Koff used
d:screet™ SC4098 mics “in our helicopter gimbal, which we constantly had Ritter fans blowing directly into. While the additional Rycote windcover shields it from some of the elements, we were taking a lot of wind directly into the mic. To add some protection, we brought in some fur and asked the costume department to sew the edges and lay in some Velcro to fit over the included windscreen and backup Rycote. With this, we were able to get quite a bit of useable dialogue during our stunts, which was unexpected.”
After the initial six weeks of filming in Atlanta, production for True Memoirs headed to the Dominican Republic (DR) for an additional six weeks. “The environment there isn’t nearly as controllable as Atlanta, it was very nasty and humid,” says Koff. “The
d:screet™ SC4098 mics were left out in the elements, but I didn’t have any issues. On day one, I pulled out my go-to exterior boom mic [from a competitor brand] and by lunch we’d put them all away because of the humidity. Unfortunately, once those mics get wet, the humidity creates a sizzle. But, the
d:screet™ SC4098 mics never seemed to have an issue with the humidity or elements. I don’t know how wet the mic actually got, but we had them set up with all of our windscreens – the Rycotes and the custom ones from wardrobe – and, while the windscreens were soaked, I couldn’t hear any displacement in the mics.
“Also, all of the helicopter work that we did in DR was in a practical helicopter, with both stunt doubles and first-teamers in an old Vietnam-era Bell with open doors, whereas in Atlanta the helicopter scenes were on a green screen,” he continues. “In addition to patching into the NAVcom system of the helicopter, I placed a couple of
d:screet™ SC4098 mics in positions similar to those we used on-stage to accommodate the perspective of flying, and I had really good results. We have scenes where Andy Garcia and Kevin James are running and jump into the helicopter and then it takes off. I got some really great audio from that in terms of the sounds of them jumping in and slamming the gun into the back of the pilot’s head. We had extensive gun fire and explosions throughout the filming and the mics didn’t peak or clip, or anything like that. I was extremely impressed.”
Though Koff considers the rejection of the
d:screet™ SC4098 to be somewhat of a “double-edged sword,” he recognizes that this feature is among the microphone’s most notable attributes. “In the past, I would play off one mic to pick up two people, but now I’m using a separate mic on each person because the
d:screet™ SC4098 mics sound more like a shotgun mic plugged directly into my transmitter. So, at the end of the day, it sounds good – it just requires more gear. I’m not easy to impress, and I certainly don’t just go out and buy gear for the heck of it. I did my homework before purchasing the
d:screet™ SC4098 mics and I’m impressed with how they sound and what they are capable of doing.”
Koff became so captivated with the DPA
d:screet™ SC4098 microphones that he’s hooked for good. “I’ll continue to use them and I’ll probably end up buying a couple more. In fact, I’ll absolutely use them on my next project in Boston.”
Produced by Merced Media, True Memoirs of an International Assassin was written by Jeff Morris and directed by Jeff Wadlow. The film is set to premier at the Cannes Film Festival in May of this year.