DPA toughs it out for Charlie’s Country in East Arnhem Land
Published: ASIA
AUSTRALIA: Sound designer James Currie utilised a DPA 5100 mobile surround microphone to capture the audio for a new feature film entitled Charlie’s Country, which was recently shot on location in East Arnhem Land, Australia. The film is due to premier at the Adelaide International Film Festival later this year and it is reported that it could be the first Australian production to be mixed in Dolby Atmos.
The film is directed by Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer and produced by Nils Erik Nielsen and Peter Djigirr, starring David Gulpilil. Currently in post-production in Australia, the mixing team are dealing with over 300 ‘atmospheres’ recorded on the 5100 microphone.
The 5100 was recommended by Julius Chan, sales engineer at DPA’s Australian distributor Amber Technology Ltd. ‘Julius praised the microphone and now that I have used it, I agree with his opinion,’ said Mr Currie.
‘We decided, before embarking on this production, that our basic post position was going to be Dolby 7.1 with a possibility of going to final mix with Dolby Atmos. A 5.1 microphone for recording atmospheres was therefore an essential item in the structure and vision of the soundtrack. The DPA 5100 mobile surround microphone was the instrument that allowed us to work with confidence and to approach the post production of Charlie's Country with a strong degree of certainty.’
Mr Currie also wanted a discrete array of tracks, along with clarity and a faithful representation of the sonic world of East Arnhem Land, so that no sounds needed to be introduced from elsewhere.
‘The indigenous population of East Arnhem Land understand the natural world and their lives are tuned to that world,’ he explained. ‘They make changes to their living conditions and proceed to ceremonies and other celebrations by obeying the change of seasons and the movement of nature and its sounds. The introduction of sound from elsewhere would be an insult to their understanding of the world and we would lose face within the community, to say nothing of a loss of confidence with the tribal elders.’
Filming in East Arnhem Land, which is deep into Aboriginal tribal land, came with its own set of issues. ‘Conditions in East Arnhem Land are character building at the best of times and, as this was my fifth production in the area, I knew it would be physically and mentally exacting,’ Mr Currie furthered. ‘It is a rugged, tough, tropical place, full of crocodiles, spiders of indescribable ugliness and large winged insects whose sole blood sucking purpose in life is to make working and sleeping entirely miserable for everyone!
‘Charlie’s Country includes scenes that had to be filmed in the rain so we knew from the start that our equipment needed to be versatile and rugged in order to withstand the most demanding of conditions and locations. The 5100 mic gave excellent results and coped with all conditions remarkable well. Humidity is always an issue but it sailed through without a problem, although its rain cover didn’t fare as well because quite a few bugs enjoyed its texture and ate holes in the fabric.
‘The results I achieved with this microphone exceed my expectations, which is not something one says very often in this business,’ he added. ‘To record the many and varied atmospherics of East Arnhem Land was a joy. The 5100 provided an accurate and astonishing depth of recording that will allow us, in post, to extract the emotion and colour of the exotic Arnhem Land locations for a worldwide audience.’