Booms v. Boom Poles

[Tim Duran]

Are mechanical booms still used? (As seen in the background of that famous still of Monroe and Gable on the set of the Misfits.) Mole says that they have not sold one in over ten years, but they are still used on set situations. If room, is there an advantage to using a mechanical boom over hand-held?

[Dave Blackham]

A Fisher mk7 would be good to have. Booms are more controlable as the head tilts and rotates and they are much longer as they can rack in and out. They do have their place but are big.

[ericyoung]

Used at the BBC for sitcoms - great as they crane up and down, telescope in and out, tilt and pan and can stay in position without muscular torture.

[Marc Wielage]

J.L. Fisher still makes four different boom mike systems with stands, but they're fairly complex and require a lot of experience to use them:

http://www.jlfisher.com/booms/index.asp

The best case I can make for them is long takes on a controlled set, particularly in a studio. Locations would depend on the nature of the shoot, but if it were in a big room or a highly-controlled outdoor setting, they could work.

They're still very standard on U.S. multi-camera sitcoms, which typically use two simultaneous booms (often up in the catwalk), one on one side of the set, one on the other side.

[Tim Duran]

This is all very interesting to me. I got a good deal on the Mole Richardson boom off eBay (I think). Now I have to figure out how much time to invest in learning how to use it.

I can appreciatge all your comments, but I can see how the hand-held pole has a lot more flexibility when your talent wants to wander a bit from their marks. I've never seen the Fisher unit before. Pretty sexy when compared to the M-R unit.

Thanks for all your insight

[ericyoung]

...I can appreciatge all your comments, but I can see how the hand-held pole has a lot more flexibility when your talent wants to wander a bit from their marks...

Personally I think the two types are too different to say that one is more flexible than the other!

Each does stuff the other can't. While there is overlap, there are specific situations you could only use a handheld one and vice versa.