My current project, a sci-fi mockumentary film entitled “Hickory Never Bleeds“, involves lots of interviews. I reckon that’s the nature of documentary work.

In some instances, I’m able to drag along a boom operator. This is always preferable, since it allows me to focus on… the focus. And the boom operator can concentrate on riding sound levels and following the subject with the mic.

But, as can sometimes be the case with D.I.Y. independent films, I’ve found it necessary to plan for scenarios where the crew consists only of me.

So this is what I’ve come up with…

Granted, this is not much more than a telescoping shotgun mount, so it isn’t revolutionary. But I really do like the adjustability of it, and the fact that it was really easy to mount the boom arm to the rig. All I had to do was drill one of the holes in the aluminum mounting bracket/handle a little larger, and attach the mic arm to the top with a 3/8″ screw.

Attaching the field recorder (Oade Bros. Modified Marantz PMD-660) to the rig took a little more thought, as I really only had one connection point through which to attach via screw. (Not ideal.) So I simply wrapped the strap around the mounting bracket/handle for added security.

While trying to plan out this setup, I was concerned with balance. But that doesn’t seem to be an issue so far.