Confused with Audio

C

cityseal

New member
Hello all. My name is John. I live in Washington State. I own and Operate and local asphalt company and with the rain in these parts we tend to have the winters off. My wife Leslie & I usually take on new hobbies and travel in the winters. We have 2 kids that attend elementary school. (that is about as far as I went in school. Hence the asphalt business right.) Well, this year we were talking and thought it would be nice to document the kids in our school and what they want to be when they grow up, kind of thing). After a couple of weeks of surfing the internet and reading forums like this I soon realized that a little Camcorder on a table top tripod would not cut it.

Here is where we are at presently.

Computer Apple G5 with FCP Studio and 23" Cinema Monitor.
Camera DVX100B From Provideoandtape.com
Tripod Libec with Fluid head
Light Pag M-series

Knowing that our filming for the time being will be indoors and somewhat quite atmosphere what do we need. We have spent quite a bit of time only to end back at the start. Undecided, Unsure, Confused all of the above. Well, hopefully anyone with experience with the kind of filming we are going to do can post some helpful hints. These are the typical questions I have: Shotgun mic- Do I need one or should I use only a Wireless Mic or a wired Mic or a combination of the 3. I read one post that indicated a problem with Senn mics and the DVX100B. Also, if I am short something that we will need, please let me know. It would be like and asphalt forum and a new contractor said I have everything I need to lay asphalt yet he doesn't have a roller to compact the asphalt he won't be able to complete his job.

If I have left any information out that you might need to know to answer the post please let me know.

Thank you
John
 
Well for just documenting your children playing you really bought a hell of a kit. For your needs, since you're not going to be running anything off a boom or anything like that and since I'm sure you don't want it to look 'too staged' wireless kits are out of the question.

It doesn't seem that money is a huge issue (nice filmmaking kit for filming the kids playing) so get a 4073a and mount it on camera and a KSSM shockmount and a rycote softie for wind protection. If you want to save $300 on this kit get the Rode NTG2 with the same shockmount and softie.

Best of luck.
 
Without understanding more about specifically what you are trying to film and who your intended audience is, it's kinda hard to point you in a good direction. Are you talking about doing this for money? Although the DVX is not a top-end professional camera it is overkill for most amatuer end productions. If you could describe what you are planning to do in more detail it would help in advice that is offered.

What part of WA are you at? If you are near Seattle/King County there are plenty of great resources for you to avail yourself of. For instance, there is an excellent non-profit media production center (http://www.911media.org/) that has a great community you can interact with and learn the best way to approach your project.

Cheers
 
Thank you very much Yankee and Wabbit.


I did become member at 911 and am starting a class on the DVX100 on Monday. I decided to approach the audio with the following.


Oktava MK012 (Mainly because we will be indoors when shooting)

K-tek KSSM Shock mount with soft bands

Rycote Softie for wind protection

Sony 7506 for headphones

Until I get a better (well any understanding of audio) understanding of audio through the 911 workshops these are the basics of our audio set up.

I was also considering a K-tek Boom and a AT-4073a with Rycote Windjammer, but I can't seem to understand the need if all we are is interviewing across a 6' table.

Our plans are as follows: interview the kids individually inside classrooms. Talking with teachers about the students attributes and personalities. Mostly just interviews with some shots around school and outside on the playground. We intend on giving the DVD to each of the students at the end of the school year.

In the end we are hoping to make quality DVD that would look and sound like a simple documentary that you get at Blockbuster. Well, obviously it would be that caliber, but just a nice video that doesn't look like a video.
 
Hi City,

To keep it really simple, go to Guitar Center and get a microphone stand with a movable/adjustable arm on it. Ideally, you want one that can raise up to about 6 feet or so. You might also want to get a sandbag for stability.

(I just shot a doc interviewing stand up comedians and this is how we did it). The mic's you are considering all come with a mic stand attachment, so you can essentially "boom" the mic in over the table. You might want to consider going cartioid rather than hyper on the Oktava, as it will give you a slightly wider pickup pattern and should cover you well for both the interviewer and the interviewee.

HTH,

Phil
 
Distance for pickup

Distance for pickup

Here are some things to consider:

Firstly, when you say "across a 6' table" - 6feet is too far to get good sound off a camera mounted mic. Don't even waste your time trying, because classrooms sound pretty bad to start with and you'll most likely be closer to reflective surfaces than to the subject - sound will suffer.

Boom mounting the Oktava on a mic stand is a nice idea, and I think it could work well. Personally, I wouldnt go with a cardioid though, I think the hyper will work cell for you.

My last suggestions:

If seeing a lav isnt a problem, think about getting a countryman EMW or B6 to lav mic the kid you are interviewing. This will give close, intimate sound that parents just LOVE to hear. Obviously, mic in shot could be a huge problem, and you prob wont have time to rig underclothes mics - bad idea on a kid anyway.

Think carefully about where you are going to place your interviewee, and try use sound blankets (or any heavy blankets) to make a little interview booth. You could also try shooting a nice tight shot of the kid to grab nice clean audio on, and then use that clean dialogue as voice over type material for other shots.

Good luck!
 
Oh yeah, and if you want to get interviewer questions, think carefully about that too - you might need a second mic. A nice tight M012 on the subject wont pickup great sound from the interviewer.
 
My presumption on the 6' table was that it was 6' long, and a couple of feet wide. If your subjects are more than 3' or so apart, my suggestion may not work. But if they are closer, then I will stand by my original suggestion to go with cardioid rather than hyper, and then center the mic over the table and you will get reasonably good sound from both the interviewer and interviewee.

As Timapter said, two lav's will work very well, whether wireless or not. I just got my EMW and my B6 and both sound great! As soon as my second G2 arrives, I will do an a-b comparison and post it up for folks to listen to. I also have a B3, but it is wired for shure right now, so I would have to get it re-wired before I can add it to my a-b-c mix. ;-)
 
yep, in fact for your situation i would recommend AGAINST using wireless - it's just going to hassle you with batteries/dropouts/blah blah blah in a small controlled environment.

Whether you go lav/cardioid/hyper, I do recommend the blankets though. They'll help all three methods along.
 
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