Fixed Mic for Interview?

G

goyun

New member
I'm going to be starting work on a doc soon and there may be some interview situations where I won't have a sound man along. I have a wired lav (AT899) that I can use if need be. I also have an AKG Ck93 hypercardiod with a KTek shock and boom.

My question is: does anyone have much experience mounting a similar hypercardiod setup to a c-stand and fixing it above the interviewee? Is this better than the lav with a better mic? They would be seated so there wouldn't be too much movement and I would run the lav as backup. Any advice before I buy a boom pole holder, extra c-stand etc would be much appreciated.
 
dont forget sand bag for c stand :-) place the mike it would see the mouth in 45 degree , about 1.5 feet in front of the head , so if the person would go little bit forward you will not find your self recording his neck :-)
 
I've done that setup and it worked out pretty well.

FYI, this stand is pretty cheap and actually works great for rigging up a mic like that. I wouldn't waste money on a whole C-stand and boom pole!

Also agree that the downside is that your talent has to stay pretty still. If they shift around in the chair significantly, you can really loose your pickup. If you have a wired lav for backup, though, I think you would be fine.

As for whether the shotgun mic would actually be BETTER than just the wired lav, I can't say -- I don't have any lavs yet! (see my new post from 2 minutes ago :) ) From what I've read, though, I doubt it. A decent wired omnidirectional lav mounted right on your subject should give you just as good or even better sound than a shotgun rigged up just out of frame. Experts agree?
 
Oops, "cardioid". I mean, I use the 87 for voice-over all the time. Seems it should work for interviews, too. But I'm two-days-old when it comes to video, so clue me, please!
 
You can also get a similar type of mic stand at Guitar Center for like $40 and save shipping (if you have a Guitar Center in your area). I've done this setup many times for recording talking head types of interviews and it works well. But, yes, don't forget a sand bag or something heavy to hold the opposite leg on the stand, especially if you raise it up to its highest level.

Phil
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I just said c-stand cause I had an extra. But that boom stand looks like a lighter option :)

My principal concern was the movement of the subject. Sounds like as long as they aren't too shifty should be ok. Backups are good!
 
I asked the same question a few days ago and got a good answer, i think if the room has decent accoustics you should use the hyper. not the wireless.
 
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