6 person scene audio dilemma

D

Dr. Jessup

New member
In a few weeks I’ll be shooting a small party scene with 6 people. The party is centered around a living room with large windows that open out to a rooftop where two actors will be talking. There is also a kitchen area that is fully open to the living room where there will also be a few actors. I’m shooting with the DVX100A (so only two audio inputs) and have a shotgun mic and two wireless mics. We don’t have a dual receiver, so if we’re using both wireless mics, both inputs are used up, so we can’t use both wireless mics and the shotgun. I’ll be shooting most of it so that there’s only two actors on screen at a time. Should I just outfit the ones I’m shooting with the wireless mics, and afterward use the shotgun to get the room tone & scattered conversations of the other actors. (Keep in mind, in post, we will have someone mixing the sound.) If shooting three or more people should I just use the shotgun on a boom. For the wideshots, hide the shotgun with a wireless transmitter in the middle of the room and maybe one wire mic on the one person we want to "focus" on?

So, on a nominal budget, should I hire a professional audio guy (btw $400-$500/day) who’d be able to outfit everyone with wireless mics? I really don’t want to do this since it seems pointless, considering the cost & how the scene will be shot, to have professional audio in one scene and not the others (it’s about a 15-20 minute short). So, how should I deal with all this?
 
Sounds like what "The Senator" calls a "PIP".... party in progress.
You just want the dialog, right? Tell the party goers to act like they are talking, and just get the important dialog. Mix in the party sound in post.
 
To add to what BRH said, also be sure to get some wild takes of "conversations" at the party to add in post. If you plan on doing any foreign distribution where you'll need an M&E, make sure the party tracks contain no discernible English (or any other language for that matter).
 
Get a mixer. Run all your mics into the mixer, and output the mixer to the DVX100a.

Alternatively, buy something like the Zoom H4 digital recorder. Clip that to the belt of your boom operator, and run the boom mic into it -- recording the audio externally. The wireless mics connect to the camera inputs. Mix it in post.

Be aware that you may wind up looping the dialogue in post anyway. We did a party scene for 'Afterlife', and wound up with much more room reverb than I would've liked.

If you can afford a good sound guy, get one. That's always the best course.

Good luck!
 
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