The sound of another hangover, in Bangkok

Sound Designer/Supervisor Cameron Frankley and Sound Mixer John Fasal set out for Bangkok to record 5.1 location audio for the sequel to ‘The Hangover’, helpfully titled ‘Hangover 2′, armed with DPA 5100 surround microphones and Sound Devices 788T multi-track digital audio recorders.

As they told the Broadcast Newsroom, they captured everything from the bustle of the marketplaces to the sounds of the cigarette boats and tuk-tuks (open air taxis) unique to Thailand, and used free access to rooftops, basements, marketplaces and intersections to make sure they went to every location used in the film. In the walking streets, where, as their name would suggest, there are no vehicles, they found themselves a little crevice between two buildings and, using the DPA 5100, were able to capture the full atmosphere of what went on below.

To be efficient and use their time effectively, they built two two sound rigs so they could record at different locations and at different types of locations at the same time. The used six channels of a 788T for the handheld DPA 5100, with channels 7 and 8 reserved for MS shotgun mics, so they were recording eight channels all the time. Cameron says of their decision to work this way:

“As far as the run-and-gun technique or being out in an environment where you are acclimating to different events that are happening and you are adjusting your setup, this rig was by far the best set I have ever recorded with. It allowed us to walk into really tight spaces and get in between things. At the end of the day, it worked out really well in post, as we had lots of useful material.”

As John puts it:

“When you are out in the field, you listen to your surroundings as if you are a microphone. When using a surround mic, you have to situate yourself so you are getting useful material in as many places as possible. When you play back the tracks, you are basically back on location, in the moment.”

To which Cameron adds:

“When you come back from recording in the field, you have a palette of all of these colors, and you are able to mix and match them, and manipulate them to fit the picture and what the camera is doing. You get these different channels and pieces and then you can accentuate them to maximize the cinematic idea.”

The team’s choice of mics and recorder seem to have served them well on other occasions too, including the forthcoming ‘Gangster Squad’ and ‘Terminator Salvation’.