Audio Input Question

T

tirapell

Active member
I've been reading through these different forums for a while now and this is my first post. I'm hoping that I didn't miss something in the 'Search' function.

I'm shooting a documentary on a high school sports team. Listed is the gear below (at least relevant gear):

- Sony V1U (2-channel audio) - I know...booooooo
- (2) Sennheiser Evolution G2 wireless mics
- Sennheiser ME66 shogun mic
- Azden FMX-32 3-channel mixer

Now to the question. I have about 5-7 main characters on the team, plus 2-3 coaches, so a lot of audio to capture. I've read a lot about audio capture (much through this forum) and want to get the best audio that I can on a run-n-gun style doc. Sorry, no boom operator. Since I have a lot of subjects, what do you think would be the best way to set up the audio channels?

Right now, I have on-camera sound going through the ME66. How much different would the Oktava sound? Better for background/ambience? Then, if I'm using 1 wireless setup, I run it straight into the camera via the 2nd XLR input. If I'm using 2 wireless setups, I run them both through the mixer and output one channel into Channel 2 on the camera, so I have the on-camera on Channel 1 and the wireless (2 seperate wireless devices) on Channel 2.

First, is there a better way to do this? Secondly, would you just 'mic up' a two characters per day and follow them around through practice sessions and such? Or would you just use on-camera sound except for in specific (ie interview) situations?

Just looking for some thoughts. Thanks in advance!
 
I'd be tempted to mic just the coaches during practice and use the me66 onboard while you rove around the field. Then I'd mic players individually for any one on one interviews and probably use the me66 as a backup into the other channel just for safety.

My thoughts on micing coaches only is this: the g2's might not make it through football practice. The camera will probably be close to the action most of the time and that action may be across the field from the coaches. With them on a wireless you wont miss anything. I'd just set the levels on the wireless to not distort with them yelling.

Thats how I'd do it as a one man band with your available eqpt.
 
Thanks. I appreciate the response. The sport happens to be 'wrestling', even worse than football for equipment safety.
 
wrestling should probably make it a bit easier.

you will have to deal with room acoustics...for wrestling do they practice in a small room and then have competitions in the main gym?

i would mic the coaches and be quick with the camera and on camera mic to catch any video/audio action that will help tell the story.

i have done a good bit of the type of one man band thing you are doing and it can be a blast and the one piece of advice i can give you is to keep your setup simple!

you do not need to be worrying about a single thing more than possible!

also, practice! i am one who is NEVER good at practicing with my gear, especially new gear.

in the field or on a set is no place to figure out the fine points of how the gear works or to discover a setting that can help you out that you never knew was there.

lately i have been really getting into reading the manuals cover to cover and they have come a long way in general in the last 5-10 years.

read up a lot on lavalier placement!

also, i will probably spell his name wrong but there is a small pocket sized quick reference book that is pretty good, the author is ty ford.

on the very back page is a checklist to use when the sound isn't working right and your panicking!

also, always bring extra batteries. for the wireless you may want to pop for the lithium ones or at least buy big bricks of the energizer or duracell.

for the camera, buy a few extra dvx-user batteries and ALWAYS charge them and always bring all of them!

too many times i have seen people freak out because they screwed up and brough too few batteries or forgot to charge them etc.

matthew
 
Why no boom op? If you are shooting in a high school it seems you might be overlooking a great resource. Get a student who is interested in AV to "intern" with you as a boom op. A pro would be great but when you can't afford one a amatuer is still a milion times better then nothing.

2 wireless for 7 to 10 subjects is not gonna cut it. On camera mic will will get you home movie audio. An inexperienced boom op will almost definately get better results.

Have him (or her) read up and practice beforehand. He will be rough at first but in time most people catch on.

Good luck
 
Thanks guys. Very good suggestions.

I will think about the boom op. I would have to find a high school student to do the chore, but I might be able to pull it off - at least some of the time.

I'll work on that angle. I appreciate the responses.
 
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