I chose to skip film school and get straight to making documentaries of my own. But that doesn’t mean I’m skipping filmmaking education. I’m opting to learn by reading, by doing, and by watching great instructional materials like Sound for Film and Television. This 2.5-hour film by location sound professionals Barry Green, David Jimerson and Matt Gettemeier can be summed up in 2 words: audio bootcamp.
Whether you know nothing about recording location sound for your films or are working on your second documentary, as I am, you will learn something from this DVD. What’s more, you’ll enjoy learning it, as Jimmerson and crew put a lot of effort into making the sections entertaining as well as informative. There are just two hugely important techniques that will solve 80 percent of your location audio problems, and you’ll learn them in the first few minutes of the DVD. Then you’ll have them repeatedly drilled into your head through the rest of the film, so that by the time you reach the end, you know exactly what it takes to get great audio on your next film.
Topics include:
- Avoiding common mistakes
- How to choose the right mic for interior vs. exterior shooting
- How to use a boom pole
- Sound kit basics
- Choosing great locations
Key takeaways for me:
- When recording dialogue, a good recording level is -20db to -12db; never higher than -6db.
- Octava MK-012 mic is an excellent, inexpensive mic for interior booming.
- A hypercardiod is the best type of mic for interior booming.
- Countryman B-6 is a good tiny lav that’s easy to hide.
- Avoid clipping at all costs – it destroys the audio usability. Better to keep levels too low than too high (same is true of video highlights)
- In typical video situations, you can split the signal so you’re recording two levels simultaneously, one lower than the main. If a spike happens, you can substitute the other channel in post
- Hardwood floors, parallel walls, tile floors, open glass windows – all are warning signs that bad audio may result.
- Odd angled walls, carpeted floors, soft furniture, window treatments such as drapes – all good signs that place is good audio environment.
- Listen to the sound of a room through over-ear earphones before recording. You’ll pick up tiny details like refrigerator hum, and can correct it before beginning to record.
- Always record 30 seconds of room tone without any other sound, for use in post.
My only critique of the film is that it’s all about narrative film, and some of the techniques describe overlook the fact that as documentary filmmakers, we can’t always control the set. But ultimately the techniques are the same, and there is a good deal of time spent in this film on how to get the best sound from lav mics, which is what I use all the time (they recommend not using them for narrative work, which I agree with – but they’ll save your ass on docs).
If you’re considering making a documentary and don’t have experience recording audio beyond what your camcorder can do, this film is required and enjoyable viewing.
So true.There’s nothing that will improve the look of your film more than good audio. And it’s not expensive or hard to achieve. People will watch bad picture with good audio, but they won’t watch bad audio with good picture.
If you want a good book, the best is Jay Rose’s Producing Great Sound for Film and Video http://www.amazon.com/Producing-Great-Sound-Video-Expert/dp/024080970X/ Very practical and covers both recording and editing.
Thanks for the tip on that, Seven. I recently discovered the Seattle Public Library as a resource (I’ve been breaking my bank on book and dvd purchases) but unfortunately they don’t have this one. I recently started working with a couple great kids from Art Institute of Seattle who in the audio recording program there, and they are bringing my production quality up a big notch on the doc I’m working on.
Hey, Dan —
Thanks for the review! We really appreciate the time you took to write it, and that it was effective enough to prompt you to do it. It looks like you got out of it exactly what we were hoping our audience would.
Just thought you’d like to know this was followed up with Lighting for Film and Television. More info at our website:
http://www.wrightsvillebeachstudios.com
David
Thanks for the head’s up David. I just placed my order and am looking forward to checking it out. If it’s half as good as your sound DVD, it’s going to be awesome.
Hope you think so, Dan! Shipped today.
Hi, Dan —
Just thought I’d let you know — we’ve launched a Kickstarter for the production of Sound for Film and Television Volume II. It will cover advanced sound production and post techniques, and will be as much fun as the other DVDs.
Kickstarter backers get some very nice perks, as well as $25 off retail. Details here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1085205247/sound-for-film-and-television-vol-ii-advanced-topi
Thanks!
David
I’m a backer!
(BTW, your background photo was taken not too far away from a house I used to rent on Boylston Ave.)
Great view from that spot, for sure. But the sky isn’t often that blue, heh heh.
Thanks, Dan! Actually, the view was mostly of The River (I-5). 🙂 The view from Stone Way was much, much better.