Car Scenes

S

srproductions

Well-known member
Hey Guys!

I have a long car scene coming up, and I have some questions. What should I do to capture the dialogue? Should I put my Sennheiser 416 on a C-Stand in the back of the car pointing the the front? Should I use lapels?
 
Lots of possible ways; lavs on the ceiling, dash, body, etc. Boundary mic on ceiling or other surface. Hypers mounted below the dash. Best deal is to experiment until you find what works best with your situation.

If you search around this has been discuss many times before, both on here and the internet.

Good luck
 
Could not say for sure; looks like a lesser of many evils kind of choice. I guess if you had to show up with just one of those mic for a car scene, either the wired or wireless (depends on where the recorder will be) lav option would be the choice. Is there another rental shop or mixer you could rent from in your location?

If I got hired to record audio in a car with just one mic, the first thing I would do is tell the director he is most likely looking at ADR. Fast, cheap, good...only get two.

Cheers.
 
depends on the shot and number of people
no clear answer
i wiered 2 people in cabriolet for last 2 days and it worked more then fine and 3 days ago i put 2 schopses ( cardioid patterns) from the visor and 1 from below on flexi mount
( in a ****ing dizel tender , runnuing engene)
and it worked with close windows ( i cut the mics around 120hz)
sorry to mic the car you need allot of mics in your arsenal to get good sound depends on sitution .
yep that was an in car mic week :-)
 
One person in the driver's seat (duh) and one in the passenger seat. And I can get more than one mic. But what's wrong with running them into my DVX?
 
if it front window shot , you can add swivel joint for your schoeps nd place it over the visor so the hed would look down ( hyper will work as long the driver dont go to deep to his right .
the secend mic ( the octava) on flrxi mount from below in front of the passenger .
if it side shot and you shooting with very wide lence the both mics could come from below from the pasenger sit with 2 flexi mounts . if it from the driver sit the close mic could come from the dash board in front of the deiver .
whats wrong with the dvx - the f.... low fq rumple and the bamps - send them to 302 and cut at 80 hz if you dont use 2 schoepses with cut 1 filters - thats what wrong .
 
i think i replace you with someone else - so maybe you not the guy from seattle ;-)
but i think you got the point :-)
 
soryy - yep i mistake you with sane productions :-0
you can use the 416 for the passenger from below , it would work as long he doesnt talk to the right window , then you can find your self off axis with 416 which is very sgharp patter
and take another mic for the driver
 
The windshield is your enemy! If you record what's bouncing off that you'll be in phase hell and it'll sound like crap.

Shotgun, hyper card (or two) under dash pointing upward. Oleg's comments about this, above, are perfect.

Also place lav inside instrument panel (to avoid picking up the glass if you try and mount them on the actor's lapels).

Put the lav right up against clear plastic panel, where the speedometer etc is. The instrument dash "bill" is your friend and will help shield the sound from the windshield above.

I've done numerous major releases this way and it works perfectly.

Your choice to sit in the back seat with wires or wireless receivers.
 
So, exactly what do I need altogether? 2 Sennehriser 416s in the floor pinting up towards the actors. 2 lapels in the actors' shirts. Correct?
 
you still didnt tell us where is the camera
the windshild is not aproblem if you dont use omny mics
if you drag the car and shot from the fromt window even one cardioid can work from yjre place where is the mirror .
as i told you ,every camera angle has different mic placement .
bring 2 schoepses with swiswels , collets and low pass filters , usially these are woreking the best for 80% of the time
 
srproductions said:
So, exactly what do I need altogether? 2 Sennehriser 416s in the floor pinting up towards the actors. 2 lapels in the actors' shirts. Correct?
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Half correct. If you put the lavs in their lapels, they'll pick up the windshield, and as a good deal of lavs around are omni, in that case as I mentioned above, you'll have crappy phasey audio.

Start with shot guns pointing up then try the lavs but put them in IN THE DASH PANEL right up against the clear plastic. I use my Trams for this which (I believe anyway) are more sensitive. Lavs don't HAVE TO BE inches from the mouth if they're decent mics.

I usually capture both ways on location and decide in post. Usually some mix of the two. Sometimes just the lavs. Sometimes just the guns.

Buy some heat shrink tubing that the shotguns will fit into somewhat snugly, that way you can tape the hell out of the shot guns and not gum them up. Just slide off the heatshrink (and tape) when you're done.
 
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The second place you linked has some Trams and the Schoeps mk41. I would rent a couple of those. As already stated, the placement can vary depending on the car and shot. Leave some time to experiment with what will sound best.

If you are mixing the lavs to one channel be sure to pay extra attention to phasing.

cheers
 
Oleg 2 said:
i think i replace you with someone else - so maybe you not the guy from seattle ;-)
but i think you got the point :-)
Click to expand...

LOL, I think you should use Charles if you are ever in town. He will show you all the best vegetarian places in town. ;-)

You know how we love our tofu after a hard day of standing around in the rain.

Cheers
 
he is not from seattle - i replace him with mike johnson from saneproduction
about tofu - that is your problem i had the opertunity eat some very nice 600 gr entiqots this week in the documentary i shoot .
as we say - why do you eat my foods food .
by the way the cmc they give are t powered and this guy( sorry dont know your name ) is like to go directly to thye camera ( by the way silicon labs - how exactly he is going mix 4 mics :-))

as wabbit alwais says - bring soundman if you dont know how to do it
 
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