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What you want
By this point you should have in
your possession a good set of pre-
production materials and an idea of
your location.Equipment
Decide how portable you need to be.
Will you be part of a bigger crew with
a production sound mixer, boom op-erator and assistant engineer? Or are
you a one wo(man) band? This will
help determine what gear to include
in your kit.
Test all your equipment and bring
spares along, whether they are
cables, wireless receivers, connectors,
batteries, backup recorders or spare
headphones. Try and get test levels
both before and when you arrive on
set. Checking levels is a good oppor-
tunity for a dry run before the actual
shoot. I will probably mention this
several more times over in the next
few sections.Good signal and levels
I assume that by now we are all re-
cording digitally in the fi eld and not
lugging around tape machines. The
cardinal rules, however, still apply
regardless of your recording medium:
You want to get your average level to
hover around -12 to -9 dBFS on your
mixer or camera’s meters. You can go
a little higher if the situation requires,
but these are generally good record-
ing levels because they provide a
good noise fl oor and dynamic range.
And beware: there is no coming back
from an overcooked signal that has
gone over 0 dBFS.A long time ago in a childhood not
quite so far away, I remember watch-
ing outtakes from “The Mummy
Returns,” with one particular scene
featuring the antagonist fl inging peo-
ple across the set. Except, in this case
an airplane very visibly and audibly
fl ies through the top of the shot. The
cast at this point loses it and starts
laughing. That forever etched itself in
my brain as an example of what you
don’t want in a shoot, even if it was a
chance occurrence.
From here on we will go over
some simple steps to help you
achieve a good level of accuracy in
your audio recording that does not
sacrifi ce quality, intelligibility or
cause undue distractions.AUDIO
We all know the maxim that the
best way to ruin good video is
with bad sound. Here are some
best practices to follow to con-
sistently capture good audio and
avoid potential problems.
by Blag IvanovHow to properly monitor audio
Be sure to test all of you equipment, including audio recorders, cables and mic, both at
home before the shoot and again once you’re on set. Checking levels is a good opportu-
nity for a dry run.390 C04 Audio .indd 60 9/24/19 2:31 PMVIDEOMAKER >>> NOVEMBER 2019 61
erator and assistant engineer? Or are
you a one wo(man) band? This will
help determine what gear to include
in your kit.
Test all your equipment and bring
spares along, whether they are
cables, wireless receivers, connectors,
batteries, backup recorders or spare
headphones. Try and get test levels
both before and when you arrive on
set. Checking levels is a good oppor-
tunity for a dry run before the actual
shoot. I will probably mention this
several more times over in the next
few sections.Good signal and levels
I assume that by now we are all re-
cording digitally in the field and not
lugging around tape machines. The
cardinal rules, however, still apply
regardless of your recording medium:
You want to get your average level to
hover around -12 to -9 dBFS on your
mixer or camera’s meters. You can go
a little higher if the situation requires,
but these are generally good record-
ing levels because they provide a
good noise floor and dynamic range.
And beware: there is no coming back
from an overcooked signal that has
gone over 0 dBFS.AUDIO
by Blag IvanovAUDIO NOVEMBER 2019
What you don’t want
This will include sounds and situations that you
don’t want to or cannot fully resolve during
post. The best policy, avoid them altogether.Equipment woes
Great take, bad cable is not your happy place!
The same goes for the following:- Dead batteries
- Wrong sample rates
- Bad microphone(s)
Test your equipment, regardless of quality.
It never hurts to know that something works
before you use it.
Plosives, sibilance and muddy audio
Pop filters and windsocks are great tools for
reducing both plosives and sibilance; the wind-
sock helps to lessen the impact of the higher
sibilance frequencies. If caught in a pinch, a
pencil taped to the front of a microphone can
server as an impromptu pop filter. Your choice
of microphone can be just as effective with
reducing sibilance, so pay attention to the fre-
quency response charts and learn your toolset.
Worst case, there are multiple de-esser plug-ins
out there and included with major digital audio
editing software.
Add to this that you generally want crisp and
unmuffled dialogue. Make sure that your target
sound is always on-axis. Shotgun microphones
have incredibly diminished off-axis pickup, and
other microphones will also color your sound if
used off-axis.Wind noise
Is moving or changing direction an option?
Always try and minimize your exposure to the
wind. You should hopefully be only having to
deal with moderate wind, unless the director is
trying to destroy the lead’s fancy hairdo.
Otherwise it’s all in the name: A windsock is
your first stop when absolutely having to con-
front wind noise.
Use your inventory. Will a lavalier micro-
phone be better shielded? If so, you should
considering using it.Background noise
and generally unwanted sounds
The reason I have brought up windsocks so
many times in the last three sections is because
they are physical high-cut filters. The alternative
is the low-cut filter option on most recordersPlacing a pop filter in front of your microphone helps prevent unwanted plo-
sives from making it into your recording. A pencil taped to the mic can have a
similar effect if you’re caught without a pop filter.and sound boards. These are are accepted start-
ing points when trying to get rid of rumbles and
hisses in the background.
Here is a list of sounds that you want to avoid:- Airplanes
- Car and traffic sounds
- Construction noise
- Clear and audible background conversations
- Interior noise or structural sounds
- Wind and rain
In certain cases you might want to run some
specific equalization to target certain sounds.
All’s fair in love and war, as long you don’t nega-
tively impact your target sound.
Equipment, signal flow and ambience
Assuming you already have an audio recorder
— you can refer to our sound recorder buyer’s
guide if not — the next step will be monitor-
ing. Closed-back head headphones are the best
starting point on account that they are low
leakage isolating headphones. AKG produces a
good entry with the K271 MKII that is equallyALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR,
AS LONG AS YOU DON’T NEGA-
TIVELY IMPACT YOUR TARGET
SOUND.390 C04 Audio .indd 61 9/24/19 2:31 PM