Critique our sound - Feature film dailies - Rode & Fostex

thisisapocalypse

thisisapocalypse

Well-known member
Hi everyone - I was wondering if the audio guys here would give me a critique of the sound we've captured here so far and any tips they'd suggest for making it better. I think what we've gotten so far has been pretty good but any advice is welcome! This is my first feature. Shot on the GH1 - more info on the shots, etc., in the GH1 stills and motion gallery.

Notes: when we did over the shoulder shots, we'd just mic the actor favored in the shot and keep it on them to get the best audio we could for that actor's performance in that shot - we did a *lot* of takes so I think we'll have plenty to edit with.

Sync'd to the scratch track of the GH1 and the slate.

No post sound work has been done at this time other than syncing.

Sound:

All sound recorded with a Fostex FR2-LE at 96/24 with an K-Tek Boom, Rode NTG-3 w/blimp outfit for exteriors and NT-3 for interiors. Sennheiser HD280 headphones for monitoring.

There are more dailies on my vimeo page, password to all of them is just "dragons" most of them do have sync audio - not going to leave them up for very long, they're just up to give the cast/crew a taste of what the footage looks and sounds like, the takes may or may not be the best, some of them may have actually been rehearsals - shouldn't be viewed as complete projects - they are unedited in every sense - for any given scene we did about 20-30 total takes from various angles.

NOTE: Dailies may or may not be safe for work, unless your work involves particle physicists, astronomers, lesbians, prostitutes, dragons and the periodic use of foul language (no nudity).

Links to other dailies:

http://vimeo.com/10739254
http://vimeo.com/10663280
http://vimeo.com/11023025

password as always "dragons"
 
I'm only going to mention one thing, (Im sure you'll give plenty of opinions about other things)

Why the heck is that guy slamming the sticks so hard in front of those poor actors?
They are about to perform, trying to get in the moment on the steps outside
and the one girl actually has to lean away cuz shes bothered by it.
Do you think that could have an impact on their performance?
Not cool.
 
Rippie said:
I'm only going to mention one thing, (Im sure you'll give plenty of opinions about other things)

Why the heck is that guy slamming the sticks so hard in front of those poor actors?
They are about to perform, trying to get in the moment on the steps outside
and the one girl actually has to lean away cuz shes bothered by it.
Do you think that could have an impact on their performance?
Not cool.
Click to expand...

We just wanted to make sure to get a good spike. We definitely weren't trying to do it too hard - my crew is new to this - will gladly take advice on a better way to do it and still get a clear solid spike.
 
stringz said:
is there a reason you are recording at 96 khz?
Click to expand...

We want to get the best possible sound we can, we have no reason *not* to do it - and when I've loaded 48k vs 96k files into post-processing apps I find myself getting better/cleaner noise removal when I'm working with 96k files.
 
Rippie said:
I'm only going to mention one thing, (Im sure you'll give plenty of opinions about other things)

Why the heck is that guy slamming the sticks so hard in front of those poor actors?
They are about to perform, trying to get in the moment on the steps outside
and the one girl actually has to lean away cuz shes bothered by it.
Do you think that could have an impact on their performance?
Not cool.
Click to expand...

Here's a director who really knows how to motivate the response he's looking for:
At about 4:02...

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I AGREE
 
Is the sound left only ?

"A clapper/loader.. a stupid not looking very smart guy (mostly students) who seems to do a stupid job which everyone can do... ": this is wat most people think.
I'm sure for 200% that during sync time you thought "damm, we had to take better care of the clap".

Rehearsing sound level is good... but actualy... it never matters.... Actors/actresses aren't always going to think about "there sound level". The "oh my god" does got distorted a little. Even after 8646808406878607886678607860 trials.

The right girl is boomed good... the left girl sounds more "off" for me. Like she's a little further. There's a difference between the two. But her mouth is not in the shot...so it doesn't harm...
But..... Think about that when directing. If someone is NOT boomed (because not in the shot) don't pay attention to his/her performance.
Although the part in the shot where the other girls comes in where we clearly see the mouth...
The difference is to much (in sound). The right girls sounds to close and the left girl little to far.
So pointing, swinging, moving the boom is important.

Watch out for shadows.

Around 1:54 the girl that's away... for me she's gone away... and shouts form faaaaar away

The shot we see the girl under the table... either wirelles taped under the table with the receiver hidden somewhere or extra boom was needed here.

Tell me if I'm wrong... but I think the boomguy is standing at the left side of the table....


To much "oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god

For "the daily scene 30" because the mouths are not in shot of the other character, it's not a harm of not pointing the boom at them. Advice here is to leave white space between two lines, but I hear you thought about that... or was it accidental ?

"Dailies from scene 2": what would have happened if you had waited for the sirene ? And for cars passing ?
Or just... blocking cars ?
But I'm sure it's those kinds of streets where NEVER a car passes...except on days of shooting :-p

Don't be afraid of stopping cars (don't do it yourself, let someone do it).. but...don't be afraid.
Explain people what's going on. And if not possible... then... wait till cars are gone..
As you can hear...they're VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY disturbing...
 
dre83 said:
Is the sound left only ?

