How is this done? If you have 3 people watching and commenting over a lowered movie soundtrack, do they all wear headphones, or do you let the lowered movie audio bleed through their mics? The net effect I get from those I've seen is that it's a sort of freewheeling unedited thing happening in real time but I suspect that would be hard to pull off. And would you use lavs for this?
Recording a Director's Commentary Track
- Thread starter Sneakle
- Start date
Alan H. Chang
Veteran
I highly recommend headphones and separate mics for each individual. The movie would be played with the soundtrack being fed into their headphones along with their voices so that everyone is able to hear each other including the movie. All tracks are to be recorded separately for sweet post editing. Almost exactly as what they do at the radio stations.
My first director's commentary was disastrous, learn as you go.
My first director's commentary was disastrous, learn as you go.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
The one I recorded was in an upscale hotel room. They were all miced (two folks) and we would pause the video, though it was very low so it wasn't absolutly nec. since it was pretty inaudible on their mics.
If I were setting one up now I would use the commentator headsets mentioned above. The problem with headphones is they don't hear each other well enough. Depending on where your doing this and how big a set up your using you could use headphones and feed the voices back into the monitor system so they can hear each other. I was not caring that big a setup with me. I was recording on to a DA-88 (it was awhile ago) so each mic was going discrete to a track.
If I were setting one up now I would use the commentator headsets mentioned above. The problem with headphones is they don't hear each other well enough. Depending on where your doing this and how big a set up your using you could use headphones and feed the voices back into the monitor system so they can hear each other. I was not caring that big a setup with me. I was recording on to a DA-88 (it was awhile ago) so each mic was going discrete to a track.
I would have headphones and a mic for each person doing commentary. I would have the audio from the dvd playing into a mixer, along with all the microphones from each person doing commentary, and then just send everyone a stereo feed off the mixer. I would take the main outs and record that onto a stereo track on a recorder, along with discrete tracks for each person talking, and a separate stereo track for the movie audio. That way you have a ref track if someone just wants to hear everything, and you have the discrete tracks for post later. You'll probably want to run a "ducker" when you are doing your final mix down on the movie audio so when they talk the movie audio gets quiet and when they aren't talking the movie audio gets to normal level.
Allan Black
Veteran
A friend in Cal. chops up movies for the airlines, some of their requirements are ludicrous but time and budgets are it, and sometimes the airline version becomes the DVD version.
For the extra features on a DVD the budgets are tiny, you can tell by the surround audio mixes collapsed down to dreadful stereo, sometimes mono with the voice track buried in the mix.
The Directors commentary being one voice, the soundtrack is played via a speaker with a lav on the director fed to a separate track for post mixing.
If the DVD production budget is extra small, some are mixed on the spot with a compressor ducking the track when the director speaks.
3 voices and the track fed into each players headphones can be very confusing for the uninitiated and they get in each others way, and it takes time so post producers rarely try it. Getting 3 of the stars or crew together in post at the one time can be another problem.
Cheers.
For the extra features on a DVD the budgets are tiny, you can tell by the surround audio mixes collapsed down to dreadful stereo, sometimes mono with the voice track buried in the mix.
The Directors commentary being one voice, the soundtrack is played via a speaker with a lav on the director fed to a separate track for post mixing.
If the DVD production budget is extra small, some are mixed on the spot with a compressor ducking the track when the director speaks.
3 voices and the track fed into each players headphones can be very confusing for the uninitiated and they get in each others way, and it takes time so post producers rarely try it. Getting 3 of the stars or crew together in post at the one time can be another problem.
Cheers.
paulears
Veteran
It's amazingly similar to radio outside broadcasting - especially radio 4 and local radio. To get separation hypercardioids are good, Beyer 201s being my own favourite. Beyer DT100 or 150s for isolation, and nowadays for value for money a Behringer headphone distribution unit. For radio, it's also common to have a separate split for the no.1 presenter, or in this case, maybe the director - so a separate person can speak into his headset to keep the commentary focused. COuld be the video director/producer or an assistant, who can memory jog about the interesting facts and figures needed at certain points. Just being able to say "speedboat" will jog the key presenter to say, "was that the speedboat you sank, Jim?" Without this, you have to hope he remembers and doesn't get sidetracked. A small mixer with two pre-fade auxiliaries is all you need.