Sound and Image...desperate for help and on a rush!

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diogoueno

Member
I'm gonna go this September for my first project ever!! It's a feature documentary that's gonna be shot in South America...

I still have so many technical questions and quite a few equipments to buy...Money, of course, is running short...I have bought a DVX100A and a MacBook Pro with FCP Studio already...

My begginner question is...Is there THAT MUCH of a difference in using a good shotgun mic for a formal one-on-one interview, instead of using an average (under $800) wireless mic????? I mean, is it clearly heard the difference of quality between one another? If yes, how poorly will the shotgun mic sound??

Another thing...I haven't bought any lenses or filters...I'm expected to be doing a lot of shooting and a lot of that in extremely poor conditions (very hot/dry=lots of dust)...is there any protection filter I need?
I'm definitely expecting theatrical release (I mean, that's what i've been dreaming about lol...) how much will I miss a telephoto or wide-angle lens?
How good will my camera by itself produce reasonably good images if screened on a widescreen theater?

Is there any fairly good and inexpensive tripod I could find?

Any other technical tip, whatsoever? (Lol, I know I sound ridiculous, but I just can't help the anxiety that's making me lose nites of sleep...)

And thank you very much for your comments...
 
Audio: A wireless mic will give you very good "presence" without too much room ambience. Essential if you're not within four or five feet of your subject.

However, I've had good results with an AT-4051a mounted atop my camera with two people chatting about five feet away. This was on a boat with the 4-stroke outboard engine running just above idle.

I use an ATW-101 and a Countryman B3 mic. Performance is rock-solid although the diversity receiver is larger than most -- but then it performs as well as it does because it's a diversity receiver. I don't think I've had a dropout yet. Not at ranges of 50 feet or less, which is about as far as we need it to go.

Filters -- get a Tiffen or equivalent UV or similar filter to protect against dust. You might also want to invest in a cover to protect from the dust -- or the occasional rain squall.
 
Fisrt of all I think you should be in the DVX section.
A shotgun on your camera will only do if you know that your object is always in your sight within 1 or 2 meters. Otherwise it will sound poor. Mic the person with clip-on mic. I have the sennheiser wirelless system (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=324227&is=REG&addedTroughType=search) with Tram lavaliers http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=258079&is=REG&addedTroughType=search. Tram because it's easy to use under clothes. If it's a documentary it's nice to hide the clipmics much as possible. Use your camera mic as ambient sound. Put a windprotecter the camera's mic on it like one on a handmic for minimum wind.
I tried a couple of lens protecters but I don't like them. I always see it espacially when shooting into the sun. But if contitions are harsh, don't hesitate because e new lens is expensive. Tripod manfrotto bogen 525WV and head, manfrotto 503, good for a reasenable price.
The picture will look good on widesecreen? it depends on how your skills are. You can film on 35mm, but if you're not a skilled photographer it will look like ****. If you know what you're doing, probably 8mm will look good on widescreen theatre.
Hope this helps
 
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