Do Audio for News and Documentaries
Audio is critical for non fiction television programming. If your viewers have to strain to understand what is being said or portrayed, you'll lose them. Keep these pointers in mind:
Instructions
1. First get the microphone close. Ambience is great for atmosphere, but news is frequently done under demanding circumstances. Simply getting the mic closer to the mouth of your interview subject will increase the clarity of what she is saying.
2. Don't be afraid of using auto levels. Yes, you will clip peaks and the sound is unnatural with a compressor / limiter. This feature should never be used when taping music because it plays havoc with a piece's dynamic range, but the auto switch on your levels gives you one less thing to think about if you're moving quickly.
3. Monitor with head phones whenever possible. If you have the luxury of setting your camera on a tripod during your shoot slip on a pair of cans to listen to what you're taping. Most professional camcorders also have a confidence head so you can monitor what is actually being recorded on the tape. When doing hand held shooting with a BVW 400A one day, I saw the record light go on and record levels register in the view finder but it wasn't until I put the camera on sticks that I noticed that the time code wasn't advancing. By switching my audio to the confidence head I suddenly realized that I wasn't recording at all. Reloading the tape solved that problem.
4. If full size headsets are impractical, even a simple set of ear buds can help you verify that you're getting clear audio. If you're doing hand held, pro camcorders have a speaker built in to the body next to your ear. Be sure that the level control is up high enough to hear it.
5. Use the microphone to control the conversation. We've also seen the classic stand up on television where a reporter holds a mic with a station flag to introduce a story. One advantage of using a hand held mic is that you can use where it's pointed to control the conversation you're getting on tape. You can cut people off, prompt them for a new response, favor your question in a group or more. Remember not to move your hand on the surface of the mic itself or the noise will be picked up on the tape.
6. Never shoot MOS. MOS, comes from the early days of Hollywood when German directors would sometime shoot a scene Mit Out Sound. Even if you are just shooing b roll for editing, keep recording audio. You might not used it in the final edit, but it's better to have it than not.
7. If you're shooting news, you'll inevitably find a time when you have to cover a press conference where the audio is pumped into a mixing board. Never rely on room audio as your source. Find a way to tap into the board with an XLR cable feeding into your camera and be sure to ask the house audio mixer whether you are getting line or mic level output. Sometimes you can't get close enough to the board for a cable run. When I shoot news, I carry a two piece hand held radio mic. The base is the transmitter. It can be readily detached and plugged into a board from across a room. During some conferences, you won't have the benefit of a board. I always carry a little mic tripod on which to put my radio mic. I was shooting a press conference with the Los Angeles City Controller a couple of months ago with reporters from at least eight other radio and television stations. At least two had no way to prop up their mics.
8. Finally don't rely on a radio mic alone. Make sure you have a hard wire connection as a back up. We live in a world of massive radio interference. Sometimes the best of radio mics simply don't work. Your only option is the faithful XLR cable.
Tags: hand held, Audio News, Audio News Documentaries, confidence head, control conversation, doing hand