Pro Moviemaker Autumn 2019

ACADEMY

GET THE BEST OUT OF YOURMIC

5. CONTROL THE ENVIRONMENT Make the best of your location

No matter how good your mics are and how well they’re placed, environmental factors can still make or break the audio on a shoot. Using a mic with the correct pattern for the subject can remove a lot of background noise, but it’s not always possible to remove it entirely. Sounds like passing vehicles can be as distracting for audio as Joe Public walking through your shot is visually so, if possible, consider shooting in locations and/or at times that are less likely to be disturbed. If you do notice distractions, do a retake – it can take confidence to tell someone to stop delivering their lines because there’s a plane passing over, but it’ll be worth it in the long run, as you don’t want to spend time editing out noises. If shooting at an indoor location, turn off devices like fridges and air conditioning, so you lose the background hum. Even if it’s important to the ambience, you’re better recording it separately and mixing it in later. You should also turn offmobile phones and other wireless devices if you’re using them, as they can cause interference. However, the biggest environmental offender, by far, is wind noise. Even the lightest wind can create unwanted scratching and popping noises as it passes across the mic, drowning out the subject, so don’t assume you’ll get away with it just because conditions don’t seemwindy. For that reason, make sure any mic you’re intending to use has a windgag – this should be bought specifically for the mic model, as it needs to fit snuggly to avoid the sound of it moving against the mic itself.

RECORDWILD TRACK Although you want the subject of your film to come through loud and clear on the audio, you don’t want to lose the ambience of the location entirely. But it’s often impossible to balance the two at the time of shooting. Instead, make sure you record some wild track from the location – ambient sounds that you can mix with the main audio later. It could be the hum of an urban location, bird song or chatter in a cafe –what’s important is that wild track works a bit like B roll, giving you more options in editing and providing a greater sense of ‘place’.

Thanks to Carolynn Jackson, freelance sound recordist, and Nathan Hale, Sky News lighting cameraman and editor, for their help in compiling this article. THANKS TO Finally, sound from external recorders needs to be synced in the edit, so make sure you add a clapper or marker to help you line it all up. If you want to take more control of sound, an external recorder or mixer will help you do it. There are a number of reasons why. First off, you’re likely to enjoy improved sound resolution over what your camera is capable of – and certainly if you’re shooting on a hybrid stills and video model – for example recording in 96kHz 24bit lossless WAVs. What’s more, with multiple inputs you can split the sources across different tracks or channels and have more control in editing that way, making it much easier to control and isolate different sounds. You’re also likely get the option of recording a backup track at lower dB, so if there is a spike in volume, this safety track can be used to repair the master. Some mixers and preamps will allow recording, too, and some simply sit between the mics and camera to control the levels and improve sound quality by boosting the signal. There’s a big benefit in this, as you can set the gain for different sources, which is more control than you’d otherwise get on anything but the highest- end cameras. 6. USE AN EXTERNAL RECORDER OR MIXER Enjoy the many benefits of a dedicated recorder

“Even the lightest wind can create unwanted scratching and popping noises on themic”

PRO MOVIEMAKER AUTUMN 2019