Rode NTG-2 On Camera For Red Carpet Interviews?

S

Sheldon Charron

Well-known member
I did a Red Carpet event and tried a Rode Video Mic Pro with pretty poor results. There was a lot of background noise and music playing inside the bar with open doors just off the Red Carpet, and a lot of traffic noise, people milling around outside. I had it on +20 gain as recommended and plugged directly into the camera, and made sure it wasn't peaking. The host sounded okay in most cases but the guests who spoke quietly were tough to understand because there was such a huge amount of background noise being picked up by the mic. I was only maybe 6' away from them.

I have a Rode NTG-2, and planned to use that, but I thought it would be a little unwieldy and didn't have the proper XLR to mini pin adapter. Samy's wanta $35 for it, but I see BH has them for like $8 so I'm going to order one. Will this mic work for on camera use in interview situations? I know I should get a wireless mic but I don't want to sync sounds because the footage is needed immediately and I don't think I can run a receiver directly into the camera. Am I wrong? I'm also not big on using a wired mic since I would have to buy one just for this, and I'm not sure how good that would sound.

Advice anyone?
 
A new mic will not solve your problem. Get the mic off of the camera and into the hand of the interviewer. The interviewer needs to get the mic as close to the interviewee as possible; that will reduce a lot of the background noise.

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Avoid using any on camera mic for interviews, especially in a noisy environment from 6 feet away.

Using what you have, try having the host hold the VMP and run an extension cable to the camera. The NTG-2 would need to be boomed from overhead.

You can run a wireless mic into the camera, if the host can hold it. Maybe rent one, take the camera and get advice from the renters first.

Another option would be to try arranging for a quieter location just off to the side. Then you could rig a light or two.

Cheers.
 
I did a red carpet some months ago on the NFL Draft and rented a Sennheiser MD 42 (maybe a 46) for $20 in NYC. No wireless but they have it for that mike with a buttplug. You need something like that because it is quiet hand held and has the right pickup pattern. Our stuff came out great. Get the right mic. You'll be doing yourself a favor
 
Yes I agree as others have said and a hand held omni dynamic mic is de-facto for this type of application.

They are available from this price level: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...AT8004L_Handheld_Omnidirectional_Dynamic.html

thru the sennheiser MD42, beyer M58 and others from shure etc and ending with the top end best option this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=electro-voice+re50n/d-b&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ta

You could use the NTG2 but it will need to be put in one of these to cut down handling noise: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/577183-REG/Rode_PG_2_PG2_Pistol_Grip.html
 
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KarlSutton said:
For fun I went around & grabbed a bunch of sound bytes for this using my GH2 with the NTG-2 plugged straight into the camera (no monitoring)

I had the NTG-2 mounted to this http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...e_DUSM_1_DUSM_1_Universal_Shockmount_for.html to a L shaped camera bracket coming off of the GH2.
Click to expand...

Sure... you can use a camera-mounted mic and get sound bytes in some scenarios, but...

1) This example still shows an unpleasant level of background sound that the mic picked up, since it was pointed straight at the background. In the OP's scenario, there was a loud nightclub in the background. In yours, the background was already a bit tame (though still noticeably there with traffic and conversation).

2) Your dialog still sounds like it was recorded with a camera-mounted mic. This would be more helpful if there had also been either a boom or a handheld omni (or better, both) running in tandem, to give a clear illustration of how each one sounds different from the others. On-cam mic audio sounds a little more distant and tends to move on- and off-axis as the subject moves in front of the camera.

3) Not monitoring your sound is a recipe for disaster. Just because you got lucky on this one (and it still isn't the best dialog quality) doesn't mean that it won't screw you at some point, and it should not be taken as a justification for making it common practice.

I would be lying if I said I had never broken this rule myself. Yes, I have used an on-cam mic to grab sound bytes before in a pinch, but this is more passable in an ENG-style production (which would be where I've broken the rule).
 
TheDingo said:
Your mic has to be within 3 feet or less if you want to isolate your interview subject from the environment they are in.
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Actually, 6" to 18" is preferred for interviews. When doing narrative work you just get as close as you can without getting the mic into the frame.

Lets start with the Inverse Square Law. In very simple kindergarten terms... A sound twice as far away is one fourth as loud. A sound four times as far away in one sixteenth as loud. So a human voice that records with adequate volume at 18 inches (1.5 feet) has one sixteenth (1/16) the volume at six feet. Since your mic is currently camera mounted it is most probably NOT pointed directly at the mouth of the person speaking. Since it is not pointed directly at the mouth it is pointed at other noise sources, which now have greater volume than if the mic was pointed directly at the person speaking.

BTW, boom-ops attempt to aim at the notch at the base of the throat so that they can pick up some chest resonance. You'll notice that experienced interviewers also keep the mic low and in front of the interviewee so that they get some chest resonance, but as the location gets noisier they get closer to the mouth.
 
Alex H. said:
Sure... you can use a camera-mounted mic and get sound bytes in some scenarios, but...

