Combatting Cacophony in Midtown: Iris Liu Captures the Sounds of 24 Hours with Sofia Carson in New York City

A controlled environment may offer perfection but it can also be sterile. In contrast, spontaneous adventure promises nothing but always seems to cultivate a benevolent unexpectedness. When offered the position as production sound mixer on Vogue magazine’s “24 Hours with Sofia Carson in New York City”, Iris Liu eagerly accepted because of its willigness to film whatever might happen. Created for Vogue’s official website and social media, this prodution featured the Daytime Emmy Award–nominated & Teen Choice Awards–nominated actress/singer experiencing New York City and preparing to host UNICEF’s 15th annual Snowflake Ball. The video juxtaposes the excitement of walking through NYC with contemplative moments in the hair & makeup chair while Ms. Carson communicates her connection with UNICEF’s mission. As a professional and a woman, Iris was thrilled to be a part of this production’s message and its challenge to capture the sounds of every moment in a set of constantly changing sonic settings.

Armed with a mixer in a bag, a shotgun mic, and a pair of wirelesses, Ms. Liu and a tiny crew accompanied Sophia within NYC as she interacted with street vendors, dance crews, and pedestrians on iconic city locations like the Brooklyn Bridge and others. Weathering the fresh snow in late November freezing temperatures while lofting a boom microphone is not particularly comfortable but excitement offered its warming adrenaline as Iris recalls, “When you film in Manhattan you go with the knowledge that it’s going to be overly crowded. Commuters, Bikers, tourists, the streets are packed and there’s no creating a controlled space. Try as hard as I might to avoid it, there were destined to be collisions. I knocked one man’s hat off with a boom mic and silently mouthed “I’m so sorry.’ When Sofia took part in an impromptu performance with a group of dancers, I was certain a backflip would collide into a mic but that luckily never happened.” After walking through Manhattan with Sofia, it was a breeze; everything else was more under control. The scene at the ice rink was fun, although I could not follow her with the boom mic while she was skating. We did shots in a hotel room where Sofia was getting ready for the UNICEF Snowflake Ball, and then followed her to the Ball where she was hosting.”

While she’s quite familiar with being on a film set (having worked on such award–winning films as No New Wave, Tonight Will be Fine, and others), Iris embraces the problem-solving nature of a “run & gun” scenario like that of “24 Hours with Sofia Carson in New York City.” She likens her expereince for the segment on the Brooklyn Bridge to being a one-man-band and describes, “Whether it is a commercial shoot or a doc shoot, a mobile aspect requires a minimum crew. I’m doing the boom operating and sound recording at the same time. Then, there is not going to be a lot of mixing going on. My priority is to get every actor covered first, because I probably will not have a chance for a second take. It can be extremely fun, but it is definitely more challenging both physically and mentally. Compared to being on set where I have time to watch the rehearsals and learn the blocking, the former requires thinking on your feet and acting instinctually. You learn to thrive in the excitement of this situation and how it offers the chance to fail or succeed.