Dear Indie Directors, I'm gonna say it straight: Get your sound together! Yes, everything is possible, but considering the impossible without proper preparation will not get you the end result you expect. How important is sound to you in entertainment? Sound engineers are called the silent artists, because you only realize they exist when ish doesn't sound right. It's more offensive than anything receiving a call from a person, who I never met and get hustled for my time and expensive equipment. Pre-Production sets the paste of production. Budget for sound and an experienced engineer will save you a tone of work in post and without a script supervisor, you are pretty much setting up yourself for years of editing until you finally release the movie... if you do! How would you feel, if I hired you for your expertise and offer you less money than a McDonalds employee, you get on set at 6.30am in Rancho Cucamanga (means you got up at 4am) and there is no coffee, food, juice nor water. You are asked to set up as fast as possible because you will start shooting right away. The morning passes by and you still didn't get anything into your stomach. It's hot and dry. You check your phone that says 12:00pm and you have no idea when lunch should be, because nobody cared about making a call sheet. So you start getting irritated. By 1.30pm the director tells you that he ordered Pizza. Now you're feeling hot and sweaty like a real cotton picker. After lunch you keep shooting into the night. With only one digested malnutrition, you finally get home at midnight. The director promised you to send you a check that you will never receive, because in fact he never had, neither raised the money for this shoot. This is a scenario, I have been through plenty of times and when I complain about it, I receive a disrespectful answer like: "This is why I don't work with women", or a simple "I got you". Now back to the quality of your movie. Do you expect a good quality sound? Do you think your movie will win any festivals and you will become a famous, successful director without proper preparation? #Justsaying! Sound Design Star Wars II http://youtu.be/5ogCVi0WqrQ
Filmmaking / Directing : The Importance of Sound! by Venus Leone
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I couldn't agree more! You can have a great script, acting and cinematography, but if your sound sucks, your movie sucks. SPLURGE ON THE EXPENSIVE MIC; it's totally worth it, and your audience will thank you! In regard to your scenario, it's a brutal business in which we work. I've shot everywhere from the frozen tundras of upper Michigan to the desert-like heat of Hawaii. All I can say is, the better you treat your people, the happier they'll be, and you'll be much more likely to make a quality product. If you're going to have a 4am call, for God's sake, PROVIDE COFFEE! And lots of it. Finally, let me say I love working with women. They tend to provide a much more in-depth perspective, have a great work ethic, and don't take anyone's crap.