Well put! How many amateur photos do we see with, for example a lovely photo of a young couple on their honeymoon standing in in front ot a lovely scene - with a dead skunk lying in the road behind them.

Or something similar.

I saw a silly video of Sarah Palin campaigning in a rural setting while someone in the background was going about his business of killing chickens. Was it real or a send-up of some kind? Who knows - but it was a great example of what we're talking about..

That was a turkey getting killed. It was real. It was for Thanksgiving or Xmas, and when they started the segment there was no killing, but an employee walked up and started doing it and they had to keep rolling. Funny as hell!

Re: Basic Rules of Production Sound
 

Thought I'd resurrect this thread to add another rule:

Leave the corduroy pants at home, ESPECIALLY if you're going to be doing walking shots.

I came up with this addition when I was handling the boom while we were recording the sound of a woman walking across an empty parking garage in high heels. It went something like this:

Clack wisp clack wisp clack wisp clack wisp clack wisp clack wisp....
ME (turning to the guy handling the mixer and recorder): You're wearing corduroy pants, aren't you?
MIXER GUY: How can you tell?
ME: Why don't you play back that take?
MIXER GUY (after a long listen in the headphones): Yeah. Guess we need to do that one again.
ME: Only if you can walk like a sumo wrestler.

Regards;
Martin