Posted by Richard Crowley on 11/02/06 16:52

"Ty Ford" wrote ...
> carlmart wrote:
>> I wonder how many people coming to this forum uses a soundman.
>
> Actually, that would be very interesting to know.

Even though I started in audio production back when I was
in high school, and have now been doing video as well for
>30 years, the number of times I've had the luxury of a
production mixer and/or boom operator don't amount to
even 10% of the time (including the occasions when I was
the sound person). And only 1% of this could have been
considered "news-style" shooting.

I'm not including fully-staffed live TV productions where you
have no choice but to have a separate person mixing sound
because of the design of the studios. I am counting field and
location shooting where the producer (often me!) has the
choice (or constraing) of whether to have a dedicated person
for sound.

I'll have to admit that there are often times when I didn't have
a sound person not because I didn't have an extra body, but
because that "extra body" would have added no value without
appropriate training/experience. Maybe I'm just too picky?

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