What's the best way to get audio on wide angle shots?
- Thread starter FilmBoy77
- Start date
what are plant mics? and if i'm booming audio into the camera isn't going to be bad to have lavs in other takes from the same scene? won't i get phasing issues, etc....i've havent used lavs so i dont know, but someone mentioned a while ago it will sound different than my boomed audio
smithy
Well-known member
Lav's to me sound overall pretty cold vs boom miked sound. Mainly because the dynamic range on the boom mike tends to get more of a fuller sound. I usually use a Lav (lectrosonic) as a backup source...but if that is all you got to work, with then your alternatives are pretty limited. Unless you plan to have the actors do ADR afterwards in post.
Gohanto
Veteran
Plant mics are basically mics that you hide within the scene aimed at the actors without a boom op. If they're wired great, if they're wireless it can still be better than lavs.
Lavs sound different than boom mics, and not for the better. However, if that's the only way to capture the audio then do it. It'll depend in the mix how you handle it. You might end up running the entire scene from lavs, or dubbing boomed lines from closer angles into the wide shot, or being extremely careful and switching mid-scene. Or even just use the lavs as a reference for ADR.
I'm sure others can offer a better explanation.
Richard J. Johnson
Joystick Member
daydreamerpix
New member
For wide, it's lavs. I don't recall ever seeing plants for a wide shot and why would you. Unless they are naked or somehow you can't lav and need a reference track. However, If you can't see the lips move, you can use the coverage dialogue in place.
Because the lav creates such a forced perspective especially in a wide shot, here is a trick. Take your boom and point it away from the action. Hopefully, you have a quiet enough set. Mix in a little "atmosphere" or air as I call it from the boom mic to the mix. Not too much so post gets on your case, but just enough. You'll know what I mean when you try it and as an added benefit, it sometimes mask some of the clothing rustle.
If the shot is wide and you can't see the lips move from the shot, run the lines wild immediately on set with your boom mic positioned so it creates that a wide enough persepctive that you can still hear the talent clearly. This is one option to give the editor, that is if you have time and has been a rare occurence for me.
Get roomtone and discuss with teh director about onset ADR while the performance is still fresh for the talent.
Because the lav creates such a forced perspective especially in a wide shot, here is a trick. Take your boom and point it away from the action. Hopefully, you have a quiet enough set. Mix in a little "atmosphere" or air as I call it from the boom mic to the mix. Not too much so post gets on your case, but just enough. You'll know what I mean when you try it and as an added benefit, it sometimes mask some of the clothing rustle.
If the shot is wide and you can't see the lips move from the shot, run the lines wild immediately on set with your boom mic positioned so it creates that a wide enough persepctive that you can still hear the talent clearly. This is one option to give the editor, that is if you have time and has been a rare occurence for me.
Get roomtone and discuss with teh director about onset ADR while the performance is still fresh for the talent.
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These are situations where I find my dual channel receiver worth every cent I paid for it.
Rippie
Veteran
Nice attitude.
Shooting a wide angle 2p. Im not an audio person like many who pass by the audio section. And for those of us who need to go out and shoot promotional vid, tvcm etc on limited crews a dual channel receiver makes set up and life much easier.
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Steve House
Veteran
Dual channel receivers would be helpful where the wide shot has two talent speaking, sure enough. But there are a lot of wide shots of scenes where only one person needs to be on mic. Say, extreme wide shot of presenter standing in St Peters Square talking about the Vatican, only he being mic'ed. Too wide a shot for a boom, no need for more than one mic channel.
lol why is everyone out to correct me - it doesnt matter right? My point was a dual channel receiver is a handy asset when doing wide shots, because many are 2p - is that a wrong thing to say? And sure if its a 1p single is fine - but not all wides are 1p - so what do you do then? Set up two receivers? Sure you can do that as well. I was simply making a point about my experience - and that is in wides I am often glad I have a dual channel.
Rippie
Veteran
Funny you say I have an attitude, then you mention you're not an audio person
and then get upset when people ask you a question.
Maybe if you were an audio person you'd understand that "we"
would have probably said..
"thats why Im glad I have a wireless" or something to that regard.
When you mention a specific item (duel channel receiver)
I think its pretty "on" topic to ask you why thats relative to a wide shot, which of course it's not.
Ill just clarify - I dont have an issue in someone asking a question on what I stated. Too easy. And maybe its the interweb thingy where you cant see how a question is asked, but your question came across as in a negative tone. Thats all.
Steve House
Veteran
You might get away with it. But I've seen scenes where the subject was 3/4 facing away from the lens, only the side of the face visible from the back, and it was obvious the sound came from a different take because the jaw movements didn't match. You have to be careful when cheating. There's also the element of sound perspective - such shots require techniques to make them sound like the viewer thinks they ought to sound from the camera position, even if they don't really sound that way at all.