Big Boom
 

Seems mic stands are the topic of the day :)

I am going to be shooting some dialogue scenes this weekend, and I am likely to not have a dedicated sound person to use my boom arm for the ME-66. The dialog is completely stationary though, so I was wondering if I could just get a large fixed boom arm and lock the mic above the speakers.... Do people do that?

Someone mentioned using a C-stand for this... I haven't used one of those for anything...

The boom would have to extend maybe 10ft past it's base for this... is that possible?

I have a budget, but would rather not spend a lot.... I happen to be going by B&H tomorrow....

Thanks in advance.

Nice to know another Barry has a microphone problem. I have no answer though. :) Still, I was wondering about C-stands too.

Re: Big Boom
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Barry Gribble : Seems mic stands are the topic of the day :)

I am going to be shooting some dialogue scenes this weekend, and I am likely to not have a dedicated sound person to use my boom arm for the ME-66. The dialog is completely stationary though, so I was wondering if I could just get a large fixed boom arm and lock the mic above the speakers.... Do people do that?
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Alll the time. If you see a television studio they have specific cranes for this. Nobody can hold a portable boom for 28 minutes.
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Someone mentioned using a C-stand for this... I haven't used one of those for anything...
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No, what you want is a boom pole holder if you want to keep the cost low and you already have a pole. Gravity holds the boom in place. the holder mounts to something sturdy or you can counterbalance the pole or both.
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The boom would have to extend maybe 10ft past it's base for this... is that possible?
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I've use a crane that has a 30 foot reach. The hard thing will be getting a counterbalance for your pole. Maybe a couple of weights from an exercise set would work.
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I have a budget, but would rather not spend a lot.... I happen to be going by B&H tomorrow....

Thanks in advance. -->>>

I use a manfrotto combination boom stand. You can find them in B&H for $140 for silver and $160 for black. It has an 84" reach

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=152013&is=REG

The stand can be used as a straight light stand or a boom stand, it works for mics as well. It also has a very healthy weight rating.
It carries my softbox so a mic is childs play.

I have shorter stands for smaller settings.

I use a carbon fibre fishing pole, mounted on a lighting stand. Microphone fixed in a shock mount, attached with a half ins. thread eye taped to the tip of the pole, and a bag with some encyclopaedias in it as a counterweight at the other end. The fishing pole lies horizonally on 2 U shaped supports screwed into a piece of 2x1 timber, clamped to the lighting stand with a Manfrotto superclamp.

How far you can extend it depends on the length and strength of the fishing pole, and the weight of the microphone. I have gone as far as 16 feet beyond the stand.

Downside is that it is potentially unstable, so only safe if no-one is going to be walking near the stand.

The pro equivalent is the Ambient Jumbo boom.
http://www.firstsense.co.uk/Ambient/jumbo.htm

Patrick

Used a C-stand this past weekend. Clamped the boom pole in the clamp, worked just fine. I did drop TWO sandbags on the legs to keep it steady.

I may have got hee too late for you (it's Sat morning), but for future reference, there two solutions:

1. a studio mic stand with a boom. it will take a rather large and expensive one to reach that far out.

2. If you have a microphone boom pole, you can get a cradle to hold the boom on a heavy light stand. You can see one here:

http://atscomms.com/Grip/grip.html