Young filmmaker seeking sound advice

[hmmmrecords]

I'm a high school student planning to make a documentary about the misfortunes of our U.S. high school system and was wondering if I could get some advice about sound recording. I have experience in music recording but have never really adventured much in my recording of sound for my films. But I'm thinking I should probably put some thought into this time if I want anyone to care about my film's point.

I don't have much money to spend on equipment, and realize that I'm not looking at amazing audio quality here. I have a DVX100b and thats the extent of my equipment right now. I was originally planning to just hook up some mics into that, but reading around I'm starting to wonder if thats really a great idea.

I guess specifically what I'm asking is what would be the best way to record audio for my documentary? What kind of mics and what should I have them be recording into?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! General low-budget documentary tips would be nice too...

 

[troypod]

sennheiser evolution lav's do the trick, you can get them for under $500, and they'll last you a long time.
not reccomended, but if it's a controlled interview situation, pick up a shure SM58 (around $50) and place it in a mic stand just out of frame. that'll help the audio alot, and that mic will last you forever.

 

[Ernest_Acosta]

If its interviews you will be doing. You can use a regular vocal mike like the Sure SM98 (about $95 for a new one or you can ebay-it). Hook it up to the XLR connections in your 100b via an XLR cord and you are good to go. You may want to invest in a better on-camera microphone for more run-and-gun shooting. If you have a controlled area and its not just a one-on-one interview, then investing in a boom mic is a good option. Wireless microphones are costly (well at least the good ones). You may also want to consider renting, but if you purchase a good on-camera mic and use two microphones to conduct an interview (news reporter style) then you will be okay. If you don't want the audience to see the microphone then a boom is the next best thing. I have the Sennheiser 416 ($350 on ebay), but there are very good microphones such as the Audio Technica AT897. I think its about $250. You will need a shock mount and a boom arm. You can get a lost cost shock mount (around $60.00-$90.00) and mount it on a painters pole (Home Depot $29 bucks!). That is the poorman's boom pole setup. Regular boom poles run from $300-$900 depending on the material (i.e., aluminum or carbon fibre). Set your levels just to kiss the red and also record one level two or three notches lower than the other. This will help you if your signal is too high and get distorted, then you resort to the channel which had the lower level. Good luck!

 

[MattC]

The very first thing I would do is to start networking. You won't believe how much advice/service you can get for free if you just ask. I was able to work on two "real" movies and you can't believe how much of that goes on in large budget productions. So if it's good enough for prime time...

Does your school have a good A/V department headed up by a faculty member who knows his stuff? Bring him on board. Start contacting some postproduction houses in your area. Tell them your a young documentary filmmaker and ask if you can come in and see them. When you go it, have a mini pitch kit with you. This should have nicely printed copies of your treatment, maybe some story boards, may a one or two page synopsis of your research and maybe a DVD or a sample of your work on laptop. Go in and talk to them all about what you want to do, show them your vision, get them to care or at least demonstrate that YOU care. You won't have to tell them your poor, they'll know.... Ask them the same advice your asking us. The reason you want to ask folks like them, instead of us here on a board, is because they can actually help you. Don't get me wrong, the board is great, you might even meet someone here from Portland who will lend a hand, but you want to involve people who will try to make your dream come true. After all isn't that most of what movie making is - getting a group of people to share a dream and then make it come true?

So you start asking them advice. You ask them how much they would charge to mix your film, maybe they'll have a discounted rate for you, maybe they'll do it for free, maybe they'll know some young guy coming up who would do it for his real. Maybe if you clean the place for them once a week after school, they'll do it for you. You don't know what will come of, neither do I, but you'll never know if you don't ask. And I've found, more often then not, if you ask in the right way, you will receive something.

There is a reason I suggested doing this first. Depending on what tools you have available in post, you might be able to get away with different approaches in audio capture. Also, these guys might be able to help out. They may have an old shotgun or lav sitting around that you could borrow or buy cheaper than new.

Keep posting here, you should increase your knowledge and this board is great for that. Just realize that with a little effort on your part, you might actually get those amazing results you think are currently out of your reach.

Best of luck to you!!!

Matt

 

[Alex DePew]

That's great advice Matt is giving out. You also might want to check to see if there are any grants or programs to help high school filmmakers. I think Target has a program like that. Google it and see what comes up.