The recent chat with you in Jeritopia was excellent. One part in particular caught my eye. You were asked this question by dbalcer:
" We love townjennie. When we get Season 3 can we get more of her storyline?"
"We all love townjennie," Karim replied. "What would you guys like to see townjennie do next season? Hey, perhaps that'll be a good contest:you guys write her."
Jennie's fans are waiting for the contest. We hope you were serious. Here are a few fan comments:
"My affinity for TownJennie is mostly because she's made herself so accessible to the fans. She has been in direct contact with the fans since she posted on the CBS boards, and it feels like she became our "friend" after Season 1. I guess I'd like to learn more about her character, and I'd also like my Jericho "friend" to have bigger success within the show. In addition, I also think she represents what most of us want for ourselves, to be taken from the background and out into the limelight."
"One of the reasons I want her to get a bigger part is that she has something special that made it so we could identify her. The she made herself available to us and shared her stories on the sets. She is one of them granted in a small role but wants to be one of us too."
" When Jennie first posted at CBS I wasn't sure who she was but people started talking about her so I began to pay attention. I finally saw her picture and saw some videos.I thought she was very pretty then I read an interview about her. She is so down to earth and seems to love the show and her job. She feels like a friend. I want her her to have a bigger role because she deserves it. We want Jennie."
" Jennie is a super nice lady. She's as pretty as Ashley or Sprague. Maybe more. I think she could do a good job in a bigger part."
" Jennie is the kind of person who makes everybody feel special. She deserves a much bigger role."
If you would like to make a comment please post in the comment section or email sweat1951@rock.com and I will post them here.
The Karim Zreik chat was excellent Tues. night. One part in particular caught my eye. Karim was asked this question by dbalcer:
" We love townjennie. When we get Season 3 can we get more of her storyline?"
"We all love townjennie," Karim replied. "What would you guys like to see townjennie do next season? Hey, perhaps that'll be a good contest:you guys write her."
I sure hope he was serious. Not only would it be wonderful to see Jennie (Sword) in a bigger role but letting a fan write her story would be remarkable.
Thank you to Jennie Sword for her chat last night in Jeritopia. It was fun learning more about her and we appreciate the visit.
Jeritopia is pleased to announce Jericho Co-Executive Producer Karim Zreik comes to the chat room to thank fans for their hard efforts to promote the show and take questions about seasons 1 & 2, the future for Jericho, what it takes to produce this great series and whatever else fans want to talk about..
Tuesday, February 5th, 9pm ET
An Evening with Carol Barbee
Jeritopia is pleased to announce Jericho Executive Producer Carol Barbee will be stepping into the chat and sitting down with fans for a Q & A session.
Wednesday, February 6th, 11pm ET http://www.jeritopia.com In the "Town Hall"
So get your questions ready and come join us for what promises to be a very special evening.
Jeritopia is pleased to announce Jericho Co-Executive Producer Karim Zreik comes to the chat room to thank fans for their hard efforts to promote the show and take questions about seasons 1 & 2, the future for Jericho, what it takes to produce this great series and whatever else fans want to talk about..
Phillip W. Palmer, C.A.S., is the current Production Sound Mixer for Jericho. For a list of his credits please go to IMBd.
I want to thank Phillip for taking the time to do this interview because, as you will read, the set of Jericho is one busy place. It is my honor and privilege to introduce you to Phillip W. Palmer.
1. How did you get started in sound mixing?
I studied Film and Television Production at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. But playing in a band was more fun in the 80's and I ended up being a sound engineer and touring, doing larger acts in the mid 80's. I got a call to work as utility sound technician on a Movie of the Week for a well known Production Sound Mixer in 1987. I was tired of the music business and touring, so I gave it a try...it's nearly 20 years later. I was a sound utility and boom operator for 12 years and have been sound mixing since 1999.
2. What have been the challenges in mixing sound for Jericho as opposed to other projects?
All projects have their challenges, Jericho had some built right into the story. For one, we're set in Kansas not Los Angeles. Our sound stages and the Main St. backlot are in Van Nuys, CA, in a fairly industrial area. Lots of machine shops, trucks and warehouses. If you're ever in an industrial area, close your eyes and listen to all the background noise. You'll hear all sorts of things like machinery, back up beepers (my favorite), sirens, trucks, radios, and all kinds of chatter. During the day, this is what you hear on Main Street Jericho. In order to give a good clean track for editorial, there is a lot of noise to keep down while recording our dialog. It's quite a challenge sometimes. Oh, did I mention all the air traffic.....
Every project has these same challenges, make a noisy place sound like a quiet place. Sometimes we pull it off...and sometimes not.
3. Why does sound mixing seem to be one of the most overlooked aspects of entertainment?
Wow, good question. Many people don't realize how many people it takes to film a television show or movie. We have sometimes 80 or more crew people like camera, grip, electricians, hair stylists, make up artists, wardrobe, set design, set decorating, construction, painters, and props all working to capture the image on set, ...and 3 people working to record the sound. It's a tough game at times. Only a select few wear headphones and are listening while we are filming. Those are myself and my crew, the director, script supervisor, and a small group of producers and writers. If the sound department doesn't record the dialog successfully while on set, the actors must replace their dialog later in a process called ADR. This is often referred to as looping.
