Lecture 2 Flashcards
5 key elements to recording ‘clean and clear’ voice on location.
- Microphone POSITIONING
- Microphone SELECTION
- Mic HANDLING & PROTECTION
- Subject POSITIONING
- RECORD LEVEL: setting- monitoring- adjusting.
5 different types of microphones.
- GUN/SHOTGUN mic.
- Lavalier/ Personal Mic (aka ‘lapel’ or ‘tie clip’ mic.
- Radio mic.
- Hand-held condenser mic.
- On-board camera mic.
What is a GUN mic?
- Uni- directional microphone
- Used extensively in drama for recording dialogue / voice and all other sound. Excludes sound from the sides and around the subject.
- Requires close positioning and careful direction.
- Requires careful handling manipulation such as re-direction during dialogue work.
What is a Lavalier / Personal mic?
- Omni-directional microphone. (Worn on clothes)
- Picks up sound from only very near proximity. So most effective in thenoisiest of locations.
- Used extensively in factual interviews and location presentation.
- Susceptible to handling (noise) problems such asbrushing against clothes, and difficult to hide discreetly and still avoid such problems.
- Wires and clips make it relatively cumbersome to use so not good for spontaneous interview filming.
What is a Radio mic?
- Omni-directional, wirelesstype of personal microphone.
- Again – designed to pick up only close-proximity sound so effective in thenoisiest of locations.
- Used extensively in drama such as capturing dialoguein MLS or LS or when actors are moving far duringthe shot – to avoid seeing filming booms/cables.
- When used in the long shots the mic cannot be seen as it is very small.
- Susceptible to radio / static interference. As well as usual personal mic problems, actors and presenters have to carry/wear transmitter and relatively time-consuming to set up.
What is a Hand-held condenser mic?
- Omni-/slightly directional interview mic.
(Presenter Style) - Designed to be hand-held by presenter and only effective to use at close quarters.
- Not designed to be invisible– typically used for factual;interviews; vox pops etc…Like all microphones – has tobe handled with care to avoid handling noise transferred from interviewer to microphone pick-up including along trailing cable.
What is an On-board camera mic?
- Typically omni-directional mic. (Not a specialist mic)
- Sometimes with limited dual-capability with switch between omni-uni direction (‘zoom’) effect.
- Normally treated as a ‘failsafe’ / backup recording mic.
- Not suitable for recording dialogue or interviews.
- Usually recorded with picture by default. May be DISABLED in professional camcorders when external mic source is plugged in, but NOT necessarily automatically - may have to beactively selected / deselected as a sound source.
What is auto gain?
Auto Gain automatically and continuously monitors ambient sound level (unintelligently) and adjusts recording level accordingly.
Why shouldn’t we use auto gain?
Auto-gain tends to produce poor quality, uneven sound because of the way it unintelligently reacts very suddenly to very LOUD or QUIET sound levels:
- LOUD: Drops DOWN sound level suddenly, then correcting UP.
- QUIET: Lifts sound levels UP during gaps in speech in interviews, so that we hear background noise grow until speaking starts again.
NEVER USE AUTO-GAIN – unless no sound crew and no choice.
What is Manual Sound Recording?
Manual Sound Recording involves performing a sound check and setting baseline sound level accordingly – followed by continuous monitoring+ adjusting of sound level.
Three things to consider when using a microphone.
- In principle, get mic as CLOSE as possible to sound source - without risking it actually being seen in shot / drifting into shot.
- For voice often positioned overhead, but may sometimes have to be positioned from below instead to avoid voice bouncing off hard floor surface for example.
- Mic should be pointed basically towards the sound source such as voice emanating from mouth – but may have to be placed slightly ‘off’ the mouth line to avoid ‘popping’ effect of sound/breath waves hitting mic surface.
Two types of microphone protection.
Microphone PROTECTION
from elements – WIND & RAIN!
- Wind Gag (e.g. Rode ‘DEAD CAT’) (The furry one)
- Zeppelin or sound cage. (may also be covered by furred wind gag to create MAXIMUM PROTECTION).
What to consider when positioning subjects.
background noise such as traffic, crowds etc…
- Pay attention to the direction of background noise. Avoid as far as reasonably possible.
- If feasible, reduce the impact of background noiseby changing the position of your subject / interviewee to help allow pointing the mic away from noise source.
(If practicable /acceptable).
Sound Level Setting
When recording directly onto camcorder
- Professional camcorders typically include 2 sound CHANNELS or ‘INPUTS’
- Each channel needs to be correctly set (switched) to receive either internal or external MIC or other input such as a LINE from a mixer.
- Each channel has a level setting dial or readout that needs to be set to hear good sound level but without risking it distorting.
- Should be monitored through headphone output but… correcting sound level live on camera is DIFFICULT.
Typical Pro/Semi-Pro Camcorder
setup with External Mic input DIRECT:
- Make sure BOTH Channels are set to ‘Mic’ (NOT line!!)
- Plug EXTERNAL MIC into Channel/Input.
- Plug ONBOARD MIC into Channel/Input.
- Start with sound level at Mid (‘5’?) level and adjust accordingly using voice level mic test. (Speak into mic in record mode).
- Monitor sound continually using headphones at all times!!
