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AUDIO BASICS: CHOOSINGANDUSINGAMIC
GET THE BEST FROM YOUR MIC Once you’ve got yourself a decent mic, the next step is learning what to do with it
A sage bit of advice from a it as close to the subject as possible. And in the vast majority of cases, this means getting it off the top of the camera and as close to the source as you possibly can without it actually being in the shot. If that’s a person speaking, then getting it close to them is crucial in cutting out as much extraneous noise as possible so you can really professional sound engineer is to spend as much as you can afford on a mic, then get
in the frame of your shot and won’t move. With a boom-mounted mic, your choice is whether to have the boom above the subjects pointed downwards, or below your subject pointed upwards. The best choice depends on the environment you are in. It’s always best to record in a space that does not echo too much, if you can. For example, a kitchen with a hard floor and bare walls will echo sound much more than a similarly-sized living room with plush carpet and lots of soft furnishings. So if the floor is a very hard surface that’s likely to reflect the sound - such as ceramic tiles or polished concrete – then it can be best to hold the boom under the subject pointing upwards, especially if the ceiling is not too reflective. The most common use is to hold the boom above the subject pointing downwards, as there is often more unwanted noise that comes from a ceiling in terms of echoes, fans, people walking on the floor above and the like. And if you are using the mic outside, a key accessory you should definitely budget for is a fluffy wind jammer that goes on top of your mic. Also called things like a dead cat, windmuff or windshield, these simple and inexpensive covers cut down on wind noise that can be a real pain to remove in post processing.
hear what’s being said. One way of doing this is to invest in a lapel mic – also called a lavalier or lav mic – and fastening it to their clothing, ideally avoiding any material touching the mic to stop nasty rustling effects. Lapel mics are usually linked to a wireless transmitter box which the subject has in a pocket or on a belt, which talks to a receiver on top of the camera. This is fine if you are in a situation where you own the kit and only need to record one person, have the time to mic them up and don’t mind the mic itself being seen in the shot. But if you don’t have this luxury, or don’t want to see the mic, then you have other options. One is to mount your mic to something like a mini tripod and put it in front of the interviewee, just out of the main shot. Another way is to invest in a boom pole and put your mic on top of that. Then in both cases, use a simple cable to link the tripod-mounted mic to your camera or run down the boom to your camera to record the audio directly. Although there are some very expensive carbon boom poles made for professional XLR-type microphones, for mics such as Røde’s DSLR-style units you don’t need a sturdy boom that costs a fortune. For around £40/$49 for an extendable Røde boompole and £11/$18 for an extension cable, you have a light and portable bit of kit. Of course, you really do need someone to hold the boom pole for you but you can fasten it to a lighting stand. This is a good solution as you can ensure it’s not
ABOVE A boom pole improves the sound hugely as it gets the .mic as close to the speaker as possible.
Costing from £29/$36 to fit a popular mic like the Røde VideoMic Pro, it’s money well spent to improve your sound.
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AUTUMN 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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