What's a good indoor mic that will cover 5 actors dialogue?
- Thread starter FilmBoy77
- Start date
Rippie
Veteran
Mic wont matter if you dont have a very skilled boom op. Rehearals, and hopefully
singles.
That being said, not knowing the framing, not knowing how you're covering it..not knowing
blocking. I really couldnt answer you other than
if it has to be a boom mic..
I would go for a hyper cardioid like the schoeps mk41 which has a very nice
off axis sound so as your boom op is swinging it will sound natural as he moves.
singles.
That being said, not knowing the framing, not knowing how you're covering it..not knowing
blocking. I really couldnt answer you other than
if it has to be a boom mic..
I would go for a hyper cardioid like the schoeps mk41 which has a very nice
off axis sound so as your boom op is swinging it will sound natural as he moves.
Well, there are a few ways to go, and they all depend on budget.
First, one mic can do the job if the blocking and dialog are well rehearsed and consistent from take to take. But it also depends on how far apart the actors are and how far the mic has to move to get from one person to the other. So for that size of group, not as practical.
Another option is to get a second Octava with fishpole and mount. This also requires a second operator, but two mics can share the duties and get much better coverage. Again, rehearsed and consistent blocking and dialog are important.
Lastly, and this takes a much larger budget, would be five lavs. This also requires a larger mixer, and ideally a way to run iso record channels on all mics.
It's not uncommon to have two mics/poles running on a room with a small group. So unless you have the budget to outfit with lots of wireless and a multi-track recording setup, you might want to look into the second Oktava rig. You might also want to get a couple of Sound Devices pre-amps, which allow the operators to have headphone monitoring of their own mics as well as a return feed from the mixer.
First, one mic can do the job if the blocking and dialog are well rehearsed and consistent from take to take. But it also depends on how far apart the actors are and how far the mic has to move to get from one person to the other. So for that size of group, not as practical.
Another option is to get a second Octava with fishpole and mount. This also requires a second operator, but two mics can share the duties and get much better coverage. Again, rehearsed and consistent blocking and dialog are important.
Lastly, and this takes a much larger budget, would be five lavs. This also requires a larger mixer, and ideally a way to run iso record channels on all mics.
It's not uncommon to have two mics/poles running on a room with a small group. So unless you have the budget to outfit with lots of wireless and a multi-track recording setup, you might want to look into the second Oktava rig. You might also want to get a couple of Sound Devices pre-amps, which allow the operators to have headphone monitoring of their own mics as well as a return feed from the mixer.
i like the idea of having lavs and a boom mic possibly would that work? maybe two actors lav'd up and the boom covering the other three actors would that work?
3 actors are sitting on a couch and two are in chairs close to the couch so not too far apart from each other.
what are a good set of lavs to go with in a situation like this?
Only challenge there is that lavs have a distinctly different sound from boom-mounted hypers. So you'll have two folks with a less ambient sound than the other three.
If that's the set-up, I'd go with the second boom, keeping one on the couch and one on the chairs.
Rippie
Veteran
and phasing..
To the original poster, are you doing this all on one master wide shot? Is this scripted
dialog or conversation?
If its scripted dialog and you're getting different framings (IE:singles,..)
you do realize you only need to cover the people who are on screen at a given moment
with the mic. Just dont have overlaps and you're golden.
If this is a "non" scripted video, cover it with 1 mic if possible, if thats not..
then 2 booms OR 5 wires...
Unless there is a "host" style person who is going to do the majority of the dialog..
then personally I would wire him, cover the rest with the boom. Split track of course.
As you can see, audio is an ever changing thing depending on the situation...
and no "one" answer will work in every case.
To the original poster, are you doing this all on one master wide shot? Is this scripted
dialog or conversation?
If its scripted dialog and you're getting different framings (IE:singles,..)
you do realize you only need to cover the people who are on screen at a given moment
with the mic. Just dont have overlaps and you're golden.
If this is a "non" scripted video, cover it with 1 mic if possible, if thats not..
then 2 booms OR 5 wires...
Unless there is a "host" style person who is going to do the majority of the dialog..
then personally I would wire him, cover the rest with the boom. Split track of course.
As you can see, audio is an ever changing thing depending on the situation...
and no "one" answer will work in every case.
yea this is a scripted scene so i guess the best option is to do like you said and just block the scene so only the person/people that are talking are on camera and there's no overlap.
just out of curiosity can i get a good lav setup with about $500? my next project i'll be needing them for some wide angle scenes (2 actors in dialogue) where the actors are having a conversation.
Steve House
Veteran
Two wired lavs, yes. But not two wireless systems.
You may still be able to pick up a Sennheiser G2 for ~$500 (I think they recently went through a price increase) - BUT (big BUT) you will still need to replace the stock lav that comes with the G2. Add another $150 or so and get a Countryman EMW - you will then have a good (not very good, not great) wireless set for one actor. Then just get another one and you'll have enough for your scene.
Anything less than a G2 is generally considered to be garbage (yes, I know, several people will now chime in and say that they've used xxx wireless system with great success in all of their projects and it is hundreds less than a G2). Let me just say this: The best mixers in the business mostly use two brands for their day-to-day work: Lectrosonics and Zaxcom. Some will use G2's for camera hops and for camera monitoring. (There is a little Audio Limited thrown in, though not as much here in the US as in the UK and Europe). And, the people here who's opinions I actually value all agree that the G2 is the lowest you can go and get decent sound.
So let the arrows fly.
Phil
Anything less than a G2 is generally considered to be garbage (yes, I know, several people will now chime in and say that they've used xxx wireless system with great success in all of their projects and it is hundreds less than a G2). Let me just say this: The best mixers in the business mostly use two brands for their day-to-day work: Lectrosonics and Zaxcom. Some will use G2's for camera hops and for camera monitoring. (There is a little Audio Limited thrown in, though not as much here in the US as in the UK and Europe). And, the people here who's opinions I actually value all agree that the G2 is the lowest you can go and get decent sound.
So let the arrows fly.
Phil
No, it's a bit more complicated than that. Generally, you need three things for each:
a) transmitter (tx)
b) receiver (rx)
c) microphone (usually a lavaliere)
Unless the system is designed for it (and Sennheiser doesn't make such a beast) you will always need a unique tx and rx for each person/microphone. Lectrosonics makes a two-channel rx, but it is WAY out of your budget.
Phil
a) transmitter (tx)
b) receiver (rx)
c) microphone (usually a lavaliere)
Unless the system is designed for it (and Sennheiser doesn't make such a beast) you will always need a unique tx and rx for each person/microphone. Lectrosonics makes a two-channel rx, but it is WAY out of your budget.
Phil