Check out this gift guide to help you through this year’s holiday season! Everyone deserves a little something for themselves, or for the filmmaker in their life! Know an aspiring filmmaker? You’ll love these. Hopefully the dishes have all been washed before you trek out this year for Black Friday, or get your fingers ready for Cyber Monday!
K-Tek Stingray Hip Pack
We have written a more extensive review of the Stingray Hip Pack which can be read here. Until then, please take our word on how awesome this product is. It is perfect for any sound mixer, boom operator, or sound utility technician working in the field. It allows you to carry tons of accessories that help making your day easier. The goal of working on production is to make yourself as efficient as possible. Running back and forth to your sound cart because you forgot something is exhausting. Why not gift yourself, or a loved one, the gift of efficiency? Take it from this humble Filmmaker Gift Guide!
This will help your sound mixer to carry the things with them they always need, and think of you while they use it.
Disclaimer: K-Tek is a Video Mantis sponsor.
Zoom F1-LP
This is a perfect gift for the young sound mixer in your life. If your little creative one is shooting movies with their friends, make sure they are practicing safe sound always and using a portable recorder like the Zoom F1-LP recorder.
It is perfect for micing up a single talent and shooting loads of videos with your mobile phone or podcast DSLR setup. There are kits available that include clips as well as a basic lavalier and clip to get you started. You may hear a lot of controversy around Zoom. It’s simply because they are an innovative company that tends to create equipment that is priced in the lower tier market. This company gives you a lot of features for very little money. It is why I recommend it for beginning producers. Take this gift guide’s word for it: it’s a perfect gift to get your feet wet!
Tentacle Sync E
All Sound Mixers need Time Code, and Tentacle has the coolest and cutest boxes on the block. They also make Time Code easy to follow and have mobile apps that allow you to control tentacles without touching them. They are very smooth and camera operators love them because of how small they are. Small means no extra weight, which helps tremendously.
It earned a spot in our Filmmaker Gift Guide because I have been using them for about half a year now and love them so much, that I don’t find myself needing to switch back ever!
Sound Devices
2019 was the year for Sound Devices. They introduced their lineup of recorders, from the extreme low end, all the way to ultimate production. Our Filmmaker Gift Guide suggests that Sound Devices is a company to watch in 2020, as their wireless acquiring of Audio Limited is really starting to kick into gear as well. We should see some fantastic advancements in the future from them.
Sound Devices MixPre-3 II
Sound Devices MixPre-6 II
Sound Devices MixPre-10T II
Sound Devices 833
Sound Devices 888
Sound Devices Scorpio
Re-Chargeable Battery Sets
Something Sound Mixers run through like butter are batteries. There are a lot of misconceptions about the safety of throwing away batteries into the trash or recycle bin. Regardless of whether or not it is safe to do so, why should we be wasteful at all?
Battery chemistries are getting to be phenomenal as the years progress, and this means that “one-time-use” is not the ONLY reliable option anymore.
There are a few companies that make re-chargeable battery sets.
EBL Rechargeable AA Batteries, 16 Pack
EBL Rechargeable AAA Batteries with Charger
The great thing about the EBL Batteries is that they last a long time and are much safer than throwing so many batteries into the landfill every year.
This is a great repeat gift too since even rechargeable Batteries get used so often that they tend to degenerate faster. This means that you can remind yourself to pick up a new set each year for a quick and easy gift!
Walkie Caddie
It kind of speaks for itself. If you know someone that wears a Walkie Talkie all day on set, this is the gift of the season! The whole purpose of a Walkie Caddie is to reclaim your pockets! Stop storing pens, highlighters, batteries, and more in your pockets. Instead, with a Walkie Caddie you can let your pockets be free! Walkie Caddies fit most walkie talkies, especially the Motorola CP200.
Full Disclosure: Popp Sound is also owned by Thomas Popp. We hope you love the Walkie Caddie product as much as we do. By purchasing from these links you help support Popp Sound as well as Video Mantis. Thank You!
Something COMPLETELY NOT SOUND RELATED
Let’s be honest. It can get tough to purchase gifts for the the sound mixer in your life. They tend to acquire gear on a regular bases based on the productions they are working on.
If they need a “WigWag”, they will GET the WigWag so they can GET the job! What does that mean when it comes to purchasing a gift for these eccentric beings? It gets tough!
It just doesn’t really help you when you are browsing the aisles of Amazon online, you know what I mean? If you’ve already got all of the above products, then try to think outside the box. We love dinners and movie nights out, or anything that doesn’t involve putting our arms above our heads, but instead around our loved ones!
Have an awesome Holiday Season!