
Production sound mixer Chris Giles talk to TVBEurope about the challenges of working on Marvels latest TV series, and how he can walk into a space and hear the microphone he needs to use
By Jenny Priestley
Published: June 23, 2022
Production sound mixer Chris Giles talk to TVBEurope about the challenges of working on Marvel's latest TV series, and how he can walk into a space and hear' the microphone he needs to use
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Having already worked on WandaVision, Marvel's first TV series for Disney Plus, production sound mixer Chris Giles is back in the MCU with Ms Marvel.
Giles started his career working in music, but after being asked to help rescue a small film project he discovered the opportunities available working in sound. Something just clicked in my mind. Of course you need a sound person on set, but I never really thought about it, he tells TVBEurope. All I ever thought about was scoring films or doing jingles for commercials.
His journey eventually led him to WandaVision, which he admits turned out to have a bigger impact than first thought. That show's success put me on people's radar, and then I was asked if I would be interested in looking at this project, he explains. As soon as it says Marvel on it, you have to repress your excitement a little bit. It's a project that kind of speaks to what I really want to put out there, so of course I said yes.
It's really important to me that the intention behind the show is representing people that don't get to see themselves on screen. I think that's one of the beauties of what we do is getting to put something up there on the screen and have it seen by somebody who says hey, this kind of looks like me or my brother or my sister', they can relate more and start envisioning themselves. So that part of the project was really important.
The role of the production sound mixer is to be in charge of all the show's audio during the production phase of the project that includes making sure the actors' voices are recorded as cleanly as possible, liaising with the script supervisor, director and producer, and recording ambient sounds that will help the post production audio team tell the story on screen.
On Ms Marvel we travelled a fair amount and went to a lot of different locations. There are certain organic sounds that you just can't reproduce in a studio so we had to capture those while we were on location, explains Giles.
Asked to give an example, he cites ambulances. Ambulances in different parts of the world sound completely different from each other, he states. It may not be as important as say, the colour combination on the screen, but there's a subconscious layer there that helps build that environment.
Sometimes I might capture the sound of a foreign police car that drives through the scene but maybe somebody was talking at that moment or whatever. The post production team now know exactly what they have to go capture and what they have to reproduce. Our effort is to get basically make that workload extremely light.
Technology To capture sound on set, Giles uses recorders from Aaton Digital in France. I have their flagship recorders, he explains. I think they're fantastic, they sound amazing. They take a beating and sometimes they work better than I do.
I also use Shure Audio and also Zaxcom, which is a more boutique manufacturer based in the United States. I'm one of those very annoying sound people that I don't have one or two mics. I have a drawer full of microphones and I get really geeky with it. There's always a dialogue between me and my boom operators about which microphones will sound best. But it's funny because as I do it more and more, I can actually kind of hear the space and hear the microphone in my brain. I can't quite explain that very well, but it seems to work out, he laughs.
Chris Giles (image courtesy Chuck Zlotnick) That drawer of microphones includes technology from Sennheiser, Neumann, and DPA. Giles has adapted DPA's mics that were originally intended for symphonic capture, to be used on TV and film sets. Because they capture at that pristine level, I can use the Shure Audio transmitters and it's full bitrate and everything just said sounds phenomenal.
Everybody likes to focus on the boom microphones or the cardioid or hypercardioid microphones, but I would say that the largest advancement that we've had is literally the DPA miniature microphones, he adds. We hide them everywhere. Sometimes it's not possible to put a lavalier on an actor for some reason, and you can't use a boom mic for the shot. So we have literally hidden dozens of microphones all over set because I know they're going to walk over to a coffee cup and say a line. The DPA mics have really helped us with that.
In fact, there are some scenes in Ms Marvel where Giles has captured up to 24 channels of audio. In episode two, Kamala attends her mosque's Eid celebration, which meant a lot of people were on set and in front of the camera. Maybe someone only has one line, or maybe it's a person that's standing near something and they're kind of a planted microphone because they're near where the action takes place and I can't put the microphones somewhere safe. Sometimes it's better to be on the person that's standing next to the action, silly little things like that.
