with extended range, high gain antennas. This silent charging station can be taken to any location within cellular range for WiFi access and be operational within minutes without the need for external power. From there the unit can continue to recharge its internal battery with a solar panel or regular 110 AC. Marshall: The latest RayCatcher model has 10 phone charging ports. Using charging ports similar to those in cars, we have six 5-volt fast-charging ports with 2.1 amp charging circuits and four 12-volt charging ports for other 12-volt devices. In addition, Pat intergrated a 300watt, 15-amp inverter that would run off of a 75-amp battery. The battery would be charged with our solar panel and AC. Within the first month of joining us, he had a working prototype up and running.
What can the RayCatcher charge? Marshall: When the sun is out, the RayCatcher can charge up to 10 phones, power six laptops, an Internet router and a 4G modem. Without a solar or AC power source, the RayCatcher can charge and power eight phones, one laptop, the Internet router and modem for 24 hours. Can your RayCatcher power your sound cart? Marshall: My cart draws around 9 amps so the RayCatcher has no problem powering my cart while the sun is out. Without the sun or an AC source, my cart can run off of the RayCatcher for five hours with peak efficiency. What capacity does your Internet router have? Marshall: With our high gain antennas, we get a line of sight range between 150 and 200 yards. We have found that the WiFi is stable up to 20 to 25 users at the same time. We had an incident when our password to log on made it to the entire cast and crew and our router failed at 42 users. Like all WiFi routers, a large number of users will slow the system down. Where do you see these charging stations going? What is the future for the product? How many charging stations are there? What is needed to build more? Who has used them and what is the feedback? Gleason: I see the charging stations evolving into a more compact unit, with models that are more affordable to more budget-oriented groups. We continue to add more sophisticated features as requested by users. We added the USB chargers and the WiFi based on our own research and customers’ requests for more service. The future for the product? Once the product is established in the movie and television industry so precedence is set, I foresee applications in public safety—both fire and police, concert events, construction sites, and anywhere that the use of mobile phones is essential to the persons attending the event. Presently, there are three RayCatchers, two Shadows, two VoltBoxes and one extension box. What is needed to build more? Money! CAS QUARTERLY
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issue was the solar panel transport. We now have a heavy case for long distance and a much lighter case for local use. It is exciting to do what no one else has done before. There are four of you in the SOS company. Do you all get along? Stockton: We all seem to get along! (laughs) There is a dialogue and conflict, but it is usually part of the pioneering process. Paul Marshall and Paul Romo have had the most experience on sets and are very sensitive to the clients’ needs and field testing the units. Pat is a very experienced and talented engineer who also happens to be a WiFi guru. I am a bit of the middleman working on set as well as having technical and multimedia experience.
“The Shadow”
Marshall: Where do I see the stations going? Our initial focus has been on the film and television industry but we believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Distant work site locations, disaster support and outdoor events are some of the many market opportunities that are in our future. Romo: I hope to see SOS expand more than just in the film industry. Money is needed to build the company. We have had positive feedback. People have told us it’s a great idea, it’s a genius concept and that it is a great time to go green. The Shadow works for everyone. It is my favorite. Stockton: We really tailored the units to handle the harsh environment of the film world. We figure if it is strong enough to handle that, then it can handle any situation since we film just about in any situation. We see potential markets for public safety, personal use, corporate events and traveling where power and WiFi is needed. Marshall: Our prototype charging station was working and bringing in money on rentals from the get-go. The RayCatcher has been on more than 40 commercials. It was also on a National Geographic documentary Flea Markets, helping the media manager download his camera media cards without running his car for 12 hours a day to power his computers and hard drives. What problems have you had and have they been resolved? Gleason: Engineering wise, numerous facts. Finding for the right equipment for the units and how to make them compatible. I researched and used a company that could build custom panels to my design implementing new features based on feedback from our customers. Stockton: When pioneering in a field there are numerous problems that get solved through prototyping and field testing. The newest models of the RayCatcher and Shadow are a testament to that. We made them lighter and more versatile. The other issue was with the solar panels. We tested a variety of mounts until we came up with a rocksolid foundation to keep the panels standing. The other 20
