In early 2013, Director Mark Hayes read a story about a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, Craig Mitchell, who started the Midnight Mission running club consisting of former substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless people and others who fell on hard times - either by making the wrong choices at earlier points in their lives, or by simple misfortune. Immediately sensing the emotional gravity and compelling human dimension of the story, Hayes and his partner, producer Gabriele Hayes, requested a meeting with Judge and began the journey towards creating their feature documentary, Skid Row Marathon.
The crew sets up the Sennheiser G3 wireless system on Superior Court Judge Craig Mitchell during filming of Skid Row Marathon.
From their earliest conversations in the Judges chambers to the finish line of the Accra International Marathon in Ghana, Africa last year, Sennheiser microphones were there to capture every last detail of the journey - including all the challenges, struggles, dreams and successes each of the runners experienced. The struggles were almost overbearing - but the successes were overwhelming: After completing the International marathon in Ghana, some of the runners went on to complete the 29th Los Angeles Marathon last March, while others are now training to compete in the Marathon of Rome this spring.
Among the characters in the film are Ben Shirley, a former heavy metal musician whose career was destroyed by drug and alcohol addiction; Rafael Cabrera, who was sentenced to life in prison after shooting a rival gang member; and Brian Langston, whose family lived out of a car after his father became ill with diabetes and was no longer able to work. Each of these club members have their own heart wrenching stories of how they fell on hard times, yet were able to pick themselves up by overcoming the immense physical and emotional challenge of a marathon.
A member of the Midnight Mission running club, Ben Shirley, speaks on camera during filming of Skid Row Marathon.
The sweet spot of this story is the Judge, who is also a big runner, explains Mark Hayes. Here is a guy whose job it is to rule on legal matters and hands out sentences to people, mostly involving prison terms. But when he is not working, he is helping people who fell into hard times get a fresh outlook on life by training for and running marathons. The Midnight Mission running club - named after the century-old human services organization - began after a defendant finished his prison term, came back to visit the judge and subsequently invited him to Skid Row to meet some of his friends. He went down and spoke to a few of them, and realized that starting this running club was something positive he could do, Mark explains.
Sennheiser Shotgun Mics: The Ultimate Storytellers Tool
At the earliest stages of the production, Mark and Gabriele both knew that the audio production would play a key role in the storytelling; and based on the unpredictable nature of the content and dialog, there would often be no second chance to get it right. They contacted Christopher Currier of Sennheiser, who was eager to help and recommended a microphone package consisting of the MKH 416 shotgun microphone, HD 25-II headphones for monitoring and EW 112-PG3 G3 wireless systems. Mark and Gabriele were already very familiar with our gear and had been using the older MKH 415 for their past work. Adding the MKH 416 and a few other tools just rounded out their equipment list for this amazing project, Currier said.
Once the project began, Mark and Gabriele were told by the Judge that they would have to run with the club. Thankfully Gabi is a runner, so she would run alongside them with a camera and an MKH 415 microphone mounted on top to capture all the action, Mark says. Twice a week, the group would complete a seven mile run and then gather on a street corner to check on how everyone was progressing - both with the running and in their personal lives. To capture these important conversations, Gabi would have an MKH 415 on a boom pole connected wirelessly, and I would be shooting with a camera with an MKH 416 on a shoe mount, Mark explains.
One of the most important audio segments the team captured was an early interview with the Judge in his chambers at the Superior Court of Los Angeles, during which he explained why he started the club. Once again, we used the boom pole with the MKH 416, and also a lavalier microphone (the MKE2-EW Gold) on the Judges collar, connected to a G3 wireless transmitter, Mark recalls. After we finished the shoot, we took the audio back for editing and it just sounded fantastic. When the audio is perfect, it can make up for a shaky camera or other visual imperfections that may occur.
After the marathon training phase was completed, the running club and production crew flew to Ghana, West Africa, where the environmental conditions became harsh and challenging: When we got there, it was like 100 degrees and very dusty, Mark recalls. A lot of the roads were not paved, and we were right by the ocean. It was probably the worst situation for equipment you can imagine. Gabriele and Mark began to notice rusting and wear on the camera equipment. I was really worried because we were under the most extreme circumstances of heat, dust, humidity and salty air. Despite all this, the audio performed flawlessly, and the Sennheiser gear we had was no worse for the wear.
