By Chance Shirley
June 10, 2004
Part Ten: Bringing Home the Noise
There's a book, called FEATURE FILMMAKING AT USED-CAR PRICES, where the author, Rick Schmidt, goes into a good bit of detail explaining how to get a feature-length movie put together for less than 12,000 dollars. I've never seen any of Schmidt's movies, but I get the feeling he's a good producer -- or a frugal one, at least. He saves money almost everywhere: he keeps shooting ratios low, keeps the production schedule short, shoots black and white, and writes his films around three or four characters in one or two locations.
So I was a little surprised when his basic advice on field/production audio was "Pay a professional to handle it." Wait a minute. I'm supposed to shoot the movie myself, light it myself, make everybody work for free, then pay somebody to hold a mic and press "record" on the tape recorder? I wasn't buying it.
Until I actually started shooting my own feature. I now agree with Mr. Schmidt. If I ever make another feature, I will find a good soundman for the shoot before I hire one other crewmember or cast a single role. Heck, I might hire a soundman before I even write the script.
Not to say we didn't have any good soundmen on this shoot. Kenn McCracken and Jeremy Burns both did a fine job with our field sound when they were available. When they weren't, we took a "whoever has a free hand does sound" approach. Better than nothing, but pretty inconsistent.
Since I did deal with a lot of the field sound issues myself (I'll probably continue to deal with them until the final cut is done), I thought I should let you guys know what I learned from the experience. In case you, too, are ever unfortunate enough to find yourself working on a shoot with no sound guy.
Planning Ahead
I'm a big fan of PROJECT GREENLIGHT (formerly on HBO, coming soon to Bravo), the show where Miramax gives an amateur director a 1,000,000 dollar budget to make a movie. It's the only "reality" television programming I watch.
Early in the first season, the first-time director, Pete Jones, and his crew found a great-looking shooting location underneath the tracks of an elevated train. The only problem... it was underneath the tracks of an elevated train. Which means that the actors couldn't make it through more than a few lines of dialogue before a train rolled by overhead, drowning them out.
I should have mentioned this back in the "Location" column, but it's a good idea to take sound into account when scouting places to shoot (like it's not hard enough finding appropriate-looking and affordable locations).
On HIDE AND CREEP, we didn't have any train problems, but one location was, in hindsight, too close to the interstate. Also, one day when we were shooting in the middle of nowhere (near Prattville, Alabama), some noisy airplanes kept circling. There were, of course, no planes when we scouted the location.
Equipment
These days, if you shoot on film and are recording dialogue on set, you'll be doing two-system sound. "Two-system" refers to the use of separate machines to record sound and picture. The audio recorder can be anything from an old Nagra analog tape machine to a MiniDisc recorder to professional DAT and hard disk recorders -- anything that will record sound and play it back at exactly the same speed each time (which means you shouldn't use a Walkman cassette recorder). For HIDE AND CREEP, we're using a Tascam DA-P1 DAT machine.
Some people run two-system sound even if they're shooting on video. Most video cameras have some way to record sound. The sound quality, however, can vary greatly from model to model. I'd recommend doing some sound tests on any camera before committing to shooting a sync-sound feature with it.
Other than a recorder, you'll need at least one microphone. For movies, a "shotgun" mic is usually the main mic. These mics are very directional -- they pick up what they're pointed at, so you get more of the sound you're recording (usually dialogue) and less surrounding noise. Shotgun microphones are usually deployed on a "boom" pole (basically just a long stick that helps the soundman put the mic where he wants it).
In addition to a shotgun mic, lavaliers are sometimes used for movies. Lavaliers are the small mics that clip to a person's shirt and are often used by talk show hosts and news anchors. The disadvantages to lavaliers is that you have to hide them, they can be noisy if the actor isn't being still, and they only pick up one actor at a time. Usually lavaliers are used not as the main mics for a scene, but as supplements to a shotgun mic.
Depending on your specific situation, you might want to rent a recorder and mics instead of buying. Here in Birmingham, the Imagination Factory has a good deal for indie filmmakers -- $15 a day for a microphone package, and $40 a day for a recorder and microphone package. Check around in your neighborhood and you might find a similarly good deal. If you need to buy, try Trew Audio and Equipment Emporium. Both have good prices, quality new and used equipment, and good customer service.
Keep Rolling...
It's tempting to turn off the audio recorder when you're doing scenes without dialogue, the idea being any non-dialogue sounds can easily be added to the movie in post-production. It's true that sounds can be added in post, but it's not necessarily easy.
Film might be expensive, but tape is cheap. So, whenever the camera is running, roll audio, even if you think you won't need it ("we'll have a bunch of music here") or won't get anything good ("all I can hear is highway traffic"). Best case, you will get something good. Worst case, you'll have some reference audio that will help out during post-production.