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What are your concerns about the company? Gleason: Without funding to make more products and more importantly, to set up an organization to support the rental and distribution of the product, we will fall behind the curve quickly. With any good idea, other competition with more resources will start entering the market. Then we are finished. I have been told I am moving too fast but not really. I have been in startup companies in the past that missed the window of opportunity based on doubt and hesitation. We need to make this into a viable company with a steady income that will be attractive to investors and form a base for future growth. This can take shape by both building the company to a certain sales volume and then selling it, or continue to make it grow into a bigger endeavor with a steady income for all of us. Marshall: Concerns and challenges? That would be financing. Financing is always an issue with startups. We are self-funded and are actively looking for some serious investors. Another challenge is convincing producers that there is a green alternative to traditional power sources. Do you believe in Solar on Set? Why? Gleason: Yes I believe in the SOS concept! Our products meet a void in the market that we fill where no others currently are. Once established, other markets will open up. The challenge is to make the products affordable. Marshall: We all believe in our products and have developed our product line very quickly. Our challenge is to get our charging stations out on as many sets as possible where we create a demand and can start moving into other territories. We also believe that there is nothing wrong with making money while you are doing something good for the industry and the environment. Romo: I believe SOS can be utilized in a variety of places such as the entertainment industry, concerts, search & rescue and personal use. Marshall: First and foremost, I enjoy being part of something new, innovative and cutting edge. We have our ups and downs but at the core we know the potential is at our
“We need to make this into a viable company with a steady income that will be attractive to investors and form –Patrick Gleason a base for future growth.”
“ I believe SOS can be utilized in a variety of places such as the entertainment industry, concerts, search & rescue –Paul Leo Romo and personal use.” doorstep and that is what keeps us pushing ahead. Finding charging and powering alternatives for the film and television industry is exciting. Our push for solar products puts us in a great position to convince the film and television industry to go green. With or without sun, our 75-amp battery can supply power the minute we land on set. I can’t tell you how many times clients and agencies
have hounded production for WiFi and our RayCatcher was there to the rescue. What makes our solar charging station unique is that it is instantaneous. There is no delay, and no gas, diesel or on-grid power source to deal with. It’s Solar on Set! • For more information, please visit www.solaronset.com
Partners, left to right: Dave Stockton, Paul Vik Marshall, CAS, Patrick Gleason and Paul Leo Romo CAS QUARTERLY
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Got WiFi? by Will Hansen, CAS
CL-WiFi unit
A while back, Sound Devices came out with the CL-WiFi remote controller for the 788T. It’s a device that plugs in to the back of your 788T via the C.Link port and creates a WiFi network. With your iPhone or iPad, and the free app, the device allows you to do many, many cool and exciting things with your unit. 22
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The setup is way simple! Connect your CL-WiFi unit to the 788T running v. 2.1.4 or higher, and set the connection mode in the menu to “CL-WiFi.” Next, download the free app to your iPhone or iPad. Then use your device to find the network, connect to it, launch the program, and you’re good to go. Just remember to make sure to set up your cart about 50 feet away from crafty as that’s the range typically. The application allows you to see the meters for your 12 tracks, recording time and timecode (which has a delay to it I’ve noticed). You can name your tracks for the previous, current and upcoming takes. You have transport control— which I think is cool in case you’re hanging at crafty and they call to roll. Also, you can manage your track routing along with pre & post assignments. It also provides a great way for you to manage your metadata. This is the biggest selling point for me as I’ve always thought that entering metadata on the little 788 screen was a bit tedious. And I can imagine as I get older and my eyesight continues to diminish, that it will only get more difficult. Also,
The only earphone proven to match the best calibrated loudspeaker monitoring
iPhone CL-WiFi
“The response is a spectacular + 1 dB from mid-bass through a quite high frequency above 12 kHz!”
