Sound Recording

Working with sound is one the most crucial parts of the movie-making process. You may not have a huge budget but what you lack in great sets and CGI you can make up for in audio quality in the range of sounds you deploy. Use this guide as a starting point for recording sounds.

Recording with the camera mic

The easiest way of recording sound is by using the mic that comes built-in with your camera. Even at the low-end consumer level of digital camcorder, sound quality is surprisingly good. You will get clear sound, relatively free of hiss and with tracks that are not prone to bleeding - that is, the leaking of sound from track to track on the tape. But for most filmmakers, in-built mics present problems due to their inflexibility in dealing with creative work.

Get a range of sounds

The camera wants a steady range of sound for it to fill the meter. To play safe, then, cater for the full range of sound. Include dialogue or loudest sounds - sometimes referred to as foreground sound - and take middle, less important sounds, right down to the lowest on the register. Think of it as you do when composing lighting for a shot: there should be a few shadows, a few bright spots and some grey shades within. Sound can be handled like this so that you have some strong areas, but not too much, complimented by lower, bass sounds. In general, give the camera mic lots of strong sound dominating over background and the result will be adequate.

Recording with external mics

Recording with a slightly more expensive camera may allow you to alter the levels at which you record. Loud sounds can be reduced and low ones omitted. These kinds may also allow you to plug in a mixing board so that sounds are recorded at a higher and clearer level. Mixing boards are good for filmmakers; they enable you to have far greater control over what you record and how it is mixed, so that different mics can be used simultaneously for the situation. The constant aim, regardless of what equipment you have or what production you work on, is to get the strongest possible signal without getting distortion, so any device that allows you to boost or reduce signal is going to make life much easier on set.

For the professionally-minded filmmaker -- even if not professionally-funded - external mics are going to be a necessity. There are basically six common types:

• Personal mic
  Also known as a lavalier or clip-on or tie-mic, this is a discreet small mic that can be easily hidden from view, clipped onto the actors clothing. For dialogue these give great results as they pick up a full, deep, resonant sound from the chest.
  
• Hand held
  A common mic used in close proximity by on-camera interviewers.
  
• Boundary effect
  These are used to pick up reflected sound bounced from hard surfaces and are sometimes known as PZ or PZM mics.
  
• Contact mics
  These are used for attachment to musical instruments or the picking up of any other sound in physical contact with a surface or object.
  
• Shotgun mic
  A very useful mic for location shooting as it picks up sounds at a moderate distance from the camera.
  
• Studio mics
  This encompasses a range of mics used for studio filming, including television work.