In major motion pictures, usually they budget for a large amount of looping or ADR. Looping is expensive and time consuming to do properly, and not always a good match. In television, we have added pressure to get the dialog while filming due to time and budget concerns. We do a little looping/ADR, but not nearly the amount you would find on a movie.
I also think that listening is something we don't train ourselves to do...we just do it. When we take pictures, make home videos, go to a movie, we're using our eyes but usually not listening very closely. Sound becomes something that we just expect to be there, not something that is manipulated and controlled, often more than the image. There are a lot of people involved in the post sound process, just look at the credits the next time you go to a movie.
4. Are there any advantages about your job as opposed to being in front of the boom or camera?
I don't know about advantages, it's just different. The sound mixer position is a very creative part of the process, just behind the camera. I have a lot to do with how the show sounds and feels, or at least I hope I do. In fact, the actors are in only parts of the show and I have something to do with the whole show...every word. Would I like to be an actor, or perhaps show up in Jericho someday? I wont lie...sure. :) But I really like my job and how I contribute to the process.
5. Of all your experiences, what has been your most memorable moment in your career? On Jericho?
Got to think about that one. I seem to get some of those shows that people say, "oh, sound is gonna be tough to get on this one, so don't worry about it and we'll fix it later." In most of those cases, I've been able to deliver completely usable and often really great tracks. I love it when they say, you can't do it, and we do. That sort of thing really makes my day. It happened a lot on Entourage season 2. We did some stuff that still blows me away. There's this scene on the floor of a Lakers basketball game, we used all original dialog. The actors were sitting right next to the Lakers bench. It was crazy.
Perhaps it's been meeting some of those people and actors that seem bigger than life. While working on Any Given Sunday, I turned around and there was Charlton Heston coming over to introduce himself. I thought, that's pretty cool...wouldn't happen any other day. Just happened again while working on National Treasure: Book of Secrets, I looked up and there was Jon Voight coming over to say hello and welcome me to the crew. What a job...
On Jericho, it might have been when Gerald McRaney and Michael Gaston came to us one day and told us that they don't know how we are doing it, but they hadn't been to looping yet (or much) because of sound related problems. They really understood how difficult our show was, and were very happy that we worked so hard to capture their performances.
And definitely when Karim Zreik and Dan Shotz called me to tell me Jericho is back for Season 2.
6. Does the cast and crew do anything together after the work is done? What do you do? (Hobbies?)
We have been known to get together every once in a while. We are pretty tired after a hard week at work, so most of us run home to our families. There is the occasional screening party, wrap party, and BBQ. We have a regular get together as the Jericho Gun Club, always good fun.
I spend my free time with my wife Kathy and dog Oliver. I love to train in Martial Arts, and spend a lot of time doing that. Then there's all that time I spend on the computer, which I enjoy.
7. Has the tightened production created any challenges for you?
I thought it might in the beginning, but so far it's pretty much business as usual....though we have had a couple of pretty long days. We have less time to re-do things, so we might move a little faster. I think we will see more challenges later on in the schedule. It's still early.
8. What is the one unique aspect of the show that you think people don't notice?
I actually think you guys really get it. There's not much, if anything that we can squeak by. The Jericho fans are a bright group and there's not much our audience doesn't catch. What I think people see is how much of a community we have developed. We have a lot of fun both on camera and behind the scenes, and it shows. The friendships on and off the screen are very real.
9. How long does it take to do sound mixing for one complete episode?
My part of the process coincides with the photography. I record the dialog as we shoot it, and turn in my disks along with the film (or tape) at the end of each day. Each episode takes 7 days to shoot (or so). Then the picture edit process begins, which can take several weeks. After the producers lock the show, which means no more editorial changes (or at least major ones), they send the final picture edit to sound editorial. The dialog editors then get busy on cleaning up all the takes, removing noise, smoothing out the words, and finding alternate takes and versions. Then, all the sound elements are taken to a dub stage and mixed with all the sound effects and music. This final mixing session takes about 2 days. So depending on the deadlines and schedule, the process can take a couple of months to complete. But by the end of the season, we squeeze that down quite a bit.
There are a few more steps, but that's pretty close to the process. Hope that didn't get too technical.
10. What changes have you noticed in the attitude of the cast and crew since the show has been renewed?
The attitude and overall mood is fantastic. Our first days back were like the first day of school after the summer break. When the cast and producers returned from ComiCon this past weekend, we all gathered around to hear the stories. They were blown away by all the fan support. We're so happy to have been part of this project, and amazed by all the of fans. We stayed in contact with each other after the cancellation, and during the Save Jericho campaign. Constantly emailed links and YouTube videos to each other, in total fascination of what was going on. The Jericho fans are really responsible for bringing us back, it's your season.
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