changing the metadata that you previously recorded was even more tedious. But with this free app, you can easily go back to old takes, current and your next takes. It’s great and I love it for this. That being said, if you don’t already have an iPad, I feel like $750 for the CL-WiFi and an iPad is a little expensive to have the comfort and ease of entering your metadata through a WiFi network. I think there is a great potential here for sound mixers. Imagine a world where your 788T, Deva, Venue, Yamaha, etc., could all be connected to a single, password-protected WiFi network, allowing you remote control of all the parameters on all your gear right on one application with a big touch screen. I think that this idea would be the greatest tool anyone could have on their cart. Instead of the way it is now with a bunch of different, tiny screens and all kinds of menus. Right now you can’t use Lecnet or Zaxnet on a Mac and it has to be cabled. Can’t you imagine yourself changing your routing on your mixer, scanning for open frequencies and assigning them and entering all your metadata for the first take of the day while eating breakfast 50 feet way from your cart? How amazing would that be? I don’t know if anything like this would ever take place but one can dream, right?•
Tomlinson Holman,CAS Quarterly Spring 2010
*compared to the ear canal response measured on a dubbing stage aligned correctly to SMPTE 202.
Visit www.etymotic.com to see the complete line of high accuracy, noise-isolating earphones and headsets.
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Greetings to all my fellow CAS members from foggy Nova Scotia. Yes, it is late spring and the fog has been in for what seems like an eternity. But fog does not change deliveries and therefore, the show must go on. Change is in the air around here as I have opened a new audio post shop entitled The Hideout Studios, based around a Digidesign Icon, a pair of HD Native rigs and a pile of Mac Pros. The layout is very client centric and the vibe is very low key. The current project list includes The Men Who Move Furniture, directed by Mike Clattenburg and starring Will Sasso and Charlie Carter, Roller Town, a crazy feature from Canadian Comedy Kings, Pinicface and the upcoming seasons of The Halifax Comedy Fest, 22 Minutes and Mr. D. Check out hideoutstudios.com for more details or simply to drop me a line to say hello. –Brian Power CAS CAS Associate Member Stan Sollars won a Crafts: Audio Emmy Award for the 2010 season in the NATAS Lower Great Lakes (LGL) chapter in Cleveland on June 18. Sollars’ Emmy is for production and post-production sound mixing on the Allison Pareis documentary Sculpting the
Wind: Alexa King & the Making of the Barbaro Memorial Statue. Sollars is an audio instructor
in the Department of Telecommunications at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. This is his second Emmy win in concert with three nominations. Sollars won one for Technical Achievement from the NATAS LGL chapter for the 2008 season. He is the brother of fellow CAS Associate Member Steve Sollars.
Eric Batut CAS is going back to Fringe
for Season 4. Boom operator will be Danny Duperreault and sound assistant/second boom is Millar Montgomery.
Darren Brisker CAS reports: Having just completed the last two Twilight movies, I’ll be mixing Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3 for the rest of the summer. Good times! Gary Bourgeois CAS has been busy with Touchback (mixing), 50/50 (mixing), Jock (sound consultant) and also Captain America
(additional rerecording). He also had the pleasure of working with Tom Marks CAS on Chittagong, an Indian feature film that was biographical and great fun to work on with Resul Pookutty CAS. It has been a busy year for Steve Bedaux CAS. Starting back in the first of the year, Steve
was in Tucson, Arizona, covering the unfortunate Tucson Shooting Tragedy for ABC News; Good Morning America, Prime Time and Night Line. In February, Steve supervised and mixed Good Morning America’s Oscar specials. The rest of the year has been filled with network news specials and magazine shows for ABC, CBS and NBC, including supervising and mixing the Today Show Live, Helping Hands special in Alaska. He has also mixed a few hidden-camera commercials for Wendy’s. Steve is currently is the production sound supervisor on a new kid’s reality show entitled Majors & Minors, which is scheduled to air on the HUB network at the end of this year. You can also find him working behind the scenes at his rental company CineLUX Sound Services, in Burbank, California. From Universal Studios Sound—Studio 1: Elmo Ponsdomenech and Bob Edmondson CAS starting out the summer with two shows: Necessary Roughness for the USA network and Against the Wall for the Lifetime network. Studio 5: Nello Torri CAS and Alan Decker CAS are mixing the new seasons of Psych and Covert Affairs in their new digs. Studio B: John Cook CAS and Peter Nusbaum CAS are mixing Good Luck Charlie for the Disney Channel and Warehouse 13 for SyFy. The guys will welcome
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™ and © 2011, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
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back the usual suspects, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Cougar Town, Up All Night and Happy Endings in the fall. Mixers Pete Reale and Todd Morrissey are mixing in Studio G the USA series Suits and welcoming ABC’s Desperate Housewives and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU in the fall. Mixer Joe DeAngelis is gearing up to mix the final season of House with supervising sound editor Brad North. Co-supervising sound editors Scott Hecker and Elliott Koretz just wrapped up Universal’s feature film The Thing. Jon Taylor and Ben Wilkins are in Dub 6 mixing Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey for GK Films.
