bring on sound early

General Discusssions for Audiography
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Mandar
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bring on sound early

Post by Mandar »

just a thought
Location Audio Recording
Bring the Noise — Simple steps to ensure solid sound recording on location.
Coming up through the camera side of filmmaking, sound was never my
forte. In my early days, I was notorious for making silent films so
that I didn't have to deal with sound—only later making an infinite
number of mistakes before I started getting my tracks right.
Cinematographers and sound mixers have a kind of natural animosity, a
bit like cats and dogs. We get along, and can even be best friends,
but we often end up circling each other with our haunches up, trying
to stay out of each other's way.
With that in mind, I decided to offer a number of tips on how to
better incorporate professional sound artists at each stage of
production. Some of the following is in turn specific with regards to
narrative filmmaking, documentaries or ENG work, though many of the
same principles apply to all three disciplines.



Basic approach

If you're doing your own sound, be careful about what gear you
acquire. It is, truly, the one real area where you get what you pay
for. The most expensive microphone is almost always going to be the
better choice, so get the best mike that you can afford. Condenser
microphones are your best bet followed by dynamic and then, at the
bottom of the barrel, ribbon. These terms refer to the type of
transducer inside the microphone that actually converts sound to
electronic signals. Condensers, at the top of the list, are usually
the most expensive, but there are a few companies, such as
Audio-Technica, that offer high-quality condenser microphones at
reasonable prices.
The general principle in recording location sound is to get the mike
as close to the talent as possible to get the cleanest, purest sound.
Generally this is done with a shotgun microphone that's held over the
actors' heads and aimed at the speaking performer. This is a solid
technique because the directional aspect of the microphone also picks
up all the actor's motions, footsteps, and things they're working with
in their hands, in a very natural-sounding way.



Bring on sound early

An important thing to consider when you're incorporating a
professional sound artist into your project is to get them involved
early on in the process—especially if you're doing location work. When
scouting locations with your cinematographer and production designer,
be sure to have your production sound mixer along with you as well.
They will notice (that is, hear) potential problems long before you
will. Sometimes a particular location becomes nothing short of a
nightmare because of ambient noise that renders the production sound
completely unusable, or requires expensive post work to correct. The
location may be perfect visually, but if it's near a busy street and
all your dialog is peppered with inconsistent traffic sounds, you're
in for a world of hurt later on. If you're looking at a location with
very low ceilings, noisy wooden floors or lots of tight corridors,
these can all be nightmares for your sound department and they may
recommend that you chose another location or plan to acquire your
sound in a different way. Having your production mixer with you on the
scouts is the best way to prevent significant problems later on.
It's also a good idea to scout the location prior to the shoot on the
same day and time that you intend to shoot there. Knowing that the
café next door has live Mariachi bands every Tuesday afternoon can
save you tremendous headache later on when you're scheduled to show up
on a Tuesday to shoot.
Share your shotlist

It's important to communicate your general shot list with your sound
mixer ahead of time. If there is a particular sequence that you plan
to cover only in a master wide shot, the sound crew need to know ahead
of time so that they can bring in lavaliere microphones or plan to
plant a mike near the talent to get the best sound. The more you
communicate with them, the better.
The same holds true while you're shooting. Keeping your boom operator
and sound mixer apprised of changes in shot size, camera movement and
overall blocking before they happen will save a lot of time and
improve overall quality.



Keep an eye on the settings

As a cameraman, I've done a lot of live-event and documentary shooting
where I'm working handheld in an unpredictable situation tethered to a
soundman. At the beginning of the day, I will always turn the camera
over to sound and let them set up the configuration as they need. Some
DPs and operators are very touchy about this, but it's important to
let the sound professionals get in there and configure the camera
according to their needs. Once they're done, I will always ask about
their settings and note the setup so that I can keep an eye on it
throughout the day. It's certainly not my primary focus, but I do keep
it in the back of my mind when we change locations, come back after a
break or get jostled through a thick crowd.



Working the camera ballet

When you're shooting live events—moving around and following the
action—you need to maintain a clear line of communication with your
soundman. You try not to make too aggressive moves, knowing that
you're tethered to another person via cable. It's a delicate balance,
but after working with someone for a while you develop the non-verbal
communication and fall into the delicate ballet of camera choreography
while following the live subjects.



Wild style

When you're shooting scripted work, it's obvious that the dialog and
major action needs to be recorded. What aren't always obvious are the
necessary additional recordings that are essential to having all the
pieces you need in post: like room tone, wild lines and wild effects.
When you're going through a busy shoot day, nothing can seem more
wasteful and annoying than having to stop everyone dead in their
tracks to record room tone, but that two minutes of "silence" can save
hours of headaches later on. Every location, every room and every
configuration of that room (including the number of people, props, set
dressing, wardrobe, etc.) results in a different sonic landscape.
Recreating that unique blend of aural elements some weeks or months
later can be nearly impossible. Taking two minutes to record room tone
can solve many problems in postproduction.
In addition, consider wild lines—dialog that is off camera or yelled
or communicated through other means—as part of the day's shooting
schedule. Even if you're 100 percent sure you'll be recording these
lines elsewhere, at some other time in post, it's safest to get them
with the actors on the location where they'll play, if for nothing
else than just a scratch track to work with later. It may save you an
ADR appointment with an actor or two.
Wild effects are something that most filmmakers don't think about, but
they can make life a lot easier in post. Do the characters slam
something down? Break something? Push something? Rip something? Try to
take the time to record these effects in the real environment and
you'll be surprised how many times those effects fit perfectly in
post.

As difficult as it is for a former cinematographer to admit, sound is
a considerable part of the experience of a film. General audiences
will forgive poor images, but they will rarely forgive poor sound,
especially if they can't clearly hear what the subjects onscreen are
saying. Obtaining good sound just takes time, consideration and a
willingness to get it right—adding artistic talent to the mix can then
make it great.
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Paramvir Singh
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Re: bring on sound early

Post by Paramvir Singh »

very well written mandar. i remember reading an interview of a famous DoP (dont' remember his name now, perhaps John Hora) who once said that he likes to go to the mixing studio to see his images in full sync with the sound. he says its only then he can beging to feel the images! how true!

when I saw EMI at Anand Studios, work in progess (WIP), it was such fun!
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