Is It Me?

Is It Me?

I’m looking for some reassurance here.

Does anyone else have these experiences where everything that can go wrong does go wrong?
It’s a play. None of the others have home studios so have been sent mini versions and mics and trained in how to use them. The director wants to meet early for ‘a brew and a bit of a chat’. I have no camera in the booth so director suggests I get out and go to my desk where I do have a camera. I make the odd decision to change my settings so I can be heard through the speakers. Apart from the lovely cheery director everyone looks miserable. The director says that ‘apart from Angela everyone is looking a bit nervous’. What she means is - I am talking absolute shite.
She puts this down to me being very experienced with my posh home studio. I laugh and say ‘don’t say that!’ I can already feel that things are going to happen and so far the other actors apart from introducing themselves and confirming that they do indeed ‘have a brew’ have said precisely zilch.
After about 2 mins the director has seen enough of me so I can go back to my booth while the others remain on camera. I turn around leaving the camera on and give them a fine view of my bahookie and go back to my booth.
I change settings. I say hello and my voice comes through the speaker outside booth – I change it back.
‘Hello can you hear me?’
No answer. I can still see the faces.
‘ Hello Hello’
‘Can’t hear you Angela
(quietly)
‘Think she is there - Hello?’ We’ll just wait. Sorry’
One of the actors is quite well known and always looks cheery on the telly but sighs and drinks her ‘brew’. I knock the microphone off the stand. Pop filter hits the wall. I Pick it up blow into it then glance down, hit unmute then try to blind them with silence and pretend it was the ‘auto filter wiliter and the latent pop clicker dewicker’ that went wrong. Common issue. All sorted now. Engineer looks sceptical.
We start to chat again about characters, the play etc. I put myself on mute to calm down, mouth stretch, lip blows etc.
Silence. Director. ‘Yes that’s right Angela perhaps we should have a bit of a warm-up.
‘Oh I’m so sorry. I thought I was on mute!’
No one looks enthusiastic about the warm-up so..
‘Without further ado let’s have a read -through. Angela take it away’
Engineer: ‘….Angela your ‘filter wiliter latent blatant has gone off again – Can you put it back on? Common problem’.
Does anyone else go through this because this is a common occurrence with me? And in the aftermath how do you feel?

I have no camera in the booth so director suggests I get out and go to my desk where I do have a camera. I make the odd decision to change my settings so I can be heard through the speakers. Apart from the lovely cheery director everyone looks miserable. The director says that ‘apart from Angela everyone is looking a bit nervous’. What she means is - I am talking absolute shite.
She puts this down to me being very experienced with my posh home studio. I laugh and say ‘don’t say that!’ I can already feel that things are going to happen and so far the other actors apart from introducing themselves and confirming that they do indeed ‘have a brew’ have said precisely zilch.
After about 2 mins the director has seen enough of me so I can go back to my booth while the others remain on camera. I turn around leaving the camera on and give them a fine view of my bahookie and go back to my booth.
I change settings. I say hello and my voice comes through the speaker outside booth – I change it back.
‘Hello can you hear me?’
No answer. I can still see the faces.
‘ Hello Hello’
‘Can’t hear you Angela
(quietly)
‘Think she is there - Hello?’ We’ll just wait. Sorry’
One of the actors is quite well known and always looks cheery on the telly but sighs and drinks her ‘brew’. I knock the microphone off the stand. Pop filter hits the wall. I Pick it up blow into it then glance down, hit unmute then try to blind them with silence and pretend it was the ‘auto filter wiliter and the latent pop clicker dewicker’ that went wrong. Common issue. All sorted now. Engineer looks sceptical.
We start to chat again about characters, the play etc. I put myself on mute to calm down, mouth stretch, lip blows etc.
Silence. Director. ‘Yes that’s right Angela perhaps we should have a bit of a warm-up.
‘Oh I’m so sorry. I thought I was on mute!’
No one looks enthusiastic about the warm-up so..
‘Without further ado let’s have a read -through. Angela take it away’
Engineer: ‘….Angela your ‘filter wiliter latent blatant has gone off again – Can you put it back on? Common problem’.
Does anyone else go through this because this is a common occurrence with me? And in the aftermath how do you feel?