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Production Sound Technicians
Shortly after The Jazz Singer introduced "Talkies" in 1928, Local 695 began to provide Hollywood with the craftspeople and the technical skills to bring sound to Motion Pictures. During the production of a film, we do all the on-location sound recording. The Sound Crew is generally made up of 3 or more people, depending on the complexity of the production.
The Sound Mixer controls the recording levels, the equalization settings, usually oversees the creative and technical operation of the rest of the Sound Crew, and is the person who says "Wait, we gotta stop until that plane goes by," eventhough most of the other people on the set don't even notice that there's a 747 directly overhead.
The Boom Operator is responsible for microphone placement, sometimes using a "fishpole" with arms outstretched for long periods of time (Don't your arms get tired? You bet your ____ they do!) and sometimes, when the situation permits, with a "boom" (most often a "Fisher Boom") which is a special piece of equipment that the operator stands on and that allows precise control of the microphone at a much greater distance away from the actors.
The Utility Sound Technician provides a variety of much-needed assist skills to the Mixer and the Boom Operator, including pulling cable during complicated camera moves, assisting during the placement of microphone "plants" (which are hidden microphones that are strategically placed on the set in order to capture dialogue from the actors,) placing radio microphones on actors while hiding the radio transmitters under their wardrobe, and other things that help the Sound Crew to work quickly and to avoid delays in production.
In some cases, a Recordist is required to operate and monitor special recording equipent. A Playback Operator is sometimes required to operate equipment to play back music for singers and dancers. Multiple Boom Operators might be needed to help capture dialogue that takes place on very large sets or during very complicated scenes. And often, expecially during the production of sitcoms, extra Utility Sound Technicians will be used to help move the Fisher Booms during the shot.
Together, they are the Local 695 Production Sound Crew.
Also during the course of production, our members perform the additional on-set functions of Video Assist, 24-Frame Video Playback, and we also produce and supervise the filming of computer generated images.
Television Broadcast Engineers
Since the first days of broadcast television and the introduction of videotape in the 1950's, Local 695 has provided Broadcast Engineers for all aspects of on-air operations. During the early years, live comedy and musical revues performed on theatrical stages were the hallmark of broadcast television. But today's high tech information revolution demands that television be ready to take us instantly to virtually anyplace on the planet... and beyond, for that matter. The Television Broadcast Engineers of Local 695 are masters of this new and exciting technology and, in many instances, were the creators of it. We provide the industry with some of the finest talent in the world, including videotape engineers and technicians who deliver the signal to the transmitting towers, electronic operations and maintenance engineers who operate tape machines, video servers, television broadcast transmitters and satellite receiving and transmitting equipment, and the master control engineers who put it all together.
Projection and Projection Engineers
The work of the projectionist classification includes, but is not limited to, operating all imaging equipment and related sound equipment, whether electronic or film, in the projection booths on location and at the studios. This equipment may include video, high definition video devices, computer images and film projectors as installed by the projection engineers. It is the jurisdiction of projectionists to operate all equipment in the studio screening rooms and on location. Support is also provided for process projection in both categories.
Projection engineer's duties include, but are not limited, to specify, design, install, calibrate repair and maintain all motion picture imaging and sound playback equipment that is used in production and post production screening rooms, both at the studio and on location. Projection engineers also support elaborate on-location screenings with their design and setup skills. These two classifications also support audio visual services for the studios, programming playback devices and computers, setting up and operating audio/visual projects.
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