Download Location Sound I - Location Sound Class

Location Sound I
Sound from MOS
Next week bring in one page of your
sound report (or have your director).
Sound for the Documentary
• What to record?
• With what?
• How?
Bringing a dedicated sound recordist is
strongly recommended if you don’t want
amateur level sound.
Usually you’ll have a 2 person crew- camera
and sound, the director being one of the two
(usually camera).
Sound for Doc: Equipment
Mixer: Shure FP33
Microphone: Shotgun & Lavs (lavs/wireless next
week)
Breakaway Cable
Audio Recorder: The Camera!!!
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Concepts: MIC vs LINE Levels
Level: ‘Strength’ of electricity (Voltage)
MIC levels are weak, small, low. (milliVolts).
Not useful unless they are amplified.
Line levels are strong, over a hundred times
stronger than MIC levels. (Volts)
MIC levels need to pass through a preamp in
order to become line levels.
MIC preamp knobs on FP33
Mic level into mixer
Line level out of mixer
Concepts: Mixing
The dynamic range of the sound you record is
constantly changing.
Sounds that are too loud will overload the
electronics of your equipment and will cause
_____.
Sounds that are too low must be amplified and
in doing so, you also amplify _____.
One way to deal with this is by changing the
input gain.
Concepts: Monitoring & Meters
Two ways to monitor the sound: _____
Meters on the FP33, (VU or Volume Units) are different
than those on the 702T and DVX100 (peak or PPM).
Average (VU) meters react much slower than Peak
meters.
Ideal dialogue levels
on VU meters: -10dB - +3dB
Ideal levels on the
DVX100: -20dB 10dB
Concepts: System Calibration
How do we know
we’re recording
clean audio to the
camera since we
can’t see the
camer’s meters?
Send Line Up tone:
0 VU = -20 dBFS
Monitoring Sound from
Camera
Plug small end (1/8”)
of breakaway cable
into headphone jack
in camera.
Plug other mini jack
into MON IN in
FP33. Switch to
MON on front of
FP33.
Sound for Doc: Audio Signal Flow
Shotgun Mic (416)
Mixer (FP33)
Camera (DVX100)
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Quic kTime™ and a
dec ompres sor
are needed to see this pic ture.
Sound for Doc: Boom Op
1. Know the frame line. Boom from
above when possible.
2. Get mic close as possible to sound
source while staying out of frame line.
3. Be VERY aware of the umbilical cord
(breakaway cable).
In-Class Exercise
One talking subject.
Static shot: Record examples of levels that are
1. too high
2. too low
3. just right
Verabally slate what you’re doing.
Moving shot: subject- vary the loudness of
your voice to give the sound mixer hell.
Communicate with camera operator what the
frame line is.
Assignments
Sound Design Presentations: We’ll pick this up in Week 9 &
10, December 7 & 14.
MOS: Bring in one page of your sound report due Nov. 30
Assignment #4: Documentary Location Sound Competition
Criteria:
Wide shot, med, CU.
Camera stationary, subject moves.
Camera and boom op walks backwards.
Shot with Boom (shotgun) only. (verbally slate for me)
Shot with lav only. (verbally slate for me)
One shot of wild sound, verbally slated (can be BG or SFX)
Each team member MUST mix.
Judging Criteria
Signal to noise: Levels shouldn’t be too low.
Distortion: Better be distortion-free!
Clarity of Dialogue: We need to understand what they’re saying.
Content: How interesting is your location’s sonic quality?
Verbal Slating: Did you do it?
Due in class Dec. 14. Winners get a little prize.
Next Week (Week 8)
Lavs, wireless mics, more in-class DOC exercises
Week 9 & 10
POST
Audio Post basics
Sound Editing techniques
Using location sound vs. sound effects from the library
Workshop a couple MOS’s
Finish Sound Design presentations