Challenges As well as the challenge of capturing multiple channels of audio, Giles and the whole Ms Marvel team had to also deal with Covid. Usually these jobs are so busy that I'm focused on my specific task and maybe dealing directly with the producers or something to that effect. Sometimes we might not have enough people on set, or something un
More from TVB Europe
12/08/2022
TVBEurope sits down for a Q&A with Tarif Sayed, president and GM of NDI Global, to discuss his background, his path to NDI, and what makes it a great fit for co...
12/08/2022
As open-standards-based IP has come of age as a network protocol for the broadcast, AV and corporate sectors, the emphasis has moved from making essence transpo...
11/08/2022
The leading media technology company will showcase its latest innovations designed to exceed viewers expectations by acquiring & delivering live streamed media ...
11/08/2022
The HPA Awards recognise creative artistry and innovation in the professional media content industry
By George Winslow
Published: August 11, 2022
The HPA A...
11/08/2022
Sefi Carmel explains why he feels the studio is the place where technology and creativity meet
By Contributor
Published: August 11, 2022
Sefi Carmel explai...
11/08/2022
BBC to be honoured at IBC awards, with the shows Special Award going to Sonya Chakarova, Daniella Weigner and Phillip Covell, who brought together more than 400...
11/08/2022
Xytech's Media Operations Platform now manages the studio's scheduling requirements, including studios, ancillary room and equipment bookings
By Jenny ...
10/08/2022
dock10s Amy Ashley-Mather reveals how Facebook helped her get started in the media tech industry, and why anyone who wants to work in media should say yes to ev...
09/08/2022
The Foundation has also launched a new Digital Production Example Library, created as a vendor-neutral platform for test content with a uniform license agreemen...
09/08/2022
Emotion System's Tristan Sear talks about learning to code with his brothers, and why a career in software engineering means he learns something new every s...
08/08/2022
Animation production rendering software was used on such films as How to Train Your Dragon
By George Winslow
Published: August 8, 2022
Animation production...
08/08/2022
Vizrts Elena Petrichevska reveals how a delayed flight led to her joining the media tech industry, and why she thinks its the hidden treasure on the big island ...
08/08/2022
The BBC said it is exploring the sale of its Elstree base and leasing back part of the facility
By Jenny Priestley
Published: August 8, 2022 Updated: August...
05/08/2022
MR Factory will gain access to Mo-Sys technology stack, as well as contributing ...
05/08/2022
The agreement between the two companies will see BBC Studioworks take control of George Lucas Stage Two for three years until December 2024
By Jenny Priestley
...
04/08/2022
With the return of domestic football, Eric Gallier, VP, video customer solutions at Harmonic, explores the current issues facing service providers offering live...
04/08/2022
Milk will develop and create digital environments, landscapes and creatures for the series which takes audiences on a journey to learn the lessons from past mas...
04/08/2022
The deal will enable Verbits customers to benefit from Take 1s expertise in unscripted production workflows, Ofcom and FCC compliance and multi-language audio d...
04/08/2022
MetaBroadcast serves 70 broadcasters and 310 channels, and manages over 65 million content records and billions of transactions
By Jenny Priestley
Published...
04/08/2022
DAZN is believed to have entered talks with pay-TV operator Sky Italia following a renegotiation of its deal with Telecom Italia
By Jenny Priestley
Published:...
04/08/2022
TVBEurope hears from the co-founder, volunteers and students taking part in Rise...
03/08/2022
PA TV Metadata B2B2C product Where to Watch allows viewers to search quickly for...
03/08/2022
Deluxe also has European dubbing studios in Paris, Madrid and Barcelona
By Jenny Priestley
Published: August 3, 2022
Deluxe also has European dubbing studi...
03/08/2022
The deal includes Avids Media Composer software tool and Avid NEXIS media storage solutions
By Jenny Priestley
Published: August 3, 2022 Updated: August 4, ...
