Munich, DE (July 17, 2024) — Upcoming action-drama Forces of Nature aims to shift the paradigm of how a television series is made. Available via video-on-demand and streaming later this year, it pits hip-hop dance champion Hurricane against an organized crime syndicate with Europe-spanning reach. The twist is that instead of professional actors, the production casts ordinary people whose characters are imbued with their real-life skills: dance, martial arts, combat experience, architecture, and more. The storyline is minimally scripted, with performers encouraged to play themselves. Since it is an independent effort with a small crew, creator/director Simon Baumann and technical lead Niclas Raab effectively are every department. For location sound recording, they required microphones as tenacious and versatile as they are, leading them to choose the HC-22 and HC-35 shotgun mics from Rycote, protected by Cyclone-series windshields.
“There are six episodes, which we shot over 85 days,” says Raab. “At least 50 of those days were outdoors, mostly in uncontrolled environments.”
“This was in part to maintain the raw and real feeling,” adds Baumann. “I studied animation at CalArts and when I was in Los Angeles, worked on a number of major productions including Thor and Men In Black 3. One thing I learned was that large crews and insulated sets can actually create a disconnect for the talent. Sometimes you want that, but for what we were doing, we wanted the opposite of that. I read about Stanley Kubrick filming Eyes Wide Shut, and the story goes that many of the tighter, more intimate scenes had, like, three people in the room including Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. So, I wanted to keep it small, but the other aspect was that our locations weren’t sets — they were real places in actual use most of the time.”
This meant that capturing dialogue would need to happen up close, except when conditions made this impossible. “What impressed me about the HC-22 and HC-35 was how very precise they are in a directional sense,” explains Raab. “We used the HC-22 a lot for when we could close-mike people. Then we found ourselves going to the HC-35 more and more because we were often in places where regular people, not involved with the production, were conducting their business four or five meters away.”
“I’m quite familiar with what shotgun microphones can and cannot do,” Baumann continues. “Between my background and Niclas having studied film at the University of Munich, we were experienced with a lot of different mics. We were surprised that the Rycote ones were more directional and better at off-axis rejection than many more famous brands.” “
We even shot at an active commercial airport with planes passing by less than 100 meters from our location and had no problems,” notes Raab. “Likewise, some scenes were shot in an airplane hangar which had significant room echo. The mics didn’t pick it up. Rycote has certainly become our weapon of choice on this production.”
Even the most reliable weapon needs a good holster, for which Baumann and Raab turned to Cyclone windshields. The Cyclones’ advanced 3D-Tex material let all the sound they wanted to record pass through while greatly attenuating all the sound they did not. “We even shot a scene in a snowstorm,” recalls Baumann. “It was close to the Alps outside of Munich, the wind was whipping, and the actors were freezing. It was an uncomfortable scene because the gangsters are about to kill somebody with a chainsaw. The Cyclone screens let us weather all of that, no pun intended, and still get clear sound.”
Above all, Baumann and Raab concur on the one word that’s music to the ears of independent filmmakers and content creators: value. “The upside of proceeding the way we are is that we own all the I.P. and we don’t have anyone to report to,” says Baumann. “Many people who do wind up stuck somewhere in the development stage and don’t get to shoot a single day. But the downside is that if you’re not working for the big studios, money is a struggle. One thing that’s made a huge difference in recent years is the gear. We’re shooting on Blackmagic cameras, for example. They’re really good, but tons more affordable than digital cinema cameras like Arri or RED. I think Rycote falls into that category when it comes to shotgun mics and protective equipment — you could spend a lot more and not get that big an increase in performance your audience is going to see and hear.”
“Rycote’s tools that make the most sense for us to realize our ideas,” agrees Raab. “I’m not saying don’t try to be Christopher Nolan if that’s your dream. But there’s a freedom to going, okay, we have a camera, we have a mic, we have a boom, we have a field recorder. Let’s go make something. For us, Rycote is excellent for that. It works. That’s it.”
About Rycote
Since 1969, Rycote has delivered reliable, unrivalled, premium quality equipment that is designed to withstand the harshest of environments and rigors of daily use to ensure capture of consistent and exceptional professional audio. Our loyal community of sound engineers feed into our product innovation ensuring our products are designed to meet the needs of the user and whilst Rycote has a global presence and reputation for product excellence, we are committed to continuing to make our products in the UK.
Find out more at: https://rycote.com/
About Videndum Media Solutions
Videndum Media Solutions is a division of Videndum plc, an international group of companies serving customers in the growing content creation market. Videndum Media Solutions designs, manufactures, and distributes premium branded photographic and video equipment such as tripods; bags; filters; backgrounds; motion control; lights and microphones for professional and hobbyist photographers and video-makers; and content creators. Positioning Videndum Media Solutions as the leading global provider of accessories within the fast-growing digital multi-media content market, the portfolio includes the following premium brands: AUDIX; Avenger; Colorama; Gitzo; JOBY; Lowepro; Manfrotto; Rycote; Savage and Syrp Lab. All products are distributed on a direct basis in 11 markets across the world through Videndum Media Distribution, as well as many other markets through a network of qualified retail partners.
