Boom operator (media)

To allow Clara Bow to move freely on the set, director Dorothy Arzner had technicians rig a microphone onto a fishing rod.

Wellman said "that's crazy" and instructed the sound man to put the microphone on a broom-handle and walk along the actors just outside of the frame.

"[5] A patent was filed a year later for a very similar sound-recording device by Edmund H Hansen, a sound engineer at the Fox Film Corporation.

In film crew jargon, the gruesome-sounding phrase dead cat on a stick is simply a boom microphone fitted with a fuzzy wind-screen.

A knowledge of camera lenses is also necessary as well a good overall technical understanding of all the varied equipment modern sound departments use.

Because boom operators are required to liaise with actors and multiple departments they need to be diplomatic and have good people skills.