Cook uses the Holophone to get the whole picture with one mic

Benjamin Cook is an Emmy award-winning (and Academy Award nominated) sound editor and sound effects recordist, having worked on a number of high-profile feature films, movies of the week and television series over the past 20 years. Working in high-definition video and film, his credits include TV series Deadwood, Big Love and Rome for HBO, Rescue Me for Sony Pictures Television and Smallville for Warner Bros. Television, and such feature productions as the Austin Powers movies (New Line Cinema), Lost Highway (October Films), Switchback (Rysher/Paramount), and Apocalypto (ICON/Buena Vista).
Cook’s latest assignment (as sound designer) was for a new HBO mini-series called The Pacific. He used the Holophone H3-D Surround microphone for on-location sound effects work in remote parts of Australia. The H3-D provides 3-D surround audio via six discrete channels from a single unit with no external mixing or signal manipulation needed.

Q: Is the Holophone mic better for gathering ambient sound or close-up dialogue? Talk about placement.
A: I have never used the Holophone to record production dialogue, just for background ambience and sound effects. I first fell in love with the microphone while recording Mayan chants for the human sacrifice scenes in Apocalypto. We just hung a unit upside down from a camera crane over several hundred extras shouting and vocalizing and the results were tremendous. The great thing about this microphone is you don’t have to worry about a complex microphone set-up. It’s a simple single unit and takes all the guesswork out of getting great multichannel tracks.

Q: How did you use other mics on set? How did you place them in relation to talent and Holophone mic?
A: I took a few other microphones with me: a Sanken CSS-5, RODE NT-4, DPA 4007, DPA 4061 and a Crown SASSPMK II. I often used the Holophone in conjunction with one or more of the other microphones. For example, when I recorded a 1923 W class electric tram, I placed the Holophone mid cabin. The DPA 4061 was placed under the carriage through an open floorboard, and the Sanken CSS-5 was placed in the open compartment area facing out and down towards the track and wheels. The results were fantastic. I did a similar set-up when recording interior driving of a GMC 2 1/2-ton army cargo truck. I used the Holophone to capture the truck bed in 5.1 and used the DPA microphones in mono to record the engine and muffler.

Q: Did you use windscreens and other accessories for this shoot? In your experience, what’s the best material to use?
A: I did use the Holophone windscreen. I found it was a requirement on all exteriors to avoid wind buffets. It also served as rain protection when I was out recording ambience tracks in the rain forest in the Far North Queensland, although I don’t think the Holophone folks would approve. In the past I’ve always used Rycote zeppelins and windjammers but I liked the results I got using the Holophone windscreen.

Q: What’s the toughest part of capturing surround sound audio on location?
A: When on set, by far my most difficult task was getting good material that didn’t have production dialog or unwanted extraneous noises in it -finding areas that were not already being covered by the production dialog mixer and that would be useful to the final mix. Since this is a not only a period piece but also a location piece, you had to always be conscious of inappropriate contemporary sound sources like air conditioning or traffic. This was compounded by the use of a surround microphone, since by its nature it’s capturing a wide sound field. You’re casting a wider net, so you’re more likely to get junk.

Q: What device did do you record your audio to and how did you deliver for post?
A: I use a Zaxcom DEVA IV field recorder with just the built-in mic pre-amps. After each session we burned tracks to DVD then imported them into Pro Tools, where they were edited and mastered. Each sound effect was also cataloged with the pertinent metadata embedded in the files. To date we have over 12 GB of mastered material that was specifically recorded for this mini-series. Q: What the hardest part of designing sound for multichannel HD productions? A: Achieving good dynamic range without being overly dynamic, and a realistic sound field that is deep with many levels of detail. That’s why I love this Holophone microphone. The tracks I capture with it make a great base to build on without any mixing or signal processing. Then I can focus more on being creative.