Shooting first commercial project

[tkealey]

Hi All,

I'm new to this so excuse me if the question sounds like it's coming from an amateur...

Needless to say I'm glad I found this forum and I'm really excited to be getting started in the business.

I have read through some of the stickies here and already gained a world of info.

On Monday next week I'll be shooting a for-cable commercial in a crowded Manhattan store, and the camera guy only has a shotgun mic. I'm thinking for indoors I should be using possibly the Oktava MK-012 Hypercardioid boomed instead of the shotgun, but given the noise level in the store, was thinking maybe the shotgun boomed from below would give me less extraneous noise. Also for non-dialogue action shots in the store, what mic would be best?

Anyone have any suggestions or should I just wing it with a couple of mics and see what works best for the situation? Also has anyone ever boomed with a hypercardiod from below or is that just not "done"? I may sound like a novice, but I sure don't want to look like one!

[AwakenedFilms]

My opinion - a shotgun will capture what you are looking for much better than the MK-012. A wired or high quality wireless lav might even sound better.


J

[ptalsky]

You're shooting a paid commercial? Hire a sound person to do your sound. Especially if you don't want to look like a novice.

Phil

[RandomHero]

The shotgun will definitely reject more ambient noise while there's dialog, however i'd recommend the hypercardioid for picking up the non-speaking action shots and such.
The problem with most lavs is they're omni directional, so you don't get the rejection you want while there's a crowd and such. Perfect for some scenarios, i just wouldn't put this as one of them

[Steve House]

When deciding on booming from above or below, like a photographer keep in mind what is behind the subject. You want to keep the subject's voice on the axis of the mic but you want sounds coming from behind him to be in an area of the pattern of lower sensitivity. Booming from below this is often harder to do as the mic is more straight on to the subject than when booming from above so more of the sounds coming from behind him are hitting the mic.

A store often has high enough ceilings and sound absorbing ceilings that reflections may be less an issue than other interiors. Try to do a location scout to get an idea of what you're dealing with and that can help you choose between shotgun or hyper.

[tkealey]

You're shooting a paid commercial? Hire a sound person to do your sound. Especially if you don't want to look like a novice.

Phil

Phil, great idea, only...I'm the sound guy who got hired!

My good friend owns the production company. He and I have already done some work together, but he wants to give me more work and I WANT more work because I want to be the sound guy who gets hired often. Have done plenty of studio work as a musician and outdoor shoots as a boom guy, but nothing at this level. But I recognize that I do have to DO it if I'm ever going to get better at it.

FWIW, the work I've done thus far has been worth callbacks. So I may be a noob, but at this point am trying to keep a spotless record as the work becomes more challenging.

[tkealey]

When deciding on booming from above or below, like a photographer keep in mind what is behind the subject. You want to keep the subject's voice on the axis of the mic but you want sounds coming from behind him to be in an area of the pattern of lower sensitivity. Booming from below this is often harder to do as the mic is more straight on to the subject than when booming from above so more of the sounds coming from behind him are hitting the mic.

A store often has high enough ceilings and sound absorbing ceilings that reflections may be less an issue than other interiors. Try to do a location scout to get an idea of what you're dealing with and that can help you choose between shotgun or hyper.

Thanks everyone for your advice. This nugget is most helpful - I will scout the location the day before the shoot. I'll go shotgun most likely and bring the hypercardioid along for non-dialogue action sound.

Again,