...Until the End of the Take.
I have so much audio from HIDE AND CREEP recorded between takes because someone (often me) forgot to stop the DAT machine after we called "cut." This isn't a terrible problem, but it does make finding a particular line of dialogue on our tapes that much more difficult.
Watch the Meters
Your audio recorder or camera should feature some kind of audio meter display. The meters are important because they indicate how much audio signal you're getting on tape. Odds are, if you're shooting a movie these days, your recorder or camera will be digital in nature. The rule of thumb when recording digital audio is to keep your average sound level at the -12 decibels (db) mark. Why is 0db not average? Unlike old analog gear, which can record audio past the 0db mark, digital has a 0db threshold. Meaning that if you send it a signal stronger than 0db, you'll get some nasty digital distortion.
The -12db average should be strong enough to capture quieter moments and still give you enough headroom to get the louder moments without distortion.
If you're lucky enough to get a rehearsal of the scene before the first take, it shouldn't be too hard to adjust your equipment and find the -12db average while the actors are practicing their lines (or doing whatever else it is you need to capture, audio-wise). If you don't get a run through, err on the side of caution.
Special note for Tascam DA-P1 users: the one thing that bugs me about this DAT machine is the built-in "limiter," which is supposed to keep the sound level from going past 0db. Unfortunately, the limiter can cause its own type of distortion. So, if you're using a DA-P1, find the limiter switch and make sure it's "off" before rolling.
Sample Rates
Many digital devices that record sound (including video cameras) offer the user multiple audio sample rates. Most DAT machines, for example, can record at 32kHz, 44.1 kHz, and 48 kHz. Some cameras can record at 32kHz and 48kHz. When it comes to these numbers, bigger is better, so you'll probably want to choose the highest available sample rate on your audio recording weapon of choice.
Where to Boom
When deciding where to put a shotgun mic, the usual method is to get it as close to the speaker as possible without it showing up on camera. For a close-up shot, you can probably get the mic a foot (maybe less) from the actor's mouth. However, for a very wide shot, the mic will be a good distance from the actor.
This inadvertently creates "camera perspective sound." On the close-ups, the dialogue captured from the close mic will be crisp and tight. For the wide shots, the dialogue will be a little muddier and more boomy. Though it's not ideal for all dialogue situations, it works well for many shots and sounds natural to the viewer.
If you need to get more of a close mic sound for a wide shot and don't have lavalier microphones, hiding the shotgun mic is an option. In a dining room, for example, you might be able to put the mic behind something on the table. I don't know, maybe there's a big candleholder or water pitcher or something. If you do hide the mic, don't forget you'll have to hide the cable, too.
Getting back to levels, if you're recording a conservation where everything is a nice, even -12db except for one or two loud lines, which are causing you to go past 0db, you might want to just pull the mic a little farther away from the actor for those lines. You'll have to practice to see exactly how far, of course. And you'll have to be careful when moving back to your first position that you don't go too far and put the mic somewhere the camera can see it.
Room Tone
Except for some specially-designed sound studios, every room has a "tone." Meaning that, even when it's quiet, it's not really totally quiet. It might be the buzzing of a fluorescent light or the downstairs neighbor's refrigerator, but something is making at least a little bit of noise.
It's not enough noise to be noticed when actors are talking (or even just walking around). But it's enough to notice when someone starts editing the movie and has to cover up something in the audio (a verbal cue from the director, for example). If the film editor just wipes out the sound, and the movie goes dead silent for a moment, it sounds strange.
To plan ahead for this, be sure to record some room tone at each location. Get everybody in the room to be perfectly quiet (that's the hard part) and record 30 seconds or so of... well, just the room. Sometimes, it's hard to tell even when listening to headphones that you're getting anything, but you are. Then, when the film editor needs to cover up something in the audio, he'll have this room tone to work with.
It goes without saying that outdoor locations also have a tone, whether it's freeway traffic (in the distance, I hope), or wind rustling through tree leaves. Maybe movie folks should start calling it "location tone."
Put a Sock on It
Speaking of outdoor locations, a windy day can wreak havoc on a shotgun mic. The air rushing over the mic often creates an undesirable rumbling sound. Pro sound guys use something called a zeppelin (a large outer casing for the mic) to fight wind noise.
If you don't have a zeppelin available, try covering the mic with a sock -- it can make a pretty decent zeppelin substitute. A clean sock is preferable, of course, since it will probably end up near an actor's face at some point.
Thanks to everybody who wrote in with comments on the Intermission column from a couple of weeks ago. Some folks turned me on to LIVING IN OBLIVION, which I finally got around to watching and quite enjoyed. I just got a letter today praising TERROR FIