Am I out of Line??

[Nigel]

I just got done with a shoot. It was a spec shoot for a feature that I have coming up in about a year.

I used my standard contract that outlines the fact that as the DP I have complete control of grip and electric.

Well, the guys running sound were complete idiots. Cords everywhere....Booms in just about every shot even after I told them frame lines and they looked at the video tap. They were trying to tell the director to reshoot scenes for audio when the audio(music) could be laid in in post with out a worry.

Sooooo..........

Was I out of line for telling the director that I thought the sound guys were total dipshits and should be fired???

Thanks and Good Luck

[seekaee]

Sounds like you were working on a student film..lol!

[Jon Palmer]

No man! It always seems a bit petty to point out other peoples mistakes but you can't call yourself a professional and still make the same mistakes of a of a trainee.

[rollemfilm]

As a location sound mixer I can say that getting close to the source is primary. But, that does not excuse sloppy work. If they are placing wires in hazardous areas, they may not have had enough experience, or care about the work. I take great care to work around cinematographers. I think you voiced your opinion to the right person, the director. The only other thing I would say would be never work for spec. You may be the only pro on the set at times. If you have real skills you need not do this.

[vt220]

Originally posted by Nigel:
Was I out of line for telling the director that I thought the sound guys were total dipshits and should be fired???

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">i would have done the same thing. your director of photography - its your job to be protective of the quality of your shooting, especially on a spec shoot, and these sound jokers are in the way of that.

have a talk with sound, tell them what you require, as them what they require (be diplomatic) and then demand them fired when they fsck up again.

[Nigel]

Well, I had a good chat with the director today. She agreed that it might be best if they don't work with us again. She also said that I could find the location sound crew for the feature.

Whilst I don't get the control over them like Grip and Electric I can at call the people I have worked with in the past and get them a job. So it all worked out in the end.

Good Luck