David Barr-Yaffe CAS is mixing the first season of Good Christian Belles, formerly known as Good Christian Bitches, at ABC/Disney with Bill
Thomas Curley CAS is deep in the bush of Alaska all summer with National Geographic shooting an untitled show about gold mining.
Scott Harber CAS just finished the first season of Wilfred for FX. It was a joy working with
Gavin Fernandes CAS has been mixing the documentary based on A Short History of Progress and recommends it to everyone’s teenagers… It offers theories as to why the world is in the shape it is today. After that, I start temps and pre-dubs for Young Victoria director Jean-Marc Vallée’s Café de flore on Technicolor Montreal’s Olympus Stage. I’d like to wish a warm welcome to Technicolor to Scott Millan CAS and Greg Russell CAS. Have a good summer everyone.
King and Jessy Bender on the stix.
Summer greetings to all of our sound brothers and sisters. After 21/2 months in beautiful Albuquerque on In Plain Sight, Kenn Fuller CAS and Ron Hairston Jr. came home to shoot the Fox pilot Touch, starring Kiefer Sutherland with Dennis Fuller on boom. Next up, Season 1 of The New Girl, starring the delightful Zooey Deschanel, with the equally delightful Valeria Gheran on boom.
Elijah Wood and a fantastic crew. Booming was Peter Hansen, with Jessy Bender, Ben Greaves and Tula Snoeck throwing in their skills as we wide and tighted our way through 12 episodes with a whispering dog. Now we are folding into the second season of Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time for Comedy Central which is the perfect summer show. Nice, light comedy with a touch of crudeness to keep us honest. Chris Howland is swinging the stick and Tula Snoeck fills out the rest of the band. Good times, good people, good to shoot in California.
William B. Kaplan CAS writes: After doing Unstoppable, a Tony Scott, Denzel Washington
train adventure feature with Don Coufal and Tommy Giordano, I took a long break to remodel my home. I picked up some days on Mars Needs Moms, Yellow Submarine, TRON, Thor, Captain America, Cowboys & Aliens, Horrible Bosses and Transformers 3. Some of these I did with my son, Jesse Kaplan. Now I’m working with Cary Weitz on boom and Tommy Giordano as our sound tech/utility person on Rock of Ages, a wonderful ’80s, big hair musical, starring Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand and others. We are shooting in Miami, Florida.
Brent Lestage CAS has been mixing the
untitled animated Noam Chomsky documentary with director-filmmaker Michel Gondry, as well as an HBO documentary The Weight of the Nation.
Jim Bigwood CAS recently mixed audio for the national PBS program Planet Forward, with
host Frank Sesno. Jim also mixed audio for the taping of the mid-Atlantic regional antiques series Chesapeake Collectibles, as well as a new Morgan Choir performance show that featured a 35-piece orchestra and an 80-person choir.
