Will Ferrell as Armando Alvarez
If you’re going to see one Spanish speaking movie starring Will Ferrell this year, I highly suggest Casa de mi Padre. Touted as Anchormanin a telenvoela world, Will Ferrell plays Armando Alvarez, a dependable, family-loving dreamer who also happens to be a patron saint of animals and lost causes…
The backdrop is Mexico. Armando has worked on his father’s ranch his whole life and when it falls to financial devastation, the one to save it is… Raul – Aramando’s younger and much more successful brother played by Diego Luna. The ranch’s troubles seem to be over now that Raul is in town, but when Armando falls for Raul’s fiancé Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez) and baby bro’s business legitimacy turns out to be mierda, the Alvarez family finds themselves in a full-out battle with one of the most feared drug lords, Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal).
To help track the audio of Armando’s world that’s now been turned upside down, director Matt Piedmont looked to production sound mixer Michael Koff. S&P sat down with Koff to talk workflow behind the scenes and what it’s like working with Will Ferrell.
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Peter Hansen boom, Scott Harber C.A.S. mixer, Brian Walsh utility
Directed by Ruben Fleischer, 30 Minutes or Less stars Jesse Eisenberg (Nick) as a small town pizza delivery guy whose predictable life smashes with the ridiculous plan of two amateur criminals Dwanye and Travis played by Danny McBride and Nick Swardson. After kidnapping Nick, they strap a bomb to him and promise if he doesn’t rob a bank for them in a in a few hours, the two masterminds will blow him up. Unsure what to do, Nick turns to an old friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) for help. The two would-be bank robbers must cope with the police, assassins, flamethrowers, and their own turbulent relationship all the while time clicks away on an expiring bomb.
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Based on the New York best-selling book by author Kathryn Stockett, The Help, directed and written for the screen by Tate Taylor, is a deeply moving story set in the 1960s about three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship.
Eugenia (Emma Stone) is a recent college graduate and lands a job writing a column for a local newspaper. Seeking help from Aibleen (Viola Davis) she finds herself embarking on a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts her newly found friends at risk. Spurred on by a book editor in New York, her writings transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed—even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times.
Production audio mixer, Willie Burton, CAS, was asked to come in to provide a helping hand during the 12 weeks of filming. Willie was kind of enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk with S&P about his experience:
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Straight from the hotwire of the Lectrosonics camp, Bruner Dyer gives his take on the R1AIFB and a variety of wireless gear…
As a production sound mixer for reality TV programming, there’s very little margin for error when it comes to capturing audio. Second takes don’t happen very often, the audio quality must be ‘up to snuff’ the first time, and the equipment had better be reliable. One’s failure to deliver typically results in a very short career. Such is the business of sound mixer Bruner Dyer. To ensure the best audio performance with minimal fuss, Dyer looks to his arsenal of Lectrosonics wireless equipment to get the job done.
Dyer has been involved in location sound work for the past eighteen years. He’s worked in just about every type of show from reality TV to live sports productions, where he’s served as a field sound mixer, studio engineer, as well as an A1 and A2 in numerous production trucks. His credits include work for Food Network Challenge on the Food Network, DIY Network’s Dominator and Disaster House, the 2002 XIX Olympic Winter Games (downhill ski event), as well as ESPN’s XGames.
Since he first began using Lectrosonics equipment back in 1995, Dyer has worked with a wide range of the company’s equipment. On a recent project that involved several big multi-camera shoots, Dyer, associate John Sayles, and their crew used roughly 20 Lectrosonics transmitters on the talent, including SM Super Miniature models, plus several UM400a’s, UM400’s, and UM200C’s. On the receiving end of the equation, Lectrosonics SR Series units, UCR411’s, UCR401’s, UCR211’s, and UCR201’s completed the setup. For the producer’s monitoring setup, Dyer deployed 20 Lectrosonics R1a IFB beltpack receivers paired with 6 UM400a transmitters. For extra control flexibility, he used the Lectrosonics RM remote with the host’s SM transmitter.
Dyer discussed why he depends on Lectrosonics. “The sound quality of the UM400 series is excellent,” he says, “and the scanning feature on the receivers is a great tool that I use often. I love the fact that the transmitters are solidly built and can take a beating—especially the UM series transmitters. Also, the backwards compatibility of the UM400 series makes it possible for me to mix and match with the company’s older equipment. Of particular note, the UCR411 works very well in hostile RF environments — seemingly when wireless shouldn’t work at all. The company’s Digital Hybrid Wireless® technology is extremely robust.”
On a recent reality competition show, the Lectrosonics R1a IFB beltpack receivers helped Dyer resolve a vexing production challenge. “On that show,” he explained, “the supervising producers needed to be able to listen to different mixes from different crews without having to wear six separate Comtek beltpacks. We now utilize the programming feature on the R1a’s and are able to feed a total of six selectable submixes to a single receiver.”
Quality customer and technical support is critical to someone like Dyer, whose equipment must always be in top form. When asked about Lectrosonics’ support services, he offered the following thought. “The company is very responsive,” Dyer says. “Whenever I call, I don’t end up in some voice mail system. I get a qualified human who understands what I’m looking to accomplish and helps me resolve my issue. The support staff understands the application for the equipment.”
As he prepared for another day of field production, Dyer offered this closing thought, “The way I operate, the wireless gear must work reliably. I need my equipment to work consistently, and Lectrosonics RF equipment delivers exactly as I expect it to. I know I can count on Lectrosonics to get the job done right.”
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Directed by Jon Favreau and written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof, the wild ride of Cowboys & Aliens stars Daniel Craig, Adam Beach, Noah Ringer, the lovely Olivia Wilde as Ella, Harrison Ford as Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde and Sam Rockwell as Doc. 
Based on a graphic novel of the same name, Cowboys & Aliens is set in 1875 against the backdrop of the New Mexico Territory. When a loner (Craig) who has no memory about his past staggers into the desert town of Absolution, he discovers the people there don’t welcome strangers kindly.
Rejected by the town, Ella (Wilde) helps him realize who he is and that the mysterious shackle around his wrist can be the key to avoid annihilation from an alien attack. Now banded together, the town’s two unlikely groups fight together against an alien force in a showdown for survival.
With the help from boom operator Thomas Hartig and utility David Brownlow, Mark Ulano, CAS, the film’s production sound mixer, played an important role by capturing the performances and surrounding audio for the show’s final mix.
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