My audio conundrum...what would you do?

[custerc]

So, I'm gearing up to shoot a documentary in China, and trying to piece together all the gear I need. Audio is a perpetual sticking point, for a couple reasons:

(1) The nature of being a foreigner shooting a doc in China, especially on this subject, is such that I cannot use anything on a boom pole. It just attracts way too much attention.

(2) The nature of China is such that I expect that wireless mics may not be super reliable (they are used here, but cell phones interfere with speakers, headphones, and basically everything to the extent that I worry about investing in a nice wireless set and then having it be useless), AND (more to the point) they're difficult to find, especially from a "reputable dealer" (that can be a bit of an oxymoron here).

In a perfect world, I'd like to just buy something that records to an SD card and has XLR inputs/phantom power, and then leave it in the subject's pockets. But I haven't seen anything that would work well like that; the closest product I've heard of is a zoom h4n but they are bulky, have the stupid built in mic I don't need, and are reportedly not reliable enough to just leave in some fidgety subject's pocket.

SO, what do you recommend? I have seen sennheiser wireless g2 or g3 units, and am considering just biting the bullet and getting one or two of those and praying it works out (yes, I can test in the store, but that doesn't mean we won't get some interference later, in another city in another province...). And I fear running into counterfeit ones.

I already have an NTG2 that will be mounted on our A cam (HMC153), and sit-down interviews can be wired up easily enough with a wired lav I have or with the NTG planted somewhere out of the frame if there's more than one subject. But I am concerned about sound for out-and-about parts of the shooting. Our B-cam is a DSLR, so there's obviously no onboard sound there, which is another problem.

I guess at the moment, I'm thinking maybe the best plan is to get one wireless kit (G2 maybe?) and see how it works, and also get a zoom h4n for ambient sound and/or when we're shooting with just the DSLR and need decent sound.

But honestly, I am not at all sure what to do. Thoughts? The budget for additional sound stuff (not counting the wired lav, NTG, xlr cables, headphones, etc. which we have already) is about $1300, but I'd love to come in under that and put the extra money towards something like sturdier camera bags or an extra lens for the DSLR.....help?


(If it wasn't obvious, I am currently in China and can't afford to be making international trips just to buy gear, nor can I wait to start shooting until after my next visit home which isn't for another half year probably)

 

[JordanBlock]

In a perfect world, I'd like to just buy something that records to an SD card and has XLR inputs/phantom power, and then leave it in the subject's pockets.

That almost as far from 'a perfect world' as you can possibly get. With a recorder planted in a random person's pocket, you have NO way of know if the recording is any good, or indeed if the thing is even recording at all. Sound isn't something you can just set and forget.

Ideally, you'd be booming it, but it sounds like you're shooting without permission of whatever authorities may be involved. Frankly, I'd think that an HMC with a shotgun on top is already going to draw a lot of attention to yourself that you're trying to avoid.

So at the minimum, a G3 kit probably with a better mic. I'm not sure what laws exist covering wireless in China, you'll have to research which frequency blocks are legal.

Hopefully someone else here can help you find a reputable dealer near you.

 

[manglerBMX]

depending on how many days your production is you could rent gear or hire a local sound guy. i think you're putting too much on your plate. if you're the camera guy you've got enough to worry about, without tacking on the sound needs, which in most cases out weigh the camera dept's needs.

 

[custerc]

That almost as far from 'a perfect world' as you can possibly get. With a recorder planted in a random person's pocket, you have NO way of know if the recording is any good, or indeed if the thing is even recording at all. Sound isn't something you can just set and forget.

I mean a perfect world given the circumstances I already laid out. Granted, the downside is there's no way to monitor that, but provided the thing was reliable and had a good lock function, I'd rather risk having the occasional bit of audio lost that way than have all the audio we record be flawed because there's cracking and popping from interference over wireless channels. Things aren't as tightly controlled here, and even if they were, there are so many counterfeit, gray, and black market devices that I can't really expect the wireless signals in a given place to conform to the laws.

Ideally, you'd be booming it, but it sounds like you're shooting without permission of whatever authorities may be involved. Frankly, I'd think that an HMC with a shotgun on top is already going to draw a lot of attention to yourself that you're trying to avoid.

So at the minimum, a G3 kit probably with a better mic. I'm not sure what laws exist covering wireless in China, you'll have to research which frequency blocks are legal.

Yeah, you'd think that, and certainly an HMC does draw attention, but people have stuff like that here for recording events and stuff, it's not common but it's not uncommon. You NEVER see someone on the street with a boom mike, though, and with a boom mike there's just no way we could ever deny we were making a film (on occasion, it's beneficial and possible to pretend to be a rich technophile tourist). The other thing, of course, is that it's hard to run with a boom!

Hopefully someone else here can help you find a reputable dealer near you.

I highly doubt that, but does anyone happen to know a reputable dealer in Beijing? edit: Guess I'll just make a thread about this and see...

 

[custerc]

depending on how many days your production is you could rent gear or hire a local sound guy. i think you're putting too much on your plate. if you're the camera guy you've got enough to worry about, without tacking on the sound needs, which in most cases out weigh the camera dept's needs.

There's no way we can rent or hire, this is a very long term project (we'll be shooting over the course of the next year, at least) and we'll be moving around enough that we'd have to hire different people in different places, and it would become very difficult to research who was good, what place has what rental houses for gear, etc. Moreover, many of the places we'll be going simply don't have people OR gear for hire...