I'm shooting a feature on an EX1. What audio equipment? Any recording tips?

S

srbclarke

Hey guys,

So in a few months I'm going to be making my first feature. Its a car movie with lots of driving with engines revving, gun shots and a chainsaw. The movie will be mostly outdoor, but some indoor too. Does anyone have any tips or advice for sound in these shooting situations?

It's going to be shot on an EX1 (and two JVC HM100's for car mounts and stuff). The entire budget of the movie is AUS$50,000. The sound budget is $1500-$3000 depending on what is needed.

What I want to know is what audio equipment will be needed for the shoot.
For microphones, I'm looking at the RODE NTG-3 and the NT-3, is it wise to buy both? From what I've read they seem to be good quality and affordable.

I've been trying to figure out the whole field recorder and mixer thing. Is a field recorder necessary for the EX1, or is the audio in the camera good enough already?
In my price range is the only real benefit of a field recorder/mixer so the person doing sound will be separate from the camera?
Do people recommend a mixer to EX1, mixer to field recorder, or something like the Edirol R-44 that also has level controls? Or just mic to EX1?

Do I need 24bit recording, or is this kind of overkill?

Do people recommend the use of wireless lavs on narrative features?

Oh yeah, there isn't going to be an experienced sound guy on the shoot and I doubt we would ever be shooting with more than two channels.


Thanks!
 
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I'd say hire a sound guy with his own equipment and let him sort out all of that for you. It doesn't sound like your area of expertise so you probably don't want to be the one to make the call. I know this because I cut corners on my audio and had to rerecord the whole damn movie in post.

A freelance sound guy looking to make a name for himself should be willing to do the job for peanuts if he thinks its a good project that he'd like to have his name attached to.
 
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Here's a couple of no-brainers for you:

1. Record at 24 bit. Always.

2. Don't buy the NT-3. It's meant for a studio environment. Get the NT-5 instead along with the NTG-3.

3. Hire a professional. Sounds like you have a big budget for this and you don't want to risk bad sound.


Also,

Record as much as you can on set in terms of "in the clear" Dialogue lines, etc. etc. Also, record as many sound effects you can (like if there is a lunch break have the sound guy rev the engine of the cars and drive it around and record sound effects. Record all that you can with the chain saw and get custom effects doing actions that you'll need in post for sound effects. You can never "under-record" something.
 
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Here's a quote from Randy Thom which sums up how importantly filmmakers should regard sound:

"Sound shouldn’t be a decoration you add to an otherwise finished movie. It should have an influence on all the other crafts while there is still time for them to be affected by it."
 
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