While recording location audio on the streets of Los Angeles and Ghana, the Mark and Gabriele appreciated the super cardioid pickup pattern of the MKH 416, which enabled them to focus more narrowly on the subjects they were trying to capture - without unwanted ambient noise. Audio was fed into a Sony FS700 camera, and the pair monitored on Sennheiser HD 25-1 II headphones.
The Skid Row Marathon crew filming on location in Ghana, West Africa.
The HD 25 headp
North America Stories
24/04/2024
ATLANTA Mundo Hispano Digital has launched a new advertising product, MundoNow Connect, that is designed to help advertisers reach Hispanic audiences on connect...
24/04/2024
Epic Games has released a major new version of Unreal Engine, which has become a mainstay in virtual production, that includes new features and improvements to ...
24/04/2024
The National Association of Broadcasters welcomed the industry to its annual extravaganza last month in Las Vegas. The sights and sounds were similar to previou...
24/04/2024
NEW YORK Chptr and Gray Television have announced that they are introducing a new video solution for funeral homes and communities that will allow funeral direc...
24/04/2024
Adobe Charts the Future of Creativity and AI at MAX London
Brie Clayton April 24, 2024
0 Comments
Adobe is taking MAX, the world's largest creativ...
24/04/2024
National Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has agreed to a contract extension that keeps him at the trade association's helm throu...
24/04/2024
Jo Ann Ross, the long-running queen of television advertising sales, is stepping down from her role as chairman of Paramount Advertising at the end of the month...
24/04/2024
E.W. Scripps said it named James Galindo as station manager for KERO, the ABC affiliate in Bakersfield, California....
24/04/2024
Amazon Prime Video's Fallout topped TVision's Power Score rankings of shows on connected TV for the week of April 15....
24/04/2024
DoubleVerify said that it received accreditation from the Media Rating Council for its measurement of video viewable impressions and related metrics for connect...
24/04/2024
PlayBox Neo reports a successful and well attended 2024 NAB Show, held in mid April at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Now in its 101st year, the event attract...
24/04/2024
MPEG-5 LCEVC ecosystem support continues to grow and includes TVs and set-top boxes, gearing up for the deployment of TV3.0 in Brazil
New, never-before-seen ...
24/04/2024
At Integrate Middle East 2024 in Booth AR-F45, where the company is exhibiting along with its partner NOVO, Black Box will feature IP-based KVM and AV solution...
24/04/2024
FRANKFURT, Germany Software solutions provider manifold technologies has announced that its manifold CLOUD was selected by NEP Belgium to provide a signal proce...
24/04/2024
NEW YORK Integral Ad Science has announced that it has earned Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for its sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) filtration f...
24/04/2024
LOS GATOS, Calif. Streaming media company Plex has announced a partnership with the National Football League that will add the NFL Channel, the NFLs 24/7 free l...
24/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at the helm of NAB through 2029, according to NAB Joi...
24/04/2024
GENEVA, Switzerland Software-defined video network (SDVN) platform specialist GlobalM and broadcast-quality content distribution expert scoopa have formed a str...
24/04/2024
Berklee Online to Hold 2024 Berklee Onsite Music Conference May 31-June 1 The in-person conference is open to Berklee Online students and the music community ...
24/04/2024
Kargo said it has launched a new product that gives advertisers more details about the connected TV campaigns they are buying....
24/04/2024
Mundo Hispano Digital said it has launched MundoNow Connect, which is designed to use first-party audience data to help advertisers reach Latino connected-TV vi...
24/04/2024
Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who spent 10 months in a Russian prison, sits with Robin Roberts for a primetime special on ABC Wednesday, May 1. The 20/20 speci...
24/04/2024
To give its subscribers more content to pick from, DirecTV Stream is making deals to carry streaming channels from Cineverse and additional digital multicast ch...
24/04/2024
Jenny Padura has been promoted to co-anchor on the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at WLTV Miami, known as Univision 23. She starts April 25 and will anchor with Ambros...
