What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

I want to get noticed more as one, in order to get on other projects. I have boomed my own projects, but would like to get on others. However, other boom operators are more known than me and get all the gigs it seems. They are also the production sound mixers as well. However, I figure it must be difficult to do the mixing, while booming simultaneously, and it's probably easier to have one do the mixing and one do the booming.

Or would they rather do both to make more money, and therefore, it's tough for people wanting to be boom operators like myself?

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

This is just going over and over what has been discussed in some of your other threads with in depth discussion and advice about boom operation, mics, sound etc etc.

You have previously stated that you want to be a director, DP, boom operator, editor, script writer and just about every other film role. I'll say what I've said before :- Get off of your computer with your never ending questions and spend an equivalent amount of time in the real world practising some of the high quality advice given to you here. If you want to be noticed, then you need to produce work that people will give you credit for. No matter how much advice you take here, if you don't actually use it to find your own way, you will never get anywhere. You are simply spending a lot of time getting endless advice, then dissecting it all and comparing one piece of advice with another in every possible scenario, making you an expert in absolutely nothing!

You cannot start at the top in any role no matter how much great advice you get, unless it is your own one man project that you can take all the roles and will be doomed to failure. Get out there and join a company sweeping floors, running errands and taking assistant work. If you work hard at everything you do, people will learn to trust you and give you more important jobs where you can learn alongside experienced professionals, not other students and beginners full of meaningless advice.

Roger

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

A boom op will usually go out because a production sound mixer has requested them. Many gigs are handled perfectly by a PSM who also booms. Some need a separate boomer. Some need a second boomer.

Do the leading PSMs in your area know your reel, skills, and credits? What do they think of you? Are they aware you’re looking for gigs? Do you know who they’re using when they need a boomer? Are your skills equivalent?

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Aside for the other good advice. A "demo reel" is unnecessary. PSMs and boom ops traditionally do not have them.
There are lot more skills required being a boom op than simply holding a pole (correctly). They are expected to to skilled in hiding body mics and Tx among other general utility sound skills with IFBs and such..

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Stay, or get in shape before anything else. Holding a boom up for a long shoot takes grit. If you become tired and slow, that’ll get you noticed.

Btw Rode have a new pro. NTG5 shotgun. One of its features is its light weight, 2.68ozs/76gms. That’ll help.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...2855/KBID/3801

Cheers.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Like others have already said:

1. You need to be physically up to it.
2. You should have professional equipment.
3. You need to have experience.
4. You need to form the right contacts.

This might mean working on a set doing something. When a opportunity presents itself... This is a process that takes time to cultivate. No one is going to hire you unless someone worth something can vouch for you.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

[double post]

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

They've seen my short films in the local community. I told they I did the audio myself, so I think they I know I boomed them therefore.

As for who they are using now, I think they are just doing both jobs thenselves, at least that is what I have seen before when helping out on projects, in other ways.

As for holding the boom, and not getting tired, the longest I have held it for was 13 minutes so far, if that's good?

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

The only references that matter are from paid gigs.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Oh okay well I have had a couple of paid gigs so far, and have the one reference.

I just want to get into filmmaking more, and learn more, and I figure I got the boom, the boom mics, the shock mounts and wind protection, so why not be a boom operator to try to get in, since I've been doing it on mostly my own projects so far as well as a couple of gigs in the past.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

However the mount at 7.9oz weighs nearly 3x the weight of the mic. So if you use that combination you've actually got 10.58oz. Still lighter than an RCA ribbon ;-)

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Ryan - we have to be cruel to be kind. In your film making circle in your part of the world, you have gone past "how do I get noticed?" Everyone knows you. They see everything you do. You have asked us on here to solve so many problems for you in every movie making role there seems to be. You have not yet found a single thing that you can do well, or naturally. Everything is a problem. For some reason, you're on a never ending spiral of attempts.

They seem to have gone now, but think back to your booming posts - well over a year ago. You couldn't;t solve the most basic sound problems with a boom. Avoiding noises. Elementary stuff that anyone seeking work in this role should never have had to ask. The kind of questions college people ask when they couldn't;t be bothered to do the basic stuff themselves.

If you lived over here within travelling radius of me, and I needed a boom op, sadly, I know enough to not even consider you. I'm sorry - but you would not be an asset to the team. I suspect this is happening where you live. You have got a reputation for being not very good. At some point you really need to get this. You have severe limitations you cannot, or will not accept. You seem, by your own posts, to know you are poor in many areas, but instead of learning and doing, you hop off one role and move to another, back as a beginner. Then when you've exhausted that one, you hop off again. Now you have closed the circle and want to do sound again - something you have already admitted you have little talent for.