There’s a bright spot. Amid the doom and gloom you may hear from some regarding a shrinking RF spectrum, there is a friendly little power tool called the Venue Receiver that can brighten your day. Inside its plain exterior is a robust DSP heart running advanced algorithms to help you find clear frequencies, reduce interference and noise and deliver 24-bit digital audio quality that will make you smile.
You can run several Venue frames from a single pair of antennas with the built-in multicoupler and antenna loop-thru, then monitor and control the whole stack with the software that comes with it. You’ll have six channels of Digital Hybrid Wireless® in each rack space. And the surprisingly low cost per channel is likely to be a bright spot in your budget.
www.lectrosonics.com
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Frank Stettner CAS is working on Season 2 of Boardwalk Empire. With him are Sam Perry and Peter Fonda, alternating boom operators, and Toussaint Kotright, utility. Kicking off Season 4 on Sons of Anarchy, Brett Grant-Grierson CAS is mixing a challeng-
ing show and happy to have boom operator Josh Bower and Alexandra Gallo as utility/second boom on board.
Peter Damski CAS took on a new chal-
lenge for spring quarter at SCAD. He was asked to do the sound design and live mixing for the Performing Arts Department’s production of Hair: The Musical. Twenty-six wireless mics and a seven-piece band for seven performances. The students kept thanking him for making them sound so good and he told them that they were the ones who sounded good: “I’m just making sure the audience can hear it.” It was a fun challenge and my sitcom experience definitely helped. Oh, they kept their clothes on throughout.
Philip Perkins CAS mixed a new PBS doc on Alzheimer’s: Scott Kirschenbaum’s You’re Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don’t, continued work on the kid’s TV series Stepping on Up and on Nancy Kelly’s doc Moments in Time. He also worked on the ongoing doc 100 Years of Chevy (Florentine Films) and recorded music for a new DVD version of Gino Robair’s opera I, Norton (about Emperor Norton).
Steve Weiss CAS is mixing the second season of ABC’s Body of Proof, shooting at Disney with Chris Tiffany on boom and Dennis Carlin handling utility chores.
Richard Lightstone CAS, with boom opera-
tors Jeff Norton and Michael Davies, have a pilot in the summer for Disney Channel called Gulliver Quinn, directed by Rob Schrab.
Michael Olman CAS mixed Homeland for Showtime, starring Mandy Patinkin and Claire Danes, as well as The Playboy Club for NBC, both picked up to series commitments. In addition, Olman mixed Awake, which was also picked up to series. Olman also finished out the seventh season of Desperate Housewives. My boom operator of 16 years, Eliah Matthew, and I are just finishing up Sanctuary Season 4. We were fortunate to receive the 2011 Leo Award for Best Sound in a Dramatic Series. It was for Sanctuary Season 3 and the episode is called “Kali 3.” Best wishes to all my sound department brothers and sisters. –Kevin Sands CAS
Charlie Slemaker CAS writes: I’m feeling
blessed to be staying so busy mixing commercials and promos. 26
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Steven A. Morrow CAS has just finished up Paramount Pictures Fun Size, a feature film
in Cleveland, Ohio, with boom operator Craig Dollinger and local utility Steve Guercio.
Mark Ulano CAS here: We are currently working on the untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Scientology film, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Laura Dern. First half was up in Oakland. We came to this straight off the Stephen Frears film Lay the Favorite, starring Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rebecca Hall and Vince Vaughn, which was shot in Las Vegas and New Orleans. Just before that was J.J. Abrams’ Super 8, which is now in theaters, as well as Cowboys & Aliens, which we did in Santa Fe. From here we go onto Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, with Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo De Caprio, Samuel L. Jackson and others. Danny McCullough CAS just wrapped Season 4 of MTV’s Jersey Shore in Florence, Italy, and is currently supervising the audio department for Season 5 in New Jersey. It’s been a great five seasons so far, and I couldn’t do it without my amazing crew of seven ENG mixers and my awesome A2s.
