Audio is just as important as visuals when producing a video. It’s often overlooked but makes all the difference. Music, sound effects, foley, voice-over, all work together in a final product. However, it all starts with the initial audio captured on set. Here are five tips to help you develop your on-set audio recording skills.
1. Choose/control the environment. It’s important to make sure you have an idea of the environment you will be filming in. When it’s possible, choose quiet, controlled environments. When it’s not possible to pick your environment, or when something is unexpectedly noisy, do your best to take care of it before recording. Only so much can be done in post-production to get rid of unwanted noise. Here are a few things to try to help lower the noise on set.
- Turn off noisy appliances/air conditioning.
- Make sure people around know you’re filming and ask them to be quiet.
- Close doors.
- Have someone by the door to prevent people from entering during filming.
- Move locations if the noise level is too high.
- Use sound deadening blankets or panels.
It’s always best to pick somewhere quiet during pre-production than try to make a noisy environment work. At Around the Corner Productions, the ambient noise level is on the top of our list any time we are scouting for a location.
2. Pick the right microphone for the job. Using the proper microphone is essential to capturing audio. There is no one best option, all microphone types should be used in different scenarios. Here are the microphones we use at Around the Corner Productions, and why we use them.
- Boom: Using a boom is our preferred way of capturing audio. They are directional and versatile. A boom is essentially a microphone on a stick that can either be held by someone if movement is needed or set on a stand if used stationary. At Around the Corner Productions, we use a boom for almost every interview. Booms are great because the setup is simple and it’s easy for the talent as there’s no routing a cable underneath clothing.
- Shotgun: Shotgun mics work great for capturing general audio from the camera’s perspective. At ATCP we mount a shotgun mic to our cameras to capture high-quality audio when shooting b-roll. This audio can be used as a reference, or for background sound accompanying b-roll. Shotguns are light and easy and allow for simple single-person operation. However, we never use a shotgun mic mounted on the camera to record voice because the microphone is simply too far away from the subject.
- Wireless Lav: Wireless lavaliers work great when the subject is moving a lot, you’re shooting a wide shot, or you want to be very mobile with a small crew. At ATCP we only use wireless lavs when necessary. They can require more work and are less reliable than a boom. Batteries, hiding the mic, wireless signal, and clothes rustling are all things that are worries when using a wireless lav.
- Wired Lav: Wired lavaliers are good to use when you want to use a lav, but don’t need the mobility of a wireless lav. We use wired lavs when on interviews when we need to be quick and light, or micing up many people at once, such as a panel or group discussion.
3. Position the microphone properly. After choosing your microphone, it’s important to know how to use it. Always test out and get comfortable with any equipment before using it on set. The positioning of a microphone is key to capturing great audio. A general rule is you want your microphone as close to the source as possible.
- Boom placement: Booms are directional, meaning they capture audio from what they are pointed at. Make sure your boom microphone is pointed directly at the subject’s mouth while being just out of frame.
- At ATCP, we love to have a shotgun mounted on the camera when shooting b-roll for background, reference, or organic audio.
- Positioning lavs can be done in two ways, hidden or not. Lavaliers capture better audio and are much easier to set up if they can be visible on camera. To do this, wire it under the subject’s shirt and clip it on a collar or in between some buttons. If the final video can’t have a lav in sight, it gets a lot more tricky. Here’s a video by Saramonic International going more in-depth on concealing a lavalier microphone.
4. Use windshields and shock mounts. Microphones are very sensitive and can be greatly affected by the wind or being bumped and vibrated. To get rid of the awful wind noise use a windshield, also known as a dead cat, whenever filming outside. They’re also available for lavs. Always mount your mic in a shock mount to soak up vibrations when using a shotgun or boom.
5. Choose your recording device and set your settings. There are two different ways of recording audio, directly into the camera, or with an external recorder. Recording in camera takes the least amount of time on set and during post-production. However, it’s important to have the proper inputs on your camera. Most microphones require a powered XLR port. A lot of cameras have these, but if you’re using a camera that doesn’t you’ll need to get a microphone that is compatible, or use an external recording device.
There are other reasons to use an external recorder. A lot of times they record higher quality. Plus, they can be run by an audio technician which frees up the camera operator to focus on their job. One thing to keep in mind is that the audio will need to be synced with the video in post. This can either be done through syncing timecode, using a clapper board or recording audio on camera as well and manually lining up the clips.
Whatever device you use to record audio make sure you know the settings inside and out. Remember to always test your setup to make sure it will work for the specific shoot you have. If you don’t feel comfortable with your gear, it will hinder your ability to make amazing content.
Recording audio is often not as talked about as recording video, but it is so important to the final product. When planning your on-set audio recording strategy, make sure to have a backup plan and know your equipment well so when something comes up, it can be resolved quickly and easily. For those of you who are learning and developing your audio skills, we hope you found these five tips helpful. If you take into account the environment, microphone type, placement, and recording device, you are on your way to capturing clean audio. Always remember, when you make a mistake, learn from it.