We have been kind and helpful, but you are deaf to everything we say. Every time it's the same, and I for one cannot even start to do booming again. You didn't get it the first time, so what has changed.

In the past month, how many minutes of audio have you recorded with your mic, pole and recorder. Have you got the headphones you were going to get to be able to hear your mic, and have you sorted out the wind? Last time we left it. Your mic made noises, unless you put the wind protection on it, which made it heavy and difficult to use indoors? Did you ever solve this pretty vital issue? If you still cannot operate your boom with it naked, with no problems, then you have made zero progress. If no progress has been made - then your new idea is doomed from the start, because next week you will complain about wind noise when you move from person to person, and we've done that.

I'm sorry Ryan, but everyone has been amazingly patient with you but you really must do some thinking.

Did you every do that skills audit? Did it reveal your strengths and weaknesses, or just weaknesses?

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Absolutely correct Paul, you have been endlessly patient, more than most, but Ryan has to face up to the facts and get into actually doing and learning all the rock bottom basics by working alongside proper professionals.

Roger

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

I get the impression there aren’t many/any where he lives.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Unfortunately, the answer may to get a gig as a trainee in the sound department on a major production. For the other types of production there is either a one person crew or the sound recordist does their own boom operating.

I've worked on lots of productions where the trainee has done the type of stuff that Ryan has been doing, You need to be around a bit in order to even get a gig as a trainee on these productions.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

As a general comment, I thought about what Brian said above.

Looking at all the people I have helped send on their way in this industry, a few really good ones didn't really need help - they did things with me that were kind of entry level, and then used what they learned on the job to get bigger and better jobs. Some now work internationally, despite coming from a little rural and deprived part of this country. The others spent some time at college, and then divided into two - some again, now working world wide and many earning more than me! College also produced some people who will never, ever get a job, and a few who seem to get them, but never get asked back. What is clear is that wanting something very badly does not mean it will happen if there is no aptitude for it.

College (further and higher education) is a problem here. Some places are very, very good and their graduates are on a fast track because of skills and contacts, but the rest, sometimes even the exact same qualification take the money, and generate a cohort of unemployable people. This is very sad, but I suspect that bums on seats is more important than career path to these providers.

This industry is hard. You are as good as your last job, and the crafty ones milk their paid work for the contacts and the selection of skills they pick up. Do the assistant job, learn lots, then take the next fully skilled role that comes your way. You know enough to get in, then you work at it. A couple of years may pass then you start to get the really good jobs creeping in, and you stop doing the lower tier ones. You never pop up on a forum and ask the kinds of questions we see here, because that's rarely how progress gets made.

I've just been given a work experience person for tomorrow. He will either want to learn, and I'll enable this, or he will give it away in the first ten minutes and he'll just shadow me and learn nothing. I have no time to waste.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Again, I get the feeling there arent a lot real/legit opportunities where Ryan is to even get in on the ground floor. He’d probably have to move or have a play to stay for gigs to even do the trainee thing.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

I do audio covering the whole gamut from doing it myself with my gear to hiring audio pros EVERY time the budget allows. Using a pro is a high priority for me. If I'm hiring a pro I have not worked with before one of my first questions is "Whats in your kit?" Audio professionals have their own gear far superior to my own. I expect that, it is part of what I am paying them for. The answer to my question should be Sound Devices and Lectros (for example). I do not hire anyone that has simply held a pole over their head a couple of times. Whats in your kit Ryan? Just asking......

Kind Regards,

Steve

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Yeah I did a skills audit. It was very basic though, and it said I was good at planning things. But not sure how I can apply it to filmmaking skills.

As for everyone knowing me, well that may be true perhaps, but I feel I would do better as a boom operator. As for me not being good at things, no one has ever said the audio was bad in my videos, so I thought that was one of my strengths.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Not being bad, doesn't mean it's good Ryan. Clearly from the old topics, you had problems getting the audio captured cleanly and noise free. You had issue with wind noise and you had strange mechanical noises (from memory, of course). You were unable to solve these on the shoot. You asked us afterwards what the problem was and you never did master the art of moving the mic from one person to another in a conversational style - remember you wanted scripts and stuff? You got wind noise moving from one to the other, but the big wind shield sorted this, but cast shadows the lighting and camera people hated, and it added to the weight. We suggested lightweight foam shields but you found these inefficient and didn't work. Most of use can get around these things because we've learned the techniques - but you just wanted to add weight to mean you didn't need technique. That's why we wonder why you want to do sound again. A few weeks back, being a Director was the ultimate goal, now you've gone back to craft instead of art?

