i stumbled across this nice stereo input unidirectional shotgun mic by Audio-Technica. in case u havent seen it, its a good deal for those looking for a first mic. it includes the cam mount, pistol grip, foam windscreen, and plug adapter. its got a bunch of different distance modes, too

its only $70 at musiciansfriend.com

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_id/112249

Just Thought id let you guys Know. :)

Thanks for posting the link. This is the boom mic that I work with and it works really good. I'm trying to find a better windscreen for it.(one with little hairs on it to "catch" the wind) Have any links to where I might find one? :)

Sounds cool, I would need a mic like that, but I need it to be XLR, can anyone suggest a shotgun?

How much do you have to spend?

The AT897 is a great mic for the price... :)

How much do you have to spend?

The AT897 is a great mic for the price... :)

Sweet that's in my budget. I'll look into it. Here's the link just incase anyone wants to check into it.
At897 ShotGUn MIc (http://www.equipmentemporium.com/new_at897_shotgun.htm)

I dont know anything about sound. I was reading about how shotgun and boom mics pick up everything one at a time.. its not like a standard mic that pics everything up fore and background.

is this true? do you have to layer every sound together. how does this work. It said something about if you dont set the right bandwith that it just sounds like static and clicks and crackles with some muffled noise.

is there a simpler way to get rid of background noise without booms or wireless mics?

Mr Goldfish :)

Shotgun mics (often used on a boom) are indeed directional mics. They pick up sound in a very narrow angle from the mic. This doesn't mean you will necessarily get only the sound you are looking for. If the mic isn't utilized correctly you can get some strange sounding/useless stuff.

The idea is to capture the cleanest dialogue possible with these mics as they have the potential to single out individual voices from the mess of background. This dialogue is then combined in post production with sound effects (such as footsteps etc) and usually some (stereo) background sound that was recorded before the shoot. So you get all the sounds you need but you can tweak each individually giving you much more control.

I don't think I have ever heard of the click, pop sound thing. Sorry. Sound isn't my specialty.

A boom mic is really the only way to get clean dialogue. You can get some good stuff with wireless lavs but these are often "omnidirectional" so they will also pick up any other sounds that are close to the mic. The boom method is pretty much the standard.

You can, of course, record dialogue separately after the shoot. This is called ADR. It can be a pain though as you have to perfectly sync the sound to the image.

So your best bet: use a boom mic :)

Yes I agree with Shaw boom mic is the way to go. The cheaper booms do pick up alot crap around, but there's soom decent ones that directional to what you want to hear. I would neve never go with Lavs, because you have to hide the mic in there short or whatever there wearing and you get the scrathy noise. So like Shaw said Boom is the way to go , and it is the industry standard. And If you realy want clean audio do it the ADR way but also like Shaw said it's just a pain in the butt.

What if you're working alone but want boom sound. LOL.. is there some kind of portable rig you can create.. somehow mount the mic on the camera itself and still zoom into audio you want and help filter out surrounding noises?

Actually have you ever heard of C-Stands there great. I use that to hold the boom, because even when somebody hols the pole boom you could hear rubbing of the hands. So I use C-Stands. If you don't know there just metal stands stands that reach out pretty far.

thanks Vegas.. hey hows the show coming along? You said UBN ?

No problem King, it's getting there, I still need more submissions in the can. So hopefully people send me some more shorts so i can get this show on the road. It will be on UPN.

I hope your show takes off, Mr VegasTV :cool:

How could it not, with free submissions to a real network affiliate?

Maybe some of the IndieTalk Online Original Film Competition submissions (due next week) will be worthy of television exposure. http://www.stevenrichards.com/images/smiley_creepy.gif

I use the Azden SGM-1x shotgun, although it doesn't have much of a directional pickup pattern. . . but it's a shotgun. I use it a lot and it's been GREAT!

http://www.azdencorp.com/shotgun.html

It has a nice sound. It's XLR too.. . . and is built for field recording, even though I've used it for studio use too. . . hehe.

Thanks Zen much appreciated:)

Vegas.. can you record it and maybe break the show into 5 or 10 minute clips so we can see how it looks on TV?

i dont know if thats a legal issue but its not like anyone is gonna sell it.

Would be neat if I could get a copy.. especially if I make a film. also.. do you bleep out curse words?