My first year as a full CAS member got off to a bit of a slow start, but I just finished Season 1 (10 episodes) of ABC Family’s new summer hit Switched at Birth, with Aaron Grice booming and Michael Kaleta on second boom. It’s the best show I have been on in years. Very old school “film” workflow, single-camera masters, proper takes, delicate lighting, great crew, prepared and friendly actors who hit their marks and speak their lines to be heard, hardly any radio-micing. It was a real joy. I am now moving on to another new ABC Family show, Jane by Design, which I can only hope will be half as fun. Richard Bullock will boom with Aaron Grice handling the second boom this time. Between the two of them, they have boomed all my features over the last four years, so I’m very happy to have them both on my team. –Robert Sharman CAS After a sweaty month of nights in New Orleans, Tim Cargioli and Jonathan Gaynor CAS are enjoying a cool time finishing Erik Van Looy’s The Loft in Brussels. So many beers, so little time.
Sylvain Arseneault CAS spent three months in Sri Lanka for Midnight’s Children, a
Deepa Mehta (Academy Award nominee) movie, from a novel by Salman Rushdie. From Richard Branca CAS at Sony Pictures Post Production Facilities: Paul Massey CAS and Craig Henighan just completed Real Steel in the Cary Grant Theatre. Terry Porter
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and Dean Zupancic finished The Smurfs in the Holden Theatre. Currently, Jeff Haboush CAS and Greg Russell CAS continue to mix Man on a Ledge in the Novak Theatre. Tateum Kohut CAS and Greg Orloff CAS completed Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill in the Burt Lancaster Theatre. Deb Adair CAS and Ron Bochar are currently working on Moneyball in the Anthony Quinn Theatre. On Dub Stage 6, Rusty Smith and Bill Freesh CAS will be mixing Pan Am, 90210 and Project 5. Terry O’Bright CAS and Keith Rogers CAS will be working on Charlie’s Angels and Bones on Dub Stage 7. On Dub Stage 11, Mark Linden CAS and Tara Paul CAS are dubbing Hawthorne. Derek Marcil CAS and Fred Tator CAS continue to mix The Big C and House of Lies on Dub Stage 12.
Paul Vik Marshall CAS and his boom
operator, Paul Leo Romo, continue to stay busy with commercials working on several big campaigns for AT&T, McDonald’s, Kaiser and Heineken to name a few. Marshall and Romo with two other partners, Dave Stockton (production mixer) and Patrick Gleason (electrical engineer), have also been working on making the industry greener with their company, Solar on Set. This year, Solar on Set’s RayCatcher portable solar charging stations have worked on 42 commercials and a National Geographic documentary, Flea Markets. Check our website out at solaronset.com. We are having fun doing our part in making the film and television industry more environmentally-friendly, one set at a time.
Keith A. Garcia CAS started out the year working with Paul Graff on the Foo Fighters: Back and Forth documentary—although—can
you still call that work? Hanging out with your favorite band of all time? Then, he took 20 of his best sound mixers to Season 9 and 10 of Hell’s Kitchen for FOX in Culver City. Keith is currently supervising yet another season of Project Runway here in NYC and is so thankful to have his family here with him. Up next? Another tear-jerking season of Secret Millionaire for ABC (and no, he DIDN’T cry on the set last year, no matter what you heard). Greetings from New York: I closed out the year finishing Mr. Popper’s Penguins, starring Jim Carrey and directed by Mark Waters. This was my first project using the Arriflex Alexa digital camera. This year started with a Warner Bros. film, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, based on the Jonathan Safran Foer book of the same title. This film, directed by Stephen Daldry, stars a 12-year-old first-time actor named Thomas Horn, who is just incredible to watch. He is joined on his first outing by veteran actors Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and Max
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von Sydow. We are still filming as of this writing. By the way, this is also being shot with the Alexa. Do we see a pattern? Best wishes to all. –Danny Michael CAS In Colorado, production mixer Dave Schaaf CAS and his team have wrapped an indie feature called Mind’s Eye. Boom operator was Jessie Marek, with Marcia Gillespie as utility person. Cast members included Dean Cain, Malcolm McDowell, Izzie Steele and Natalie Distler. The first half of 2011 has been a very busy one for production sound mixer Buck Robinson CAS. He wrapped a long run on the ABC Family hit dramatic series Make It or Break It at the very end of 2010 after 40 episodes. Booming on the show was Tom Caton, and utility/playback duties were handled by Cole Bluma. The first few months of this year found Robinson still working in Los Angeles, paired with boom operator Charlie German on the Lifetime MOW Carnal Innocence, based on the Nora Roberts novel. From there, Buck moved to the adventurous new episodic The Nine Lives of Chloe King, another ABC Family drama series. Cole Bluma is the boom operator, with Charlie German working in the utility sound slot.