We're just left wondering.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Oh well the wind noise was just with one mic though. My other boom mic works completely fine and does not have that problem. Plus, what problem was I having when moving the mic from person to person? I haven't seemed to have an issue with that lately. Perhaps on other people's projects lately, they have been lighting the scene in a way in which the boom is not casting shadows or anything.

As for becoming a director, I was told before to not start out directing and to get on sets with another skill. Since I have been doing this on my own projects, and have all the equipment, I felt this was my best skill, especially since people haven't said anything about it being a problem.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Yes but how high are the standards of the folks youve previously boomed for? How do WE know that these folks just dont know what subpar sound sounds like? You could post the completed projects here if possible or at least your raw sound files. All we have to go on is your own word that you are somewhat skilled, and its generally been agreed here that your own assessment of your work is somewhat lacking.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Oh well, I don't think I would be allowed to post the raw files of their work though. I can ask. What about the boom mic audio from this current project:

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Anything youve done that you think sounds good enough to make you consider yourself a professional would work.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Ryan - you stood still for 3 minutes. Could you have put the mic on a stand and saved yourself the effort? A mic, close enough to the talent, no wind, no roads nearby, no aircraft. I see zero skillset. You could have given the mic boom to a schoolbag person and said hold it there, don't move. It doesn't show anything whatsoever I'm afraid. The absence of mistakes isn't proof of skills.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Well if I put on a stand, if he decides to turn his head or move forward, then I have to move with his mouth, so I want to be ready for anything like that.

As for recording during an aircraft for example, why would I want an aircraft to be in the background noise? I was taught if there is an aircraft passing by, to cut and wait therefore, if that's the proper thing to do.

Here is another one, is my booming good here? The little girl was short, so she sounds further away in the mastershot, but there is also wind in this shoot, and it was recorded on a city street. How is it?


I also recorded the audio on a windy day in one scene in this short. It's the news interview scene from 8:38 to 9:27 into the clip since a boom operator could not make it that day. There was also an aircraft flying over, but I decided not just record again and not use that take of course. It was also recorded on a city street.

Is that audio good in that scene:


I also boomed during the interview in this video:

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

The audio in the first two clips is bad to the point it distracts from the video. In the first clip there is a large volume disparity between the man and child. The second clip I can’t get past the harsh unpleasant sound. I don’t know enough to say its poor booming technique but I wouldn’t want to use these as samples.

The third clip sounds is the best of the bunch but it looks like both subjects are wearing lavs. It’s not an extraordinarily difficult scene to boom and with all the background noise it makes it difficult to evaluate booming. Most interviews would either do two lavs or two mics on stands.

I think boom operator is a more obtainable goal but I’m not convinced of your skill. Someone earlier asked what your setup is. It seems like every time you post you’re going in a new direction and career. I do think getting some sort job in the industry is better than burning all your money and time on your own passion films.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Okay thanks. In the third clip, they were wearing lavs and I also boomed, but we used the boom sound in post, and not the lavs.

In the second clip, which sound are you talking about, could it be the wind?

As for wanting to do changes in career, I was told I should get on sets and not direct my own projects only, so I thought this would be a good way to get on sets, since I already have all the equipment.

Also, you say that the background noise distracts in the second clip, but is it the wind or traffic noise then? So if I am doing booming and one actor is much taller than the other, what should a boom operator do to correct that then?

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

I can see her hair is moving on top of the lav which would have caused noise. Like I said for sit down interviews booming wouldn't be your first choice and when they talk at the same time I don't hear a difference so I'm not sure how you could have boomed them both. It's not only your technique but whether your approach to the given scenario was appropriate. Audio wise this sounds like what I would expect nothing amazing and nothing bad.

I was talking about the indoor scenes. I re watched the outdoor scene you indicated, that's bad for a different reason. I can clearly see the mic with the dead cat in the lower left part of the frame. Terrible!

No I agree this is the first sensible approach that I think multiple people have been telling you to do for ages.

I'm not qualified to tell you how to fix it, strictly from a viewer stand point I hear a noticeable problem and I find it distracting.

Filming yourself in action isn't probably the appropriate way to demonstrating your skills but if you watch this tutorial you can see his technique and hear the results. The video also shows more difficult booming scenarios that would be better indicators of your skill. but most any creditable operator wouldn't need to film them self, they would simply be known to do good work or be recommended.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Oh okay, well there is no lav sound in that recording, in the third video. I was able to boom them both by moving the boom mic from person to person and taking turns.

