ENDA Episode 97→ The time when ENDA learned how to walk like a cat

I’ve talked plenty about cameras, comp, and production chaos, but almost nothing about my brief life in the Sound Department.

For a stretch of projects I switched gear: sometimes holding the boom, sometimes mixing on set. People assume sound must be easier than wrangling a fifty-person lighting crew. Reality check: noisy streets, wide lenses that keep you five meters back, shirtless actors you can’t mic, or that one sneezing extra who resets the take, besides many others are the everyday challenges for the Sound Department.

After dozens of college shoots I thought I’d seen every sound dilemma, until the first project I took post-graduation. A night scene in a cemetery (ironically, not a horror film). The shot: two protagonists climb an outdoor concrete stairway, the Steadicam gliding ahead of them in a single take. No dialogue… but pristine footsteps were vital.

The only option? Climb those stone steps with the actors, boom close to their feet, stay out of frame, and somehow make no noise while doing all of that.

So… I had to adapt and adjust my walk style for that particular shot. At the moment of the truth, we rolled the shot from two to three times. Each recording sounded clean. While hearing the playback of the recording, one of the crew members said:

“You walk like a cat!”

In effect, no trace of my shoes, only the characters’ soft footsteps and the night air. It’s a trick that stuck; even today, years from my last sound gig, I catch myself slipping into catwalk mode when I don’t want to disturb anyone.

Does that explain ENDA’s feline eyes in the banner? Maybe… maybe not. But it does not compare with a close encounter I had during that same short-film shooting. What close encounter?

Well… that’s for another episode.

The journey continues…