new to video-why lavalier mics and not just a mic setup boom style-weddings

R

rocketman122

Active member
so obviously I am a newbie. pro stills photog, transitioning to the video world.

im not in the usa. I live to the right. in ceremonies here, we dont use lapel mics. the videographers connect with a recorder to the dj board and the officiant uses a mic and 2 large speakers on the sides.

so Im just curious to learn. but why lapel mics? why not use some recorder or shotgun mic overhead/close to G&B/preist officiant?
 
You could use both (and people do, even at the same time), but lavs are used/preferred for the better quality under the circumstances in that kind of environment, and you don't have to worry about the mic being in the shot.
 
Micing the groom with a lav is the preferred method. You can mic the officiant as backup or an alternative. Lavs are small unobtrusive and get close enough that you can get usable audio. Another good back up is a mic near the speakers if you can't plug into their system.
 
You can do it however you want to do it. It's encouraged to improve on the techniques in general use. But, as others have said, a boom mic will be in the shot. Typically, the best audio comes from the stick mic being used by the officiant to amplify his sound to the audience. I put lavalier mics on the officiant and groom as a backup in case something is wrong with the stick mic audio. I know people who strap a mic onto the stick mic itself. I forget the name of the unit they use. Trax something. And of course you can put a mic by the speakers, but I'm not a huge fan because it's not an ideal source and if anything goes wrong with the officiant's audio setup, the speaker recording probably won't be usable anyway. It's only useful if the sound error happens in the line of signal transmission of your cable connected to the mixing board or speaker. If I bother to expand my audio setup, it would probably be to get a Trax to strap on to the stick mic and use during both ceremony and toasts
 
It's hard to predict what will go wrong but easy to predict that something can go wrong. The worst thing is failing to get audio. Redundancy, backup mics, whatever you have should be used because that third mic, or the one in front of the speaker as Peter mentions can be the one that saves the day. Plugging into the DJ or house sound system is direct but no guarantee there won't be a wireless mic interruption or failure. Quite often, people aren't speaking into the mic.

Last night, father of the bride from Poland was giving the first after dinner toast. The guests who couldn't hear were imploring him to speak louder, directly into the mic, imploring the DJ to turn the mic on or up the gain. Nothing was working. Out of frustration, the father removes the wireless transmitter clipped to his belt, and along with the mic plops it onto the table and continues along with no mic or amplification. The only record of this speech will come from the ambiance of one of the camera mics if at all. It was a terrible DJ for many other reasons as well, and a bad photographer too. I was the backup videographer on this shoot, the lead had set up a pair of panel lights and a spotlight on the balcony shining on the dance floor. The DJ is bugging me to turn the lights off which the lead insisted he needed for good video, so he was more than annoyed. He turned off the spotlight though left the panel lights burning. Later the DJ was bugging me to turn off the panel lights which were not mine. I didn't want to touch them, and the lead had disappeared somewhere for 20-30 minutes. I just ignored the DJ and went about my own business. Later the lead returned, said his video (it was just open dancing by this time anyway) would be no good without the lights, so he packed up early and left. I stayed and kept shooting until the end, the decision to just enjoy the occasion, be a part of it, not worry about technical problems, but dance and shimmy on the floor with the others while shooting with the gimbal at the same time. As mentioned, the DJ got a scolding because he was not playing the bride's request list. The groom had a word with him, and as the evening neared its end played the requested polka which the couple and guests enjoyed immensely. I filmed this intimately, holding high overhead, being a part of it, just enjoying. Next thing I'm packing up to leave, the bride and groom come up to me thankful, and gave me a generous 2nd gratuity out of appreciation.

The photographer was not the worst, he was trying hard, but was sloppy in appearance with white shirt tail hanging out. My video lead was particularly annoyed and had pulled up the photog's web page on his cell phone and says look, he's charging $2k for this? The most egregious and probably only problem I had with him was the at the ceremony itself, he wanted to shoot the bride's procession up the aisle which is not unusual, but we usually take a knee and are off to the side a little bit, but he stood directly in front of the altar totally blocking my angle of the groom's reaction. I quickly did something I've never had to do before, I moved in with the gimbal *behind* the bridesmaids for an unobstructed view. Oh well, long evening, slept in late, enjoying coffee now.
 
Wedding videography is largely dealing with the type of problems Tom describes. This why its essential to plan/prepare ahead of time, react quickly and appropriately during the event, while keeping a good attitude. You can expect photographers and guests will block your shot and audio will have problems. This is why it's best to have multiple audio and video sources.
 
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A lot of sense here, but the upshot to success is people. A shotgun mic in the hands of somebody who can get it in close and aimed 100% accurately is a good tool. Sadly, too far away, vague or random aiming and unmanned spells disaster either totally, or right on the edge. Lavs give you immunity from head turning to a large degree, constant distance and of course, some room sound, just in case somebody makes a comment or somebody else speaks or makes a noise. They will get captured to some degree - but shotguns are designed to reduce sound from anywhere other than directly in front. Is this an advantage for you or a potential hinderance? In real TV we pay people with skills to run booms - most will have headphones so they can hear what the mic hears. Non TV shotgun use is often done really badly, and a shotgun used too far away is feeble and collects lots of sounds reflected from the areas behind the subject - which is often boxy and reflective in nature. In a one man band - the lav and radio pack is going to work better than an unmanned shotgun - when the best man takes a step to the left and stands up revealing him to be much taller than expected and the mic is pointing at his elbow!
 
I've done weddings since the 90s but like it less with time.
I use extra cameras and mics/recorders due to problems stated above. So much can go wrong and you might need those extra sources.

I put a lav mic on the groom with a Tascam DR-10, and a lav mic with Tascam DR-10 + wireless on the offiicient going to my monopod camera. If the DJ mic's them I also tap into the sound system so I could end up with 4 sources of audio. I also have a white Tascam DR-10 and lav mic for the bride but have never used it. I also have a Rode Go but haven't took the time to learn it yet.

I like corporate/commercial. Weddings may be seen as low end video by the corporate/commercial guys but they are challenging and have no re-takes so I think they are more difficult.
Best of all I like just shooting footage and turning it over with no post. :thumbsup:
 
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