Buftea, Romania (April 11, 2023)—Production sound mixer Liviu Lupsa captured the sound of Wednesday—the hit Netflix series directed by Tim Burton and starring Jenna Ortega—with a large toolbox of Lectrosonics wireless gear.
Lupsa, whose credits include The Contractor, starring Chris Pine; The Romanoffs, starring Diane Lane; Flowers in the Attic: The Origin, with Jemima Rooper and Max Irons; and Mirrors, with Kiefer Sutherland, estimates that he’s been using Lectrosonics products for about 12 years. He was introduced to the brand in 2007 working with Keith Garcia, a sound mixer from Los Angeles who used only Lectrosonics systems based around UM400 transmitters. “I saw that Lectrosonics was the answer for me. The important thing is that they’re rock solid,” Lupsa explained.
Recording Comedy is No Laughing Matter
While his first production during the pandemic, the 2021 Netflix film No One Gets Out Alive, required working at some distance from the set and the actors due to Covid protocols, his gear reportedly made it all work flawlessly. Working on Wednesday, which is shot both in the studio and on location in Romania, was back to a normal working style. “[Working] next to Tim Burton, we all shine more,” he said, “and when you have great gear and a great crew it is that much easier.”
A trend among production sound professionals, including Lupsa, is to deploy Lectrosonics HMa plug-on transmitters on boom mics because they eliminate cumbersome cabling, which is especially useful in shoots that today are often highly mobile. When he fits talent with his SMQV belt-pack transmitters, he pairs them with DPA 4060 and 6060 lavalier mics. He works from a sound cart that contains his SRc receivers and directional antennas, along with a Sound Devices Scorpio mixer-recorder, but he can also operate from a bag if he needs to go portable.
Next on the horizon for Lupsa is a Disney+ series to be shot in Spain.
