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Peter Kurland “Walks The Line” With Sanken

Production sound mixer Peter Kurland recently employed Sanken COS-11s lavalier microphones for several films, including the upcoming Walk The Line, a chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

From L to R: production sound mixer Peter Kurland, director’s assistant David Alexander and propmaster Peter Gelfman on location

Photo: Thomas Johnston

Production sound mixer Peter Kurland recently employed Sanken COS-11s lavalier microphones for several films, including the upcoming Walk The Line, a chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash’s life starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. “The form factor of the Sanken lavalier is excellent,” Kurland explains. “They are small and easy to hide. It’s a very low profile microphone.”

Kurland owns eight Sanken lavaliers and has used them extensively since he first tested them out on Men In Black. “We were looking for a lavalier that would work well with [actors Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones’] black suits and ties. Essentially, the microphone became part of their uniform. We had the COS-11 concealed in their ties every day—they’re black and the texture of the windscreen was very close to that of the tie. The wardrobe people were very pleased, but more than that, the sonic performance was outstanding. The sound is excellent, and it also matches well with boom mics so that cutting from one to the other works really well.”

Kurland later used the same mics on Wild Wild West, again starring Smith. “It was a big action movie and there were a number of scenes where Will Smith had to be wired—and he’s a very difficult person to wire,” says Kurland. “He wears a tight-fitting suit, and he’s a very active person. What we discovered was that the Sanken lavalier was exactly the right size to fit into a small crease that formed between his hat and his forehead. We taped it up into the hat brim, with the transmitter inside the hat. We were able to do any number of scenes that sounded really good, with no possibility of clothing noise.”

For the film Intolerable Cruelty, starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones, the Sanken lavaliers captured the sound of a strolling priest who both sang and played the guitar. “We hid the COS-11s in the guitar strap to get a nice mix between the guitar and the voice,” says Kurland. “I believe those tracks made it directly into the movie without any need of looping.”

For more information on Sanken, distributed by Plus24, visit www.plus24.net.

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