I didn't do the indoor scenes, I just did the outdoor interview scene. I just did the one scene, and a separate boom operator did all the other scenes. The reason why you see the deadcat in the outdoor scene is cause it's a news interview and news reporters don't care if the mic is in the shot. So seeing the deadcat is intentional there, to give the illusion that it's the news. But I was asking about the sound quality though.

So my booming is much better in the third video then, and boomed from person to person successfully though, do you think?

I watched the video. I pretty much learned everything in the video already from booming experience, but the video does not talk about how to get rid of uwanted noise such as traffic or aircrafts though.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

I'm saying if the audio from the lavs were properly monitored someone should have caught the hair touching the lav and fixed it. That's probably why the lav audio wasn't used. Yes you seem to be doing a good job booming but it is a noisy environment, it's not like a quiet movie set that you can hear mistakes.

I think its a bad decision if it was intentional, the movement of the mic draws my attention away from the subjects. It just looks like a terrible amateur mistake but don't take my word ask anyone here. Under windy conditions the proper gear would have been a blimp. The fact that I've never boomed a mic and this is obvious to me and not to someone who is an aspiring boom operator isn't good.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Oh okay, The headphones I was wearing was for the boom mic sound only, and someone else was monitoring the lavs, so I don't know anything about the lavs on that shoot. I just got the link to the finished product later, and they told me they went with my boom mic audio. I didn't pick the noisy environment, the director/producer did, and I just tried to work the best with it of course.

Oh okay, but when you see people being interview on the news, the mic is pointed at them and you can see the mic in the shot, so isn't that more realistic for the news then? I have project coming up with more fake news scenes, so it's good to know :). Also, real Hollwood movies have the mic in the shot, during news interview scenes though. Robocop (1987), you can see the mic in the shot, in those scenes for example.

Also, you say that the proper equipment for wind protection that I should have used, should have been a blimp. I tried the blimp on it's own, but the wind still got through, since it was quite a windy day. So I then put the deadcat over the top of the blimp, and then wind didn't interfere. But isn't it normal to put the blimp on first, and then if the wind is still getting through, to then use the deadcat on after?

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

I'm nit picking. Every scenario is different. I typically shoot interviews solo. So I'd use lavs or mics on fixed boom stands and monitor that audio. It's not uncommon to have to noise issues where you don't have time or location to move the subject. The audio is fine and fits the setting.

I think it's unnecessary and distracting how it's implemented. It's one thing if you had a wide shot and the subject surrounded by reporters sticking their mics in the person's face.

if you're trying to show samples of your booming technique most people are going to see that as a mistake.

I couldn't tell from the shot but if you put a dead cat over the blimp that would be the proper approach.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Oh okay thanks. I actually am doing a project with more fake news scenes like that later. I don't want to show the reports though, because that just means hiring more actors. So I thought that by just showing the mics, I could hide the fact that I do not have actors to play the reporters. Would this work though for an upcoming project?

And this is the most difficult part of filmmaking cause I would try to find creative ways to hide things, on a microbudget, but then it looks weird. Are there ways of thinking outside the box like that, that can work, since every time I try to go out, because of budget, it comes off as weird to the viewer?

And yes I did put the deadcat over the blimp. But what made you think I didn't use the blimp? Was it something in the audio?

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

EXACTLY - well said!

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Okay so should I just stick to directing then, since directing a movie is technically easier so far it seems, than trying to get on other people's projects, since if you produce and direct your own, then you have more control?

Another thing is, is that one friend told me that all the movie shoots I have been so far, where I would work as a PA have been amateur he said, and I need to get on the really good productions if I want to get ahead. But where does one find those?

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

No it just means the samples you've shown aren't compelling and wouldn't get you hired. If you want to be a boom operator you'll need to work in places that use them. Shadow, assist, or something that puts you in touch with those people. Focus your time on that. These type of positions are hands on experience, word of mouth...

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Oh okay thanks, so should I get on the word of mouth then?

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

If you want to progress you'll need to network with professional sound recordists who work on productions that use boom operators, You need to build some sort of ongoing relationship with them, so that that know you're serious, competent and they can rely on you. After about a year or so you may get some kind of in with one of them. However, don't expect it to be as a boom swinger.

You need to know who's working on these types of productions in your area.

Some of the boom operators I know have been experienced sound recordists on TV programmes, then moved down a grade to get onto feature film and TV dramas.

Re: What can I do to get noticed as a boom operator?
 

Oh okay thanks. What do you mean when you say don't expect to be a boom swinger?

I have tried before to network there, with two PSMs, but so far they seem to prefer to do their own booming as well as be the PSM, probably to make more money I am guessing?