Narrative workflow for lavalier setup

[RedChalice]

Hey,
I was curious about the proper workflow when using a lavalier mic during a wide master shot. Can a dialogue scene be achieved with only one lavalier?

Example: hook up the lavalier on one actor and record their lines, and then a second take with the lavalier on the other actor. Or is the mic able to pick up good audio from both actors if its attached to only one of the actors the entire time and done in one take.

I was looking to get a budget Rode smartLav plus since it seems to do a decent job for a very decent price.

 

[edinc90]

In a two-shot, you would usually you would mic up both of the subjects. If you only have a 2-track recorder, hard pan them left and right. If you're running a boom and the lavs, pan lavs to one channel and the boom to the other and mix live. If you have a multitrack, then just set levels and go.

 

[Paul F]

Hey,
.....is the mic able to pick up good audio from both actors if its attached to only one of the actors the entire time and done in one take.

.....

You'll get audio, but you won't like it. No, that won't work well at all.

 

[paulears]

Best you get is when they don't talk over each other, which they usually do, but the distance difference sounds a little odd, unless you have a busy soundscape where the background disguises the difference.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

Hey,
I was curious about the proper workflow when using a lavalier mic during a wide master shot. Can a dialogue scene be achieved with only one lavalier?

Example: hook up the lavalier on one actor and record their lines, and then a second take with the lavalier on the other actor. Or is the mic able to pick up good audio from both actors if its attached to only one of the actors the entire time and done in one take.

I was looking to get a budget Rode smartLav plus since it seems to do a decent job for a very decent price.

If you only have one mic, then yes you would do best to do at least 2 shots. With a wide master, and not being able to see the actor's lips 'clearly', it may be easier to splice and dice different takes from the two shots to get the best voice performance. There's also ADR or 'location recording' which doesn't involve the camera.

And yes depending on the distance between the actors and the one who is wearing the lav, you will get the voice of the other actor picked up. This means that the actors need to deliver their lines cleanly, otherwise the actors will step on each other's lines. The voice of the non-laved actor usually has a 'distance from the mic' effect which does not lend well to matching up with the clearer voice of the actor who is wearing the lav.

 

[IronFilm]

If you're stuck with a wide shot showing both actors clearly and only one lav, you could try hiding a mic between them that is close at hand.