Microphone

[corey13]

I am making a short film on super 8 and I want to record sound and sync it up later in post. I was wanting to know, from the other people who do this, what kind of mic you use. It seems, all the mics I try out you have to be really close to the mic for it to pick up anything.

[rollemfilm]

i use an Audio-Technica AT835b. this is a short shotgun mic. it's a great mic for the price. around $250.00. compared to their better shotguns at $600-$800, and most all other brands of shotguns will be $600-$2,000. if you want to go real cheap, look for a mic from a super8 camera. you can also try a Shure sm57. this is not a shot gun, but the pattern is more directional, and they sound great for a dynamic mic. but you'll still have to stay fairly close. i think these run for around $90.00. the sm57 is a good back up mic to own anyway, so it won't be a waste of money.

[AlexGfromUK]

The mic you need will depend on what kind of sound you want to record. If you want to make a recording of ambient/atmospheric sound you will probably want to use a condensor, on the other hand if you want to record dialogue and exclude background noise then you will want to use a shotgun, (a mic with a very uni directional response). If you are shooting a scene where your sound boom would show up, then maybe you'd opt for a tie/clip on mike, these have the effect of exaggerating the depth of someones voice as they pick up a lot of sound directly from the throat.

[ulrichsd]

Hey, I'm glad someone brought up this topic...

The main actor in my movie is a minister's son, so I was planning on borrowing some of his church's equipment. They have a mixing board and some wireless mics, and when you listen to his father of the speakers (it is a big sanctuary) it picks up no audible feedback or wind noise. He pins the mic rather low on his shirt around the shirt pocket area. I imagine this would work better than a shotgun mic for what I'm doing because I'm shooting with the notoriously loud Canon 1014E and I would think that if I could keep the mics out of the camera view this might work???

I don't know how well this will work, but it is what I plan on trying.

Scott

[#Pedro]

The quality of recorded sound really depends mostly on the microphone and not so much on the recording technology. The best is always to bring the microphone as close as possible to the sound source. When using a shot gun, you can really get the sound source and eliminate the noise around. But the sound characteristic, due to the isolated sound source, becomes rather artificial. Therefore it?s neccessary to mix the shot gun sound with the signal of a all-directional microphone to get some enviromental noise, too. Outdoor recording is only possible with appropriated wind protection (foam). Best results you?ll get with a protection basket which bears the mic which is in an elastic support and foam around the basket. The shot gun must be directed exactly towards the sound source with phone control and a sound assistent. The gain should be always at max possible (0 dB) to avoid add. tape noise.
All-directional mics near the camera are impossible, as they record more camera noise than sound. This mikes should alway be near the speakers.
I like that compact stereo mikes more than the shot guns. They give a sound that is closer to natural and easyer to handle. I normaly place my walkman recorder with the stereo mike inside the szene. The sync track I record with a radio remote pulse generator, transmitter at the camera, receiver at the recorder. It?s better to transmit the sync track wireless than the sound track.
When there is no possibility to place the recorder with the mike into the szene, I use a Beaulieu shot gun mike, fixed to the camera bag, as distant as possible from the camera. This way it?s possible to get a rather noise-free sound, even without any assistance from a second person.
Pedro

[redrice]

pedro:

out of curiosity, what kind of stereo mikes do you use?

peter

[#Pedro]

Hi Peter,
It?s the STS171 from Sony I am using.
Pedro