What do you call this equipment?

[HeyAndy]

In this behind the scenes video, I noticed the guy at 0.47 is using mobile audio recording (not connected to camera).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svqzA6lo3ww

What do you call this kind of equipment and how does it differ from regular sound recording (sound recorded directly to a camera)?

Thanks

 

[Petros Kolyvas]

That's a "shotgun microphone" on a "boom pole."

Wikipedia has a very basic intro: Production Sound Mixer

Usually there's a mixer and recorder (or at least a recorder in this case) in the bag he has over the shoulder.

 

[Richard Crowley]

This is called "double-system" sound recording. Where the primary sound track is recorded on a separate device. It has been the tradition since the first "talkie" films like 100 years ago. Only in recent times have we been using equipment (some film cameras and most video cameras) that can record their own sound. Note that most high-end film and video productions use double-system sound recording. And low-budget shooting with DSLRs, etc. also use double-system sound because the audio system of most video cameras is not that great at best.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-system_recording

 

[HeyAndy]

This is called "double-system" sound recording. Where the primary sound track is recorded on a separate device. It has been the tradition since the first "talkie" films like 100 years ago. Only in recent times have we been using equipment (some film cameras and most video cameras) that can record their own sound. Note that most high-end film and video productions use double-system sound recording. And low-budget shooting with DSLRs, etc. also use double-system sound because the audio system of most video cameras is not that great at best.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-system_recording

So does this make the audio system in video cameras redundant? Theres no point in using the audio system when recording sound with a double system?

 

[Alex H.]

So does this make the audio system in video cameras redundant? Theres no point in using the audio system when recording sound with a double system?

That depends on two things: your camera, and how you set things up.

If the camera has good/high-quality audio recording, it could be redundant if you decide to record audio both to camera and an external recorder. But redundancy isn't a bad thing at all.

If the camera has poor audio quality, no/cheap external audio inputs, non-defeatable AGC, etc., then second-system audio is a must.

So why would you ever need/want to use double-system sound if your camera seems perfectly capable? Well, for one, audio in a camera is almost always an afterthought. It might not have the best pre-amps, even if the camera has XLR inputs. It may have higher self-noise.

Also, a sound mixer who is equipped with choice gear is running with a system designed to record nothing but audio, and to do it as well as possible. So even if the audio from the camera is "usable," it may be better still from the external recorder.

Last, recording separately from the camera gives the mixer a lot more flexibility since s/he is not tethered to the camera.

 

[gpforet]

To add to what's been said, we always roll on-camera sound as well to use for sync later.