1) This example still shows an unpleasant level of background sound that the mic picked up, since it was pointed straight at the background. In the OP's scenario, there was a loud nightclub in the background. In yours, the background was already a bit tame (though still noticeably there with traffic and conversation).

2) Your dialog still sounds like it was recorded with a camera-mounted mic. This would be more helpful if there had also been either a boom or a handheld omni (or better, both) running in tandem, to give a clear illustration of how each one sounds different from the others. On-cam mic audio sounds a little more distant and tends to move on- and off-axis as the subject moves in front of the camera.

3) Not monitoring your sound is a recipe for disaster. Just because you got lucky on this one (and it still isn't the best dialog quality) doesn't mean that it won't screw you at some point, and it should not be taken as a justification for making it common practice.

I would be lying if I said I had never broken this rule myself. Yes, I have used an on-cam mic to grab sound bytes before in a pinch, but this is more passable in an ENG-style production (which would be where I've broken the rule).
Click to expand...

I agree with all of this - just wanted the OP to hear what a NTG-2 sounded like.
 
KarlSutton said:
For fun I went around & grabbed a bunch of sound bytes for this
using my GH2 with the NTG-2 plugged straight into the camera (no monitoring)

I had the NTG-2 mounted to this http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...e_DUSM_1_DUSM_1_Universal_Shockmount_for.html to a L shaped camera bracket coming off of the GH2.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the responses guys, and Karl for uploading this for me to check out. I get that a handheld mic is best for interviews and perhaps a lav+ handheld mic, but I have to say that the audio in the sample by Karl is MUCH better than what I got with the Video Mic Pro. Since I have a NTG-2 and the shock mount already, I may just try that next time when I don't want to use a recorder and until I decide to invest in a handheld mic. I shoot mostly narrative work, and very little ENG at the moment, so we'll see. Thanks guys.
 
Sheldon Charron said:
I was only maybe 6' away from them.
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You cannot buy ANY microphone that will do that (mounted on the camera) at 6 feet working distance for ANY amount of money. Completely unrealistic expectations.
If you were 18-24 inches (0.5m) away in a quieter environment, and with a more directional mic (like your NTG-2), you MIGHT be able to get away with a camera-mounted mic. You seem to have proved that by saying that the host sounded OK. We assume by "host", you mean the camera operator whose mouth was maybe 12 inches away.

didn't have the proper XLR to mini pin adapter. Samy's wanta $35 for it, but I see BH has them for like $8 so I'm going to order one.
Click to expand...

There is a wide variety of prices for simple cables and adapters. Higher price DOES NOT necessarily correlate with higher quality. And in this case "quality" refers to mechanical integrity, NOT "sound".
I know I should get a wireless mic but I don't want to sync sounds because the footage is needed immediately and I don't think I can run a receiver directly into the camera. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

Using wireless microphone (vs. wired) and syncing sound have nothing to do with each other. Now if you were recording sound on a SEPARATE recorder, THEN you would have to sync the sound (whether you were using wired or wireless).
Yes, you can plug the wireless receiver directly into any camera that has a mic input connector.
I'm also not big on using a wired mic since I would have to buy one just for this, and I'm not sure how good that would sound.
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A closer microphone (wired or wireless) will sound MUCH better than any mic that is too far away. You have proved this for yourself. A $10 microphone in the right place will sound better than a $10,000 mic that is too far away. You can buy a $10 hand-held microphone from Radio Shack that will sound 1000x better than anything you can mount on your camera.

 
Hi Richard.

Yes I meant using a Zoom H4n, which I already have. As for the Host, she was standing next to the guest, but she spoke clearly and loudly. It was her natural voice but she is quite a loud. The guests were not nearly as excited or articulate as she was. :) And yes I understand now. I also used the Video Mic Pro with a Fostex AR-4i and an iPhone. I was able to monitor the audio, but again, I found that the mic picked up WAY too much background noise. I'm taking the Mic back.

BTW, I looked at renting a wireless handheld and here in LA, they wanted $48 for the day, but I believe I would still need to run it to a recorder and sync sound. Thanks guys.
 
Granted, but I couldn't monitor sound, and I would probably still need a lav for the host to avoid losing audio during lively interaction between the host and guest.
 
The host passes the mic between herself/himself and the person being interviewed. Didn't you ever see on the field interviews after football or baseball games? Or a real red carpet interview?








Notice how the interviewers move the mic from their own mouth to within six (6) inches of the mouth of the person being interviewed.

And, BTW, if sound is not being monitored you are headed for a fall. How do you know if sound is actually being recorded? What if you have a bad cable and your sound if full of buzzes and Rice Krispies (snaps, crackles and pops). How will you hear if you have a bad hum?

I mean, come on, would you shoot visuals without looking through the view finder or at the video monitor?
 
Sheldon Charron said:
Granted, but I couldn't monitor sound, and I would probably still need a lav for the host to avoid losing audio during lively interaction between the host and guest.
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I give up. There seem to be an infinite pile of excuses why it won't work. None of them make sense with the information provided here.
 
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