Shotgun Mic

G

gbadgley

Active member
I'm thinking of doing some interviews while the talent is moving. I'm thinking of either the fig rig or a shoulder mount of some sort. But right now I'm trying to sort out the audio. I see a lot of pics on this site of various rigs with shotgun mics attached to their AF100. I assume this is because the internal mic is not the best quality? Well, |I have a shotgun mic but it has the wrong plug on it. It is a two pronged mini plug that came with the Canon Xl2. Is it possible to replace this plug with an XLR connector?

Thanks for the help!
 
Mounting a shotgun mic on camera is probably the worst place to mount the mic. When doing interviews with moving talent consider using a mic on a boom with boom op, and or a wireless lav, unless the audio is not really that important.
 
The camera would only be a few feet away from the talent. While the audio while very important it doesn't have to be studio quality(if that is the best way to describe it). I would like to try the shotgun if possible.
 
All depends on the Mic. you didn't say inside or outside. Inside I'd cover the back of the shotgun with dense foam ! Anyway, 4' minimum distance for usable audio
 
From memory the shotgun mic that came with the Canon XL2 was not really a gun mic. It was a very low quality stereo mic which is the equivalent of the built-in stereo mic on the AF100. When you say the camera would only be a few feet away from the talent, in reality how much is a few feet? 10', 5', or are you seriously going to shoot interviews from 3' away?
 
What the gig is exactly is a real estate video. I would like to shoot feature films, but right now, I thought I would earn a little bread by doing this! So, the realtor is moving through an expensive property, speaking at an enthusiastic, high energy level, talking about the wonderful features of the property. So he's moving quickly, and I'm framing him closeup either shouldermount, or fig rig. No awards here, I'm afraid.
 
OK, wireless lav mic would be my choice.

Also what's the most important point here, showing off the high energy realtor, or getting good shots of the property so it sells?
 
Sounds so simple, but can quickly become a nightmare. A moving target is going to pretty much demand a separate boom op or lav rig of some type, not to mention lighting, follow focus, dolly/slider setups and all that other fun stuff. Your best bet is probably narrating in post.
 
David W. Jones said:
OK, wireless lav mic would be my choice.

Also what's the most important point here, showing off the high energy realtor, or getting good shots of the property so it sells?
Click to expand...

The realtor does his act with lots of humour thrown in. But lots of great shots of the multi million dollar property too. This isn't award winning shooting, but the product is great for the marketing style that he has. Thanks for the input. I'll go with the lav.
 
I shoot a lot of motorsports and my subjects are always moving..BUT....not too much. I can normally get them to stay in a small space but the background noise is normally VERY intense. Lots of metal on metal sounds and low tones from other racecars etc. I use a Sennheiser MKH 8060 and was about 4ft away when we shot this short impromptu interview.

I agree with the others. If your subject moves out of the range of the mic your audio goes to hell fast.

https://vimeo.com/50037328
 
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