Octava-MK12 Question

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Denialorcoped

Well-known member
Just got my Octava mic; I'm directing a low-budget film and know close to nothing about audio.

I have a boom and and rycote baby ball gag with the mic, and I'm going to use phantom power from the camera.

For the interior scenes, should I just boom it with the bare mic, or should I leave the baby ball gag on always?
 
Depends on how hard the boom has to swing, or if there's any risk of air (fan, AC, etc.) blowing across it. For interiors, sometimes a simple foam wind screen can work just fine.

Be advised that the Oktava is going to challenge you outdoors, if that's the only mic you have.

It may be quite worth your while to invest in THIS DVD.
 
That looks like a good DVD. But with my budget I only have the Ovtavaka mic, ball gag, and boom pole to work with. Will the DVD help me out to achieve things with what I have?
 
A lot of what you need to know is in technique. Tools are tools... if the hands using them don't know how to use them to the best of their capabilities, the tools are useless no matter how good they are. The DVD covers both the tools and the techniques.

What you'll find outside is that the hypercardioid will "hear" more than a shotgun. That means, in order to maintain a strong dialog level in relation to ambient sounds, you're going to have to keep the mic a whole lot closer to the actors. It also means that you won't have as much rejection for background sounds as a shotgun would offer.
 
If you can get a decent mixing board, I would use the pre's from that instead. then output your dialog into the each channel of the camera. Having one channel louder than the other, just in case you clip.
 
Those training dvds do help a lot with learning basics of audio, and handling microphones on and off set. Look into the training dvds and you will learn something. You say the movie is fairly low-budget; when it comes down to it, people will understand that the quality isn't the best. Focus on directing. The audio will turn out and your film will be great. If worse comes to worse, you'll probably be able to tweak the audio in post.

KC Muro,
Studio Sound Design
http://studiosoundesign.com
 
I guess the question I would ask is, why one mic? Maybe get a $150 zoom for some extra channels. I would have a tough time, personally, with one mic.
 
Learning good mic techniques will go further towards improving your sound than spending tons of money on top shelf gear and not using it properly. Your Oktava placed close to the talent and aimed appropriately will sound better than a Senn. 416 held 4 ft from the talent and aimed off-axis.

The most important thing you can do right now is to make sure that are monitoring the mic with headphones during the shoot. If you have to, split the headphone feed but make sure that the boom op can listen to what the mic is doing. By monitoring the mic during the shoot, you'll learn very quickly ways of getting the most out of your mic. Practice and listen. Turn the mic off axis and notice the difference in pick-up. Move the mic closer then further away and notice the drastic change in level and tone. Listen, listen, listen. Trying to boom a shot without monitoring the mic is like trying to frame the camera shot without a viewfinder.

Denialorcoped said:
That looks like a good DVD. But with my budget I only have the Ovtavaka mic, ball gag, and boom pole to work with. Will the DVD help me out to achieve things with what I have?
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