"A clapper/loader.. a stupid not looking very smart guy (mostly students) who seems to do a stupid job which everyone can do... ": this is wat most people think.
I'm sure for 200% that during sync time you thought "damm, we had to take better care of the clap".

Rehearsing sound level is good... but actualy... it never matters.... Actors/actresses aren't always going to think about "there sound level". The "oh my god" does got distorted a little. Even after 8646808406878607886678607860 trials.

The right girl is boomed good... the left girl sounds more "off" for me. Like she's a little further. There's a difference between the two. But her mouth is not in the shot...so it doesn't harm...
But..... Think about that when directing. If someone is NOT boomed (because not in the shot) don't pay attention to his/her performance.
Although the part in the shot where the other girls comes in where we clearly see the mouth...
The difference is to much (in sound). The right girls sounds to close and the left girl little to far.
So pointing, swinging, moving the boom is important.

Watch out for shadows.

Around 1:54 the girl that's away... for me she's gone away... and shouts form faaaaar away

The shot we see the girl under the table... either wirelles taped under the table with the receiver hidden somewhere or extra boom was needed here.

Tell me if I'm wrong... but I think the boomguy is standing at the left side of the table....


To much "oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god

For "the daily scene 30" because the mouths are not in shot of the other character, it's not a harm of not pointing the boom at them. Advice here is to leave white space between two lines, but I hear you thought about that... or was it accidental ?

"Dailies from scene 2": what would have happened if you had waited for the sirene ? And for cars passing ?
Or just... blocking cars ?
But I'm sure it's those kinds of streets where NEVER a car passes...except on days of shooting :-p

Don't be afraid of stopping cars (don't do it yourself, let someone do it).. but...don't be afraid.
Explain people what's going on. And if not possible... then... wait till cars are gone..
As you can hear...they're VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY disturbing...
Click to expand...

In these clips sound is left-only, hasn't been mixed yet.

Thankfully I think we got enough takes on Scene 2 that we have clean dialogue free from cars and sirens to put the scene together, although we may incorporate it once or twice as part of the overall sound mix, although this would not be the way I'd plan to do it.

The "oh my god, oh my god" ad infinitum...the sound guy was having a little fun with the actress there, he'd already set the levels - he was just seeing how many time he could make her do it :)

Boom op was indeed to the left of that table.

Thank you very much for the thorough critique - it is really helpful, this is the first production I've ever done where I've been in charge, and I not only wrote but am also running camera - I did as much research as I could on sound before hand and imparted it to the 2 different boom ops I've had, both are very picky about sound (audiophiles) and they have a good ear for it, we really watched levels and got as close as we could - but this advice from those who know really does help and will allow us to get better as shooting goes on, it's much appreciated!
 
thisisapocalypse said:
In these clips sound is left-only, hasn't been mixed yet.

Thankfully I think we got enough takes on Scene 2 that we have clean dialogue free from cars and sirens to put the scene together, although we may incorporate it once or twice as part of the overall sound mix, although this would not be the way I'd plan to do it.

The "oh my god, oh my god" ad infinitum...the sound guy was having a little fun with the actress there, he'd already set the levels - he was just seeing how many time he could make her do it :)

Boom op was indeed to the left of that table.

Thank you very much for the thorough critique - it is really helpful, this is the first production I've ever done where I've been in charge, and I not only wrote but am also running camera - I did as much research as I could on sound before hand and imparted it to the 2 different boom ops I've had, both are very picky about sound (audiophiles) and they have a good ear for it, we really watched levels and got as close as we could - but this advice from those who know really does help and will allow us to get better as shooting goes on, it's much appreciated!
Click to expand...

Left only, that means my soundcard still works how it should :-Laugh(DBG)-1:Drogar-Dum(DBG):

It was better if the boomguy was at the front of the table... so he would have less shadow problems also I think. And then he could swing more easily...

But that's only an idea... I have no view on the situation... maybe there was a dragon standing in front of the table.... :2vrolijk_08:
 
dre83 said:
Left only, that means my soundcard still works how it should :-Laugh(DBG)-1:Drogar-Dum(DBG):

It was better if the boomguy was at the front of the table... so he would have less shadow problems also I think. And then he could swing more easily...

But that's only an idea... I have no view on the situation... maybe there was a dragon standing in front of the table.... :2vrolijk_08:
Click to expand...
Dragons to be added in post :)

Actually depending on the shot we did have the boom guy in front of the table - it was a crazy night - it started raining on us half way through and we had to tear down, get the gear covered and then went back out after the rain passed - the joys of filmmaking!
 
I thought you were clipping a couple of times in the dialog.

96khz is usually reserved for sound effects-not dialog.

The sound is not constistant between the two actors, one is loud-the other is distant,
(move the boom in the middle of the two & follow the "speakers" movement as they move).

All in all it is usable when you bring it into an editor to clean it up.

Steve
 
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