How to operate
A Boom Mic
Film Craft 107: The Location Sound Mixer - 8. Operating a Boom Mic
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operating the shotgun mic on a boom pole
is also very challenging not only
because it requires holding the pole
over your head for extended periods of
time while keeping absolutely still but
also because it requires intense
concentration and focus on the scene now
while it's true that a shotgun mic can
record sounds from a distance the
quality of the sound does diminish
significantly the farther away you are
so your first goal is still to get that
mic as close as possible to the subjects
mouth you'll be able to get a lot closer
during close-ups then during wide shots
and that's okay your editors likely
aware of that fact and so she's going to
try and use the audio from the close-ups
whenever possible however within a give
and take it's important that you keep
the mic a constant distance from the
subject otherwise the sound quality and
the volume are gonna vary over the
course of the shot which is undesirable
also remember that the mic is highly
directional you need to point the tip of
the mic towards the mouth of whoever
speaking not at the top of their head
not in their general direction but at
their mouth my sister she's moving what
oh my god that's such great news it
really matters a lot and you need to
have the mic in position before they
start talking otherwise we'll hear the
sound quality change as the mic comes
into place she's moving out oh my god
it's such great news and this is really
where things get tricky because in most
scenes more than one person is talking
which means you have to move the mic
from one person or the other during the
scene so - boom properly you need to
know exactly who's gonna say what when
and you need to get your mic into
position in time to hear what they're
gonna say so how do you know when to
beware from watching the rehearsal it's
essential for the boom op to be present
in the rehearsal and in fact the better
you know the exact rhythm of the scene
the better I have known boon ops who
studied the script as much as the actors
- moving the boom around silently and
with precision is an art unto itself as
well rubbing your fingers along the pole
can create audible noise
if the cable is swinging around and
banging against the pole that causes a
knit noise - and different boom
operators have different techniques and
yet again this is one more place where
the quality of your equipment does
matter
using a high-quality lightweight boom
Pole with an internal cable it's
definitely going to make your job a lot
easier than working with a heavy clumsy
pole with an external cable every gram
of weight matters if you do have an
external cable you want to wrap your
fingers gently around it to keep it in
place while you record and one trick to
keep from making noise as you move the
pole is to rock it gently in the crook
of your thumb and forefinger that way by
rocking your hand back and forth you can
move it from one subject to another with
minimal noise and movement practice this
movement to get more comfortable with it
and be sure to wear headphones while you
do so you can hear when your movements
create unwanted noise there's also a
whole other thing that makes this job
super hard you've got to keep the mic
the boom pole its shadow and your own
body out of the view of the camera and
of course you usually can't see what the
camera is seeing which makes this goal
extremely challenging you're going to
need to work with the camera operator to
figure out how close you can position
the mic to the subjects mouth without
being seen in the frame boom in up up
and your clear frame thank you and again
this is another important reason to have
time to rehearse prior to shooting dip
the mic in as close as possible and then
back it out slowly until the camera
operator tells you that you're clear
then hold that position and then look at
the wall or background behind the mic
and draw an imaginary line where your
Mike appears against that wall that way
during the scene you can use that line
as a guide for where your mic should be
positioned this is also why it's almost
always necessary to hold the pole
parallel to the floor above your head as
opposed to on your in an angle from your
waist the ladder is of course more
comfort
but the angled pole is far more likely
to be seen in the shop it's also
important to think about where you
should stand the farther away you are
the longer you'll have to extend your
pole which means a heavier weight for
you to hold up sometimes you may want to
stand on an Apple box or a chair to help
you get higher for shots where there's a
lot of movement in the scene think about
where you can stand that's going to
allow you to move and follow the talent
as required you may occasionally be
tempted to boom from below the camera
line instead of above there are times
that that's okay but pay attention to
what's behind the subject and still in
the path of the microphones pickup
pattern pointing upwards towards the
ceiling with an air vent or towards the
sky is usually more likely to introduce
unwanted noise than pointing downwards
towards the ground and finally accept
that you're just not always going to be
able to get great sound on every angle
especially on wider shots where it's
just impossible to get close enough to
the subject as long as you can get good
sound on those closer angles all should
be okay just be sure to let the director
know and in some cases you may want to
record a wild take to give the editor
additional options
