Produced by Dubai-based Veritas Films, Champ of the Camp documentary follows a massive Bollywood singing and trivia competition that searches more than 70 labour camps throughout the UAE to find and crown the champ of all camps. Capturing the location sound for the annual event fell to David Thirion and his Sound Devices’ 788T Digital Audio Recorder and CL-8 Controller.
The documentary marks the first recording of a full-length feature film in 5.1 surround-sound to be made in the Gulf region.
Narrated (and sung) entirely in the voices of the labourers, the film alternates between the X Factor-style of the competition and the harsh reality of the labour environment, weaving in intimate access scenes of daily routines and emotional reflections on the life of labourers in Dubai.
Although Thirion is one of the UAE’s most sought-after sound recordists, Champ of the Camp marks his first 5.1 surround project. Knowing the microphone needed for a 5.1 shoot is fundamentally different from that of a stereo shoot, equipment selection was paramount to the success of the project. Executive Producer Eva Star Sayre worked with Melody House/NMK Electronics to put together a sponsorship with Sound Devices and microphone manufacturer DPA for the provision of high-quality 5.1 audio gear.
‘I have been using Sound Devices equipment for some time now and knowing that I could trust the quality of the 788T was one of the main factors that pushed me to stay with the company on this project,’ Thirion explains. ‘The second important factor was when we chose to use the DPA 5100 Surround Mobile Microphone for the film.’
Thirion divided his crew into two sound teams, with a third unit joining toward the end of production for the event finals. He recorded 5.1 for most of the musical events in the camps and another unit recorded four iso tracks from the stage and judges’ panel. In addition, as the DPA 5100 needs to be as transparent as possible to allow him to record the reality of the environment and not premix anything, he decided to use Sound Devices’ CL-8 mixing control surface so he could be as precise with the levels for each track.
He also used a separate interview and ambient sound kit, enabling the production crew to edit the interview content to send out to potential investors quickly. While the interview kit was in use, the kit was then set to record 5.1 to further enrich shots by using the actual background from the event itself and/or from the particular location. Sound Devices’ 744T also served as a back-up recorder for the event.
‘One of the main challenges was that my headphones were stereo, so I could not monitor the 5.1 through them, which took some getting used to,’ Thirion says. ‘Fortunately, the flexibility of the 788T allowed me to create my own headphone routing and monitoring, which was a great help to me. I had to take a brand-new approach with this project, as I was constantly trying to keep the 5.1 coherent between scenes for post-production purposes. Since we were on a certain budget, we couldn’t afford to experiment a lot and I had to get it right from the start. Also, since we were recording the musical events live, everything had to be done that night; there was no chance for a second take.’
Another benefit of the 788T was its time code master clock: ‘At the beginning of each day, we would synch the time code with the 788T as the master,’ Thirion says. ‘The editor was very happy with it, and the reliability of the 788T allowed me to concentrate on the competition instead of wondering if the recorder and battery would cope with the heat and less-than-ideal environment. Sound Devices has always been extremely reliable and the 788T is a great recorder. It can reach 130°F in the Dubai summer, but the 788T always kept its cool.’
Directed by Mahmoud Kaabour, Champ of the Camp is scheduled for its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival 2013.
