Audio 4 Video

[phaseout]

First time on Film…

I'm looking for advice and knowledge on recording audio for film. Does anyone know how it's actually done? We did a test of all the sound and light equipment for our small budget film. The Production looks good but the sound sounded awful. We've got two Shotguns (AT 815a's) and an AT4033. I know shotguns aren’t presence miracle workers but I'd hoped they work better than they did. It sounded like the actors were in an air chamber. The room had a serious Hum even though we unplugged all refrigerators and the like. Is this just my poor technique/equipment?

We plan on doing some ADR for outside and complex scenes but that’s not feasible for a whole movie. How does “Hollywood” get everything so defined? I am a realistic person and I know my results won’t be “Hollywood” clean but I’m not using toys…

I’m not necessarily new to this and I get sounds that I like in the studio no problem. (relatively...) But this is my first endeavor into film sound and I'm not happy with my results. Any advice?

I run the mics mentioned above into a small Mackie mixer and out to a Tascam DA-P1.

Thanks a bunch,
-drew

[Diggety77]

Hey Drew,

I've only been a part of some film classes at U of M, but from what I know about Hollywood, most of what they do is ADR. I'd assume you're doing the basics for good mic'ing. What do you mean by room hum? Are you using a balanced connection from the mackie to the DAT? In my experience, recording in standard rooms is a little noisy, and I've only had great recordings off of sound stages.

-Nate

[phaseout]

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah it's a balanced connection between the Board and the DAT. The room sound was very boomy and to get any presence at all the mics would be way too hot.

Unfortunately, we don’t have the option of a sound stage so were using a local bar that closes on Sundays. Any Ideas on how to quiet down the ambience of a wood and glass room?
Thanks for the advice.
-drew

(U of M? that’s cool I live in East Lansing)

[ontrackp]

Some film sound techniques that might help you:

1) Keep the mics as close to the talent as possible while staying out of frame. Work with your DP to establish where the frame ends and keep the mic right there.

2) Use a good boom and operate it. You should be pointing the shotguns right to the actors as they speak.

3) Surfaces that are out of frame are fair game for sound insulated blankets. Moving blankets from Home Depot will work well. See if your grip has some extra C-stands that you can use to hang blankets around the shot to help cut reflections. Obviously you'll have to work with your gaffer to make sure that you don't screw up the lighting but a couple of well placed moving blankets can really help.

Good luck!