24/04/2024
Paris Schutz has joined WFLD Chicago, known as Fox 32, as a political reporter. He starts April 29 and will handle all political coverage for the station, repor...
24/04/2024
Plex has made a deal with the National Football League that will let users watch the NFL Channel, the league's free ad-supported streaming television (FAST)...
24/04/2024
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone sit for a chat when TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons debuts on Fox Tuesday, April 23. The pair di...
24/04/2024
Lionsgate Television said it signed a new multiyear employment agreement with executive VP, worldwide production, Gary Goodman....
24/04/2024
Miguelangel Lopez, WTMO Orlando (Florida) VP of news, has been named regional VP of news and content for WTMO, WRMD Tampa and WWDT Fort Myers, effective immedia...
24/04/2024
Howie Schwab - Beloved ESPN Researcher, Producer, and Trivia Star - Dies at 63 By SVG Staff
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 - 6:46 am
Print This Story | Subscri...
24/04/2024
Miss the SVG Venue Summit at Allegiant Stadium? All Panel Recordings Now Availab...
24/04/2024
Back to All News
My Oni Girl' Trailer Unveils a World Where Suppressed Emo...
24/04/2024
Editor's note: This post is part of the AI Decoded series, which demystifies AI by making the technology more accessible, and which showcases new hardware, ...
24/04/2024
Can machine learning help predict extreme weather events and climate change? Chr...
24/04/2024
To help customers make more efficient use of their AI computing resources, NVIDIA today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Run:ai, ...
24/04/2024
To address the shift to electric vehicles, increased semiconductor demand, manufacturing onshoring, and ambitions for greater sustainability, manufacturers are ...
23/04/2024
IN ADDITION TO FICTION AND DOCUMENTARY FEATURES, THE SELECTION INCLUDES:
PRO...
23/04/2024
LONDON IBC is now accepting nominations for its IBC2024 Innovation Awards, which honor achievements in technological innovation and social impact media & entert...
23/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. In response to the introduction of the Broadcast VOICES Act that seeks to encourage more diversity in the ownership of TV and radio stations, t...
23/04/2024
MIAMI, Fla. As part of a push to expand its FAST channel and streaming operations, Hemisphere Media Group has launched its free ad supported television (FAST) c...
23/04/2024
LOS ANGELES DirecTV is adding seven new channels to its rapidly expanding streaming lineup through new licensing agreements with Cineverse Corp. and Scripps Net...
23/04/2024
IBC is preparing to honour the highest achievements in technological innovation and social impact with the launch of its prestigious IBC2024 Innovation Awards, ...
23/04/2024
BREA, Calif. Bolin Technology is integrating Network Device Interface (NDI) across its product line, bringing support for the latest NDI technologies to its PTZ...
23/04/2024
WYOMISSING, Pa. PENN Entertainment has announced that longtime Disney and ESPN executive Aaron LaBerge has been named chief technology officer effective July 1,...
23/04/2024
In response to an FCC ruling in March proposing a $1.2 million fine against Nexstar and a ruling that Mission Broadcasting sell WPIX, Nexstar has filled a respo...
23/04/2024
Sony has announced new details about how the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is using Sony's Ci Media Cloud platform to streamline its workflows and spe...
23/04/2024
Esports' rapid rise to popularity can be attributed to many factors, from technological advancements that have enhanced the quality of modern gaming experie...
23/04/2024
OpenDrives, Inc., the global provider of software-defined media workflow solutions and data management capabilities, has been selected as a winner in the 2024 N...
23/04/2024
BCNEXXT is pleased to announce that Vpe has won the 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year Award in the Asset Management, Automation and Playout category. The offici...
In early 2013, Director Mark Hayes read a story about a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, Craig Mitchell, who started the Midnight Mission running club consisting of former substance abusers, ex-convicts, homeless people and others who fell on hard times - either by making the wrong choices at earlier points in their lives, or by simple misfortune. Immediately sensing the emotional gravity and compelling human dimension of the story, Hayes and his partner, producer Gabriele Hayes, requested a meeting with Judge and began the journey towards creating their feature documentary, Skid Row Marathon.
