Production Sound Mixers, Boom Operators, Shotgun and Lavalier Microphones
Posted: Tuesday, June 15, 2010
by Sid Kali
Slice of Americana Films
I highly recommend hiring a production sound mixer (sound mixer) to deliver quality sound for your movie. They're responsible for recording clean dialogue and sound on set. A sound mixer decides what microphones to use and where to position them during scenes to capture clear audio.
During shooting their job is to record consistent sound, fix audio problems, monitor levels to keep them from spiking too high causing distortion or from dropping too low causing poor audio, create a sound report (audio details of each take) and other duties.
There are sound teams that work together on a regular basis. On an indie shoot it's usually a sound mixer with a boom operator. The sound mixer will work from a sound cart (wheeled cart where audio equipment sits). There are also sound mixers that work alone with portable gear that's carried on their person this allows them to act as their own boom microphone operator. A boom can technically be any microphone attached to a boom pole.
I've found that shotgun microphones function fantastic in this role. A shotgun microphone is directional microphone used in film and television. It picks up sound in the direction it's pointed. A boom microphone operator changes positions of the microphone during a take to capture the best audio.
If you can't hire a sound mixer that works alone or with a boom microphone operator then it's a good idea to rent or buy basic sound gear to record audio. I would get a quality shotgun microphone to attach to a boom pole and lavalier microphones (small microphones that can be hidden on an actor).
Prosumer video cameras are fitted with built in camera microphones that provide adequate sound for home videos, but won't provide the flexibility and overall quality needed for a movie shoot. Relying on the built in microphone of a camera to record sound for a movie is a mistake that will be regretted later with poor audio.
Plugging a quality external microphone directly into the camera to record movie sound at least cuts down on poor audio. Before deciding on external microphones check what audio jacks the camera has to accommodate an external microphones being plugged in. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing CUE MUSIC:
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