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After spending April in Morocco working with Stacey Hill on Expedition Impossible for ABC and a short stint in the South Pacific on Survivor 23, Jonathan Andrews CAS is presently working on Hillbilly Handfishin’ in Oklahoma for Discovery’s Animal Planet—a 13-episode series about the joys and fun of noodling for giant catfish. No, I haven’t been bit by one yet.
Woody Woodhall CAS has just completed mixing the first season of Storage Hunters for
truTV. He has also recently completed recording the stateside ADR for the Hong Kong theatrical feature film Far Away Eyes, starring Miguel Ferrer.
David Baker CAS wrapped up location mixing for the Detroit-based documentary When You Need to Smile. The documentary is the story of the woman who saved the Detroit International Jazz Festival and started the jazz label, Mack Avenue Records. David also began mixing duties for the new Discovery Channel series Autoweek’s Vinsetta Garage.
I formally retired April, 2010. It’s been a grand experience without a call sheet, a location to report to. I’m happy to report there is a life after the movies. I’ve been able to devote time
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to myself, to my family, to my wife, and my mother who now has Alzheimer’s. We’ve been able to travel to Ireland, Amsterdam, France and Hawaii. Currently, we live in Pasadena and Rancho Mirage, so I have a lovely time with my dogs and playing golf. I loved the work and miss all the wonderful friends in the industry. So I guess I’ve truly “been there done that.” Take care. –Thomas Causey CAS
Steve Nelson CAS reports: Hello all! Hope you’re enjoying or have enjoyed—some summer fun before the busy season starts up again. I’ll be jumping back in immediately after my six-day, 300-mile Jasper to Banff bicycle tour through the Canadian Rockies with the first season of the supernatural thriller The River for ABC/DreamWorks. We shot the pilot in Puerto Rico but for a change of scenery and in search of nonexistent rivers, we’re leaping across the world to O’Ahu, Hawaii, for an initial seven-episode order. I’ll be joined by Tom Hartig (welcome back, Tom), local utility Jon Mumper, and John Reynolds slated for second unit. Last year’s gig, No Ordinary Family, was not renewed for another season so I am excited to be starting something new in a place I’ve never worked (cue the rain and mud).
Mark Berger CAS finished mixing Without a Net, a documentary about a
circus school for poor kids in Rio de Janeiro by filmmaker Kelly Richardson, who went to elementary school with Mark’s son Matthew. Also, Not Today, a dramatic feature about rescuing children from being sold into prostitution in India, and in August, Bravo, a documentary about the siege of Khe Sanh, all at Skywalker Sound. Teaching jobs have included his regular sound course at UC Berkeley, seminars in Concepción, Santiago, and Viña del Mar, Chile, three weeks in Barcelona at the Bande á Part film school, and a six-week Fulbright Specialist grant to teach Western sound editing and mixing techniques at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgian State University in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Larry Benjamin CAS and Kevin
Valentine are mixing for Smart Post Sound and will be returning on Season 3 of The Good Wife, and starting a new series called Ringer for the upcoming fall season. This summer, they’re mixing Alphas and Level Up. Larry recently mixed two documentaries, Conan O’Brien: Can’t Stop and Foo Fighters: Back and Forth.
