Last week I had a three-day job during which I spent a lot of time walking backwards. This is something that I have to do from time to time. When you’re booming someone (or more than one someones) who’s walking, often the only way to keep the mic in a good spot directly above their heads but just out of frame while they’re doing it is to walk backwards in front of them, so that you can watch them while you boom. It’s not actually that hard to do, provided that you know you have a clear path behind you so you won’t walk into anything, and, if you’re using a cable (which I happened to be on this job even though these days we work mostly wireless boom), someone reliable to pull it to keep it from getting under foot and tripping you up. Sometimes, if the path you’re walking is particularly hazardous, and requires, say, avoiding a lamppost or turning a corner, you may also need a spotter to guide you (generally just by giving you a helpful push or tug in the right direction). This is especially true if you’re walking/running at high speed, as you often are, because you have to match the speed of the actors, and they’re not thinking about you, they’re thinking about their motivation. A lot of the time, you’re also joining in a parade of people who are walking in front of the actors at the same time you are — camera/steadicam operator, grip spotting him or her, focus puller, an electrician holding a light, people pulling cables for the camera and the light, etc etc. It can be quite a herd, all jockeying for the best position from which to do their jobs and not get squashed against a wall or trip. On this particular job camera was on a dolly so the herd was minimal, which was lucky because I had to do all of the walking backwards without my shoes to avoid hearing my feet on a carpet of Astroturf that sounded not so much like grass underfoot as like breakfast cereal. Going shoeless in a gaggle of backwards-walking people is basically asking to get your toes stomped.
Walking Backwards
Walking Backwards
Walking Backwards
Last week I had a three-day job during which I spent a lot of time walking backwards. This is something that I have to do from time to time. When you’re booming someone (or more than one someones) who’s walking, often the only way to keep the mic in a good spot directly above their heads but just out of frame while they’re doing it is to walk backwards in front of them, so that you can watch them while you boom. It’s not actually that hard to do, provided that you know you have a clear path behind you so you won’t walk into anything, and, if you’re using a cable (which I happened to be on this job even though these days we work mostly wireless boom), someone reliable to pull it to keep it from getting under foot and tripping you up. Sometimes, if the path you’re walking is particularly hazardous, and requires, say, avoiding a lamppost or turning a corner, you may also need a spotter to guide you (generally just by giving you a helpful push or tug in the right direction). This is especially true if you’re walking/running at high speed, as you often are, because you have to match the speed of the actors, and they’re not thinking about you, they’re thinking about their motivation. A lot of the time, you’re also joining in a parade of people who are walking in front of the actors at the same time you are — camera/steadicam operator, grip spotting him or her, focus puller, an electrician holding a light, people pulling cables for the camera and the light, etc etc. It can be quite a herd, all jockeying for the best position from which to do their jobs and not get squashed against a wall or trip. On this particular job camera was on a dolly so the herd was minimal, which was lucky because I had to do all of the walking backwards without my shoes to avoid hearing my feet on a carpet of Astroturf that sounded not so much like grass underfoot as like breakfast cereal. Going shoeless in a gaggle of backwards-walking people is basically asking to get your toes stomped.