Location sound director Carlo Sánchez Farias is known for his creative sound work in Chile, for a wide a variety of shorts, feature films and documentaries, as well as sound design in his own 5.1 personal studio. Last year, he designed the sound for the feature film, ”Jesus,” directed by Fernando Guzzoni, a drama thriller about Chile’s directionless youth, released at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
To assist him in his creative craft, Sánchez Farias relies on a wide variety of Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless equipment, including SM, SMV, SMQV, and SRb, along with a handful of older Lectrosonics analog transmitters and receivers.
According to Sánchez Farias, his work actually starts from the pre-production of a film. “When I receive the script, I read it and develop a creative and technical breakdown of what is needed,” says Sánchez Farias. ”When the director is interested in sound as an expressive contribution to a film, I work on a creative concept for the sound for that film. When I have the concept in mind, then I select the equipment that I will use to achieve what we are both looking for.”
On the set of Jesus, Sánchez Farias faced the challenge of capturing and designing sound for the many improvised acting scenes and unusual camera movements.
“Building the original character of the movie and capturing the sound was a big task. This movie had a lot of vertigo in the camera movements, and therefore, it was very important for the sound equipment to have freedom of movement,” he says. His solution was to use a second microphone assistant, wireless boom, and zone microphones, solving all the issues that the production might have with cables.
“The biggest challenge is achieving an original character to the sound which can be used to advantage during the post-production process and which ends up being a major creative and technical contribution to the film. So it is essential that the sound is captured with equipment that is of the best possible quality,” says Sánchez Farias. “Nowadays I am using wireless boom mics constantly with Lectrosonics transmitters and receivers, which are great quality and have very reliable transmission, which makes all the setup and movements easy. I only use Lectrosonics wireless systems for my work, because I always get the best results when using them.”
Included with his arsenal of wireless microphone equipment that he relies on for every film are the Sound Devices field production mixers, DPA Microphones and K-Tek Boom Poles with quick lock.
Fernando Guzzoni’s “Jesus,” had its North American debut in early 2017 at New York’s Lincoln Center.
