Recording 2 people

R

RobbieD

Active member
Should I go with a boom over top of them or get two lavs. What will be the better outcome for doing a short with a lot of speaking?

Also, when looking into lav kits I have not been able to find one with 2 mics. How do you record 2 people talking back and forth with only one lav?

Sorry probably a dumb questions but hey I'm a newbie and if there was a "newbie forum" I would post this in there.

Thanks all

Robbie D
 
Re: Recording 2 people

Booms sound more natural. The trick is finding someone to operate the boom who has a handle on how to do it. It's not rocket science, but a little experience helps. You can't really use a single lav for 2 people (that I know of).
 
Re: Recording 2 people

Thanks that's what I thought. So, I could do a 2 person shot with 2 lavs and that would be better than a boom...or should I stick with a boom? What is the best application for a shotgun then?
 
Re: Recording 2 people

Select your mic based on the enviornment. Shotgun mics generaly have better sound quality then lavs, and pick up less ambient noise. With shotguns again pick the length based on the enviornment, the longer the mic the more directional it becomes, also the more sensetive it becomes, for instance you wouldn't want to use a long shotgun mic when on a hard surface, for it will pick up the reverb from the hard floor, a short shotgun works better. Sometimes you can't use a boom (it would be in the shot) then go to a lav. The experience Jim was refering to is a boom pole operator that knows how to keep both people in the mic so that one of the people does not sound like they're off mic. Hope that helps!
 
Re: Recording 2 people

You can't have a lav kit with two mic's... you would need two kits. You can get a kit with two mics ie one lav one handheld but you can only use one or the other (lav or HH) . the reason for this is that both mics are tuned to the same freq and cannot share.
 
Re: Recording 2 people

I think I get it now! :)

Ok one question with regards to lavs. If you were shooting 2 people from accross the steet where they are talking while crossing and you can't use a boom and have to go with a lav. Who would wear this? The reason I ask is because won't one person's voice be louder than the others because the lav is closer to one because they are wearing it?
 
Re: Recording 2 people

You are correct. The person wearing the lav would be the dominant voice unless the two were standing six inches apart face to face. You could shoot the scene twice then mix the audio in post but that could present it's own problems if not done right. In situations where you can hide the cable I have used wired lavs on the second talent. That aproach is a budget thing cos you can't dish out the beans for a second wireless unit.
 
Re: Recording 2 people

In your street scenerio, use 2 wireless sets, one on each person. Only good way...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top