USA - To most people in the continental U.S., Alaska evokes a narrative of rugged individuals thriving under even more rugged conditions. Between weather, terrain, and sheer remoteness of most of the state, that’s more than mythology.
Government workers and contractors regularly endure brutal conditions while managing disaster recovery and infrastructure efforts, and solo filmmaker Jake Sloan is often there to document the process. With literally one hand on the camera and the other running sound, he trusts the latter to Rycote microphones and equipment. These include the HC-15 and HC-22 shotgun microphones, Cyclone baskets, Softie windscreens, and lavalier solutions including Stickie mounts and Windjammer screens.
“One of the biggest projects I've been working on for the last year has been for a statewide effort with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, and it’s called ARROW [Alaska Rural Remote Operations Work],” says Sloan. “The purpose is better infrastructure support and disaster response, and we’re placing drones and Starlink internet systems in villages, and training people to use them for search and rescue and disaster reconnaissance. My role has been to document the whole process from beginning to end. The rollout, the deployment of the equipment, the training, to exactly how the systems are being used - all of it.”
More often than not, this means working outdoors regardless of the weather. “I’ve worked in blizzards with winds over 50 miles per hour,” he explains. “Two weeks ago, I ran up a mountain with a team of Navy SEALs. It was a torrential downpour the entire time and windy as heck. At the end of that shoot, I was soaked through despite wearing all my GoreTex. The mics have to withstand some pretty harsh conditions.”
How well has his Rycote equipment withstood such onslaughts? “So far I’ve had very good results with them handling cold, water intrusion, and sweat, and still going strong,” Sloan recounts. “Running with that SEAL team, I knew that if the mics had a breaking point, I’d find it.”
When it comes to microphones, durability must of course serve sound quality. On that score, Sloan gives Rycote high marks. “Most shotgun mics have a slight response peak where spoken dialogue would be, and in the 2kHz to 4kHz range,” he explains. “Or they have a pronounced roll-off in the lows, at about 80Hz. The Rycote mics sound very even and natural. They’re just great for ENG and capturing natural sounds. [Also, the] low noise floor is super valuable. With Rycote, there’s almost no self-noise even when I’m running at high gains to capture something like crickets in the forest.”
Sloan finds Rycote mics equally adept at picking voices out of a noisy environment. “For example, talking to a project manager about a highway reconstruction,” he says. “We’d be set up right next to the highway with traffic going by and construction vehicles working around us. The HC-22 has allowed me to get especially good isolation for things like this. It also has a long interference tube, which certainly helps. At the same time, it’s sensitive enough to pick up mosquitoes buzzing around in an otherwise quiet environment.”
When one person is the entire production company, focusing on sound is a usually absent luxury. “In most cases I’m a one-man show. I’m filming, doing sound, and directing the documentary process of the subject matter,” says Sloan. “So, it’s important to have microphones that I can just point at the source and not worry about. Rycote mics and tools have performed exceptionally well as long as I have been working with them. They continue to deliver great results in pretty much every situation.”
