El Camino movie relies on Lectrosonics
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His lab included three Venue 2 wideband modular receiver systems, eight SMV transmitters for body mics, four HMA plug-on transmitters for boom and plant mics, a couple of older UHs which were used for the ‘voice of God,’ on set, and a couple of LT transmitters for sound department communication.
“Wideband tuning is important given the increasingly crowded spectrum we have to work with these days,” says Palmer, “so the Lectrosonics Venue 2 was an obvious choice. It’s a rackmount chassis that can hold up to six receiver modules, so you can mix and match tuning ranges based on what transmitters and frequency blocks you’re using.
“People who are used to filming in New York or Los Angeles tell me, ‘It must be great to be out there in the wild west where you have free airwaves,’” he explains. “In fact, there is so much RF in and near Albuquerque. There’s a lot of military, industry, and push-to-transmit sources like walkie-talkies. What might be wide open in the morning can have interference in the afternoon. The frequency agility that Lectrosonics provides has saved my bacon on many occasions!”
Like the original series, El Camino featured a number of locations in extreme environments. Asked how his equipment fared under those conditions, Palmer notes, “I put this stuff through the wringer. Lectro’s gear has held up so well over the years that when I do retire a piece, it’s by selling it rather than putting it in mothballs. Another element is, their service is phenomenal. In the rare event something does break, I can’t think of a time when they’ve been unable to fix it. I’ve taken things to places, gotten them dirty, gotten them wet, beat them up, and Lectrosonics has always been able to make them perform like new - often much faster than I ever plan for. I could never choose a different manufacturer for my wireless equipment.”
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie received a limited theatrical release and is currently streaming on Netflix.
(Jim Evans)
