Job Title

Production sound mixer Nick Godkin with some of his kit, which includes Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless gear.Lectrosonics At The Heart Of Production Sound Mixer Nick Godkins ApproachDeployed Digital Hybrid Wireless gear including SSM compact transmitters, a Venue2 receiver and more plus a new DCR822 for his work on the Netflix series "Apple Cider Vinegar."Nick Godkin, who serves as the lead sound mixer on Netflixs Apple Cider Vinegar thats inspired by the real-life story of Belle Gibson, an alt-health influencer who built a popular wellness brand in Australia around her recovery from brain cancer via diet alone in a fabricated story recorded the production with Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless gear.Godkin, whose credits also include The Newsreader, Shantaram, and Surviving Summer, deployed SSM compact transmitters for primary talent, backed up by SMV and SMQV packs as workhorses. His receiver rack included a Venue2 system as well UCR411a and SR-series units, plus a new digital DCR822, all fed by a UCM16B antenna multi-coupler.I started in location sound over 25 years ago Godkin says. I was a second assistant, then a second boom operator, which I think we called a cable wrangler back then. I received placements through VicScreen, which is a development organization funded by the Australian government that supports the film industry. I worked with a lot of sound mixers, obviously, and saw what they were using. Much of the time, that was Lectrosonics, and they cited its reliability and consistent operation as a reason they used it. So, when I became a sound mixer myself, starting on second units, it was the logical next step. When I was that boom operator, moving around all the time, I did go through a few different brands of equipment, and settled on Lectrosonics.Godkins own experience confirmed what his senior colleagues had told him. I want something thats reliable and works the same way every time, he says. Thats Lectrosonics. I dont want to have to think about it too much. I actually do have other things to worry about as a sound mixer beyond just the wireless, so I want that to get out of my way, so to speak. I prefer to work with my tools, not on them.On Apple Cider Vinegar, Godkin turned mainly to the compact SSM. The SSM is great because were hiding transmitters all the time, he explains, and its just so easy to tuck it away anywhere. The SMV serves as a sort of workhorse transmitter, then I have the dual-battery SMQV as a hop transmitter, or for anything where size isnt as much of an issue.One transmitter even did double-duty as a prop. Theres a scene towards the end where (lead actor) Kaitlyn Dever is doing a video interview with the journalist for Womens Daily, he recalls. As shes sitting down you catch a glimpse of her pack, as its supposed to be the pack for the interview but was also actually capturing the dialogue.The multiplicity of tight interiors made Lectrosonics range and clarity a lifesaver. The most challenging thing, I think, is that the series was all location, recalls Godkin. We were all over Melbourne and the surrounding area. Sometimes we couldnt even squeeze the sound department into an interior, so wed set up outside on the street. With Lectrosonics, wed just put up some simple antennas and the reception would be great.Apple Cider Vinegar also featured frequent party scenes with the camera moving between different groups of characters in conversation and the audio department working, again, at least somewhat remotely. This required high channel counts to accommodate the lavalier microphones on the actors, and capturing them all was a process streamlined by Godkins UMC16B multi-coupler.The UMC16B is a handy rack device that lets multiple receivers take advantage of a single antenna rig, he explains. So, it feeds my Venue2 as well as the SRb and SRc receivers. I can then scan through my antennas and see if there are any RF issues in the air that we should be aware of. Then, I get on with setting frequencies on all the receive channels.The volatile nature of the main character could mean that actress Kaitlyn Dever quickly went from a whisper to a scream, then back again. Much of Kaitlyns performance was very quiet, notes Godkin, but when it wasnt, it really wasnt! As I learned her voice, I found I could set the gain on the SSM ideally so as to capture all the quiet dialogue, but only barely hit the limiter on the louder stuff. That speaks well to the SSMs dynamic range. Whatever the level, it did not sound companded or unnatural. As an aside, Iet me say that although Kaitlyn is an American actress, her Australian accent was amazing. She came out on an early location recon, which Ive never seen an actor do, and I think she was studying us!Allen & Heath is a leading designer and manufacturer of mixing desks for live sound, permanent installation, DJs, broadcast and recording studios.Copyright 2025 ProSoundWeb EH Media LLC. All rights reserved. #J-18808-Ljbffr