Film is an audio-visual medium, and yet many people focus almost exclusively on the visual side of things. When filmmakers fail to consider their sound, they often hurt their projects far more than they realize.
The fact of the matter is that most viewers won’t necessarily notice great sound work, but they will ALWAYS notice bad sound work. Even if it’s subconscious, nothing makes a project seem amateurish more quickly than shoddy sound .
So while sound design is probably not why you became interested in film, it still remains a vital component during all stages of filmmaking: pre-production, production, and post-production.
Pre-Production Audio#
Even at the script stage, you’ll see suggestions made for audio with lines like “The truck RUMBLES down the road” or “THUD! They all turn to see the body has fallen.” Even from, this early stage, sound cues are being used to tell the story.
And then of course, there’s the most crucial sound of all: Dialogue.
Screenwriters don’t add a parenthetical saying (legibly heard) to every instance of dialogue, because the assumption is that if a character says something, the audience should be able to hear it. Unfortunately for sound designers everywhere, recording clear audio is easier said than done.
And it all starts with picking out your equipment.
Choosing a Microphone#
While your camera may be able to record audio itself, these microphones are small, stuck inside the camera, and camera designers—like many budding filmmakers—tend to view audio as an afterthought. So it probably makes sense for you to get some kind of external microphone.
Now, the questions you must answer are:
What kind of microphone do you need?
And how many?
Shotgun Microphones#
When you imagine a microphone on a film set, you’re probably conjuring up images of a person holding a long pole with an oblong microphone at the end (perhaps one covered in fur). They hold this microphone up in the air so it hovers just over the actors’ heads while they say their lines. What you’re thinking of is a boom mic.
A boom mic is a subcategory of the shotgun microphone. A shotgun mic is a directional microphone, so called because it only records the sound of whatever it’s pointing towards. When a shotgun mic is placed at the end of a boom pool, the boom operator can stand just outside of frame and follow an actor around while they speak, keeping the mic aimed somewhere between their sternum and their mouth.
However, on a DIY set, it’s not uncommon to put a shotgun mic directly on top of the camera (especially when using a DSLR). While the sound quality won’t be as consistent as with a boom mic, it should still work fairly well since the microphone will capture the audio of whatever the camera if filming.
As mentioned above, shotgun mics tend to be put inside a furry cover. These windshields, which minimize any wind noise in the recording, are absolutely essential when shooting outside. On set, you may hear the windshield referred to by its somewhat macabre nickname: the “dead cat.”
When to use: You should definitely use a shotgun microphone whenever you have someone who is willing and able to perform the role of boom operator. However, even without a boom operator, placing a shotgun mic on your camera is much better than nothing, particularly if your scene involves a lot of actor movement or minimal dialogue.
Lavaliers#
While the boom mic is what comes into your head when you imagine a film set, a lavalier (often shortened to “lav”) is what you probably picture when you imagine an interview. These tiny microphones are attached to the speaker near their chest, usually with a thin wire running down to a microphone pack either clipped to their belt or in their back pocket.
While a shotgun microphone can be turned to capture the audio of different speakers, a lavalier is really only good for capturing audio from the person it is attached to. Therefore, if you have multiple people speaking on camera, you’ll need multiple lavs.
In addition, unlike a shotgun microphone, a lavalier is what’s called an omnidirectional microphone. This means that it will record sound coming from all directions rather than only where it’s pointed.
Now, this type of microphone make senses in an interview setting where the viewer won’t be off-put by seeing someone wearing a wire, but it’s necessary to be a little more sneaky when it comes to using lavs in your narrative films which often means hiding the mics underneath actors’ clothing. It’s not uncommon to have a lav hidden under a shirt color, a jacket, or even taped directly to an actor’s skin. Remember, the direction of the mic doesn’t matter, you just need proximity to the mouth and diaphragm.
When to use: For starters, lavs are definitely worth seeking out if you’re going to be conducting a lot of sit-down interviews. However, they also might be worth considering if you’re shooting a dialogue scene in your film in which the actors don’t move too much. A walk across the room will be fine, but if your actor is expected to run across the room and dive through the window, their microphone pack may prove to be an unwieldy nuisance
Also, if possible, it’s great to use both a lav and a boom for your dialogue scenes. The boom can aim to capture the clearest sound possible, but if the operator misses a line, you’ll always have the lav audio as a backup.
Do I Need an Audio Recorder?#
Sometimes your microphone can plug directly into your camera, but depending on what camera you’re using or even just for mobility, it may prove wise to purchase a separate audio recorder to plug your mic into. This way, the microphone operator isn’t tethered to the camera and can more easily monitor recording levels. The only downside is that if you record your image and sound to different places, you’ll need to sync them together in post (more on that below!)
Location Scouting#
When location scouting, attention is often paid to the aesthetics of a location, as well as whether there will be enough space for the blocking of the camera and actors. However, audio considerations are too often neglected. That’s why, if you have a designated sound designer, make sure to bring them along on any location scouts. If the shooting location is near a busy street, on a playground full of children, or even in a building where you can’t turn the AC off, you can end up with unclear or even unusable audio. If sound is crucial to your scene, make sure to pick a location where you’ll be able to hear the sound.