Sound devices 744T syncs up with sound effects crew on Batman

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DMN Newswire--2008-7-21--Cars, motorcycles, weapons and otherhi-tech gadgets are a key element to the power and mystic of thelatest Batman film Batman: The Dark Knight. To give energy andreality to these great "toys," Hollywood sound recordists JohnFasal and Eric Potter employed some high-end technology, usingSound Devices' 744T field recorders and 442 and 302 field mixers tocapture authentic sounds for the film.
Under the direction of Sound Designer and Supervising Sound EditorRichard King, Fasal and Potter were mandated with the specific taskof bringing a variety of vehicles to life. This included theBatmobile, the BatPod (Batman's new motorcycle), semi trucks,S.W.A.T. vans, armored trucks, as well as a series of the Joker'sautomatic weapons, the sounds of which all contributed to thefilm's intense and dynamic comic book feel. While the majority ofthe sounds needed were loud, relieving the team of concerns aboutambient noise affecting their recordings, trying to catch all thedetails of fast-moving vehicles is what could have turned into aconsiderable challenge. The pair required equipment that couldwithstand the varying weather, being placed in moving vehicles asthey sped along through streets at break-neck speeds, along withthe capability to record at a moment's notice. Since the majorityof the work was done on location, equipment that did not requirelots of interfaces and cabling was key. Potter and Fasal found thatthe Sound Devices' recording technology met every one of thesechallenges. Among the first to adopt the Sound Devices' recordingtechnology for effects work on War of the Worlds, Potter and Fasal already knew that the744T, along with the 442 and 302 field mixers, would be the answerand function well in the variety of situations and environmentsrequired for this project.
"For Batman: The Dark Knight, we used multiple mics," says Fasal. "This is where we really enjoyed having the 7-Series becausesometimes four channels just aren't enough. On this project I wasoften running two locked 744T's together, with the four channels ofthe 442 feeding channels three and four on the two recorders. Thatcombination covered eight channels really nicely."

Using the recorder's C-link feature, multiple 744T's can bedaisy-chained, offering high track counts, when required. The pairalso extensively used the recorder's 192 kHz sampling rate,providing the design team the ability to manipulate key sounds withthe highest possible fidelity. Another feature that the pair founduseful was the record buffer. Once record is pressed it willcapture, depending on the sampling rate, from two to ten seconds ofsound preceding the record key being pressed.
"The 744T's record buffer was handy when we were recording the bigtires on the Batmobile," Potter explains. "One of the manyelements that went into creating the sound of the Batmobile washuge tires mounted on the back of a vehicle. We worked withseveral off-road vehicles, and motorcycle and bicycle tires,working at different speeds and in different environments in orderto find the perfect sound. If I had to record the entire time wewere trying to experiment with these different road surfaces, Iwould've eaten up a lot of disc space and had huge sound files. Butwith the record buffer, when a particular road surface came up thatsounded good, I could just hit the record button as it came on andI would capture that entire phrase."
Since time was a factor during these recording sessions, Fasal andPotter were not able to enter metadata prior to each take. Instead,when recording both interior and exterior sounds for specificvehicles, Fasal and Potter required a means to be able to referencethe separate recordings later on. By utilizing the 744T's C-linkfeature, they were able to sync the time code between the internaland external recorders, making it easier for the sounds to bemarried in post.
"John typically has his two 744Ts linked together to get eightchannels of an onboard recording. While that onboard recording ishappening, I often am in an exterior position capturing pass bysand various maneuvers at different speeds from different angles atthe same time," says Potter. "In this case, we use the C-linkcable connection. I set my machine on a free run jam once for thetime code. That setting will read the time code off of John'smachine, the two recorders can then run free on their own and nolonger have to be connected. It will stay in sync for quite awhile so we can separate and run around in all different kinds ofpositions and basically stay in sync."
Some of the vehicles being captured for the film were capable ofreaching speeds in excess of 180 mph, so as Fasal explains, theability of the 744T to simultaneously record to CompactFlash and the recorder's internal hard drive , gave him the added security that the recording would not beaffected by vehicle movement.
"I recorded several vehicles; one of which was an Italian MV Agustamotorcycle that Bruce Wayne rides