03/08/2022
Canon UKs Tracey Fielden sits down with TVBEurope to discuss the companys support of the Commonwealth Games, its focus on higher resolutions, and plans around P...
02/08/2022
Cinematographer Kabelo Thathe used five URSA Mini Pro 12K bodies on set, shooting at 8K in Blackmagic RAW, and recording to Blackmagic URSA Mini Recorders
By J...
02/08/2022
Artels Rafael Fonseca discusses how he enjoys helping customers solve the issues that keep them up at night, and why he believes theres no better way to learn ...
02/08/2022
The combined force of these ideal strategic partners will support each other's growth and the growth of the industry at large, said Thomson Broadcast chairm...
01/08/2022
Civil investigation now includes a member of the companys finance team
By Jenny Priestley
Published: August 1, 2022 Updated: August 2, 2022
Civil investi...
29/07/2022
Addition enables editors to securely stream video and audio output from Media Composer over the internet to anyone, anywhere, said the company
By Jenny Priestl...
29/07/2022
Annual awards honour an individual, company or organisation for developments in broadcast technology
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 29, 2022 Updated: Au...
29/07/2022
The 1.6 million Aria Studios includes 20,000 square foot of studio space
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 29, 2022
The 1.6 million Aria Studios includes ...
29/07/2022
It will focus on the effects of technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence and others on the UK's creative industries over the next 5...
28/07/2022
With the new football season about to kick off and the Commonwealth Games taking place in Birmingham, Roger Franklin, general manager, full-time business unit a...
28/07/2022
Smartregie plans to employ Lawo VSM for its work on the new season of Germanys The Bachelor/Bachelorette, which uses over 30 cameras distributed over two sets
...
27/07/2022
The company, which works across CGI, video production, 2D and 3D scanning, and photogrammetry, is enabling clients to opt into its sustainability scheme
By Jen...
27/07/2022
Companies want to form a French streaming champion to take on the international players
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 27, 2022
Companies want to form ...
27/07/2022
Rise expects over 500 students to take part in the event, where they will learn about building a TV studio, creating graphics, exploring virtual production and ...
26/07/2022
Originally driven by the need to move to remote workflows during the pandemic, Mallinson Sadler Productions worked with Tyrell Cloud to keep their editing teams...
26/07/2022
Ateliere Creative Technologies Dimitra Pagoni reveals how she went from musical child prodigy to working in an industry that she says leaves her fulfilled, sati...
25/07/2022
James Camerons production coming Lightstorm Entertainment is working with Pixelworks TrueCut Motion platform to remaster the films
By Jenny Priestley
Publishe...
25/07/2022
Gabriel Attal, minister of public accounts, said the decision to axe the licence fee would not jeopardise the funding or the independence of public broadcastin...
22/07/2022
New company will draw from a global source of artists and studios who work across interactive experiences, such as augmented reality and holographic technology
...
22/07/2022
BT Sport and Eurosport UK will initially retain their separate brands before being brought together under a single brand in the future
By Jenny Priestley
Publ...
21/07/2022
Natalie Kingston talks to TVBEurope about the technology and colours that helped...
21/07/2022
Plans include a new £450 million screen industries growth hub, known as Centre Stage, based on a new 77-acre site at the iconic complex
By Jenny Priestley
Pub...
21/07/2022
Company has appointed DAZNs Edward Breeze as SVP and head of sports UK
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 21, 2022 Updated: July 22, 2022
Company has app...
20/07/2022
Ratcliff will work closely with the Hire team, the Projects team and with Presteigne's international partners in Paris and Hilversum
By Jenny Priestley
Pu...
19/07/2022
Courses on offer include a broad and general understanding of the virtual production pipeline from render node to screen; and another covering LED systems for f...
19/07/2022
The range includes a 26-megapixel (MP) model and a high-speed capture mode at up to 2,000 Frames Per Second (FPS)
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 19, 2022 ...