Karol Urban CAS has been busy this quar-
ter providing mix and design for long-format programming for Animal Planet, TLC, and Discovery Fit & Health Channel, as well as a slew of promotional material for Investigation Discovery and 3Net. Some of her latest mixes include Animal Planet’s River Monsters: The Lost Reels, a two-part miniseries, and Mutant Planet, a two-hour special exploring in stunning imagery the evolution of some of Earth’s strangest creatures, as well as complete seasons of the series Bizarre E.R. and Are You Fitter Than a Senior for Discovery Fit & Health.
Whit Norris CAS reports: January started with the Disney film The Odd Life of Timothy Green, with Doug Cameron on boom and
Kevin Summers covering utility. Now I am almost finished with Universal’s American Reunion, with Colt Logan on boom and Paul Sorohan working utility. Thanks to both crews—they have been great!
Scott D. Stolz CAS, Chris “CQ” Quilty and Kevin Becker successfully completed Ron Judkins’ Neighbors project in midJune, with the help of Steve Arcabascio. It’s great mixing a feature for an awardwinning mixer, and Ron made our job easy.
No pressure! So, we’re looking forward to our next one, Revenge, for ABC Studios. It’s been a busy year for Carl Rudisill CAS. After wrapping Hick in early May, Carl quickly jumped into another full feature, Home and Away. Working with Matt Fann on boom and Albert Hedgepeth and John Skoglund as utility, the team successfully captured the demanding sound needs of the multi-camera, quick-stop football action. Despite hot temperatures, rough locations, and challenging situations, director Doug Barr’s and DP Peter Benison’s professionalism and appreciation made it all worthwhile. Next up, Carl is prepping to begin the film Sleeping Around, starting the end of July in Charlotte, North Carolina. And in his studio, North Star Post & Sound, the ninth and seriesending season of One Tree Hill has begun again with its ADR, voice-over, and music sessions. New Active Member Dick Hansen CAS has been busy. First, he did a feature in Atlanta based on an award-winning play called The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife. My boom man was Robert Maxfield. Next, I did two films in Ohio: Boot Tracks in Cleveland and then Seven Below in Cincinnati, working with local boom men.•
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Will Hansen, CAS recently celebrated his two-year anniversary of his monthly podcast.
Kevin Sands, CAS d and his Leo Awar a in d un So st Be for Dramatic Series.
David Ba
rr-Yaffe, CAS shaving his act or’s chest (Matt Rhys) for optimum radio mic placement.
Steve Bedaux, CAS seated behind the mixer with Diane Sawyer in the background covering the Tucson shooting tragedy in January.
Rod Allen, Doug Carney, Steve Yasui, Cristina Meyer, Brett Alphin, Jordan Diaz, Lalo Guzman, Jimi Jon, Travis Franklin, Karl Doyle, Rod Bermudez, Ronnie Ali, Paul Graff, Michael Alexander, Kris Bagley and Keith A. Garcia on the set of Hell’s Kitchen 10.
op for Tim Cargioli, boom ft, in his Lo e Th Jon Gaynor on sels. us Br in er be , element The Three Micateers, Hansel Gonzalez,
Paul Vik Marshall, CAS, Paul Leo Romo, on New York Street at Universal Studios.
Here are Steve Urban and Karol Urban, CAS on holiday in Segovia, Spain. Note the binaural DPA 4060 rig on Steve’s lobes.
We were out recording a monster truck for the Sound Ideas General HD project. We recorded interior and exterior sound at the same time… I pulled rank and took care of the interior recording. Not all of us were that lucky! –Brian Nimens, Sound Ideas
, CAS Elisa Anne Forni and Scott Stolz their at , 2011 23, l were married on Apri . City io Stud home in
Paul Vik Marshall’s dau ghter Kaylee with Paul’s childh ood friend Donald Bull and his dau ghter Lilly.
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SUMMER 2011
CAS QUARTERLY
Congrats to Steve Morrow, CAS on his recent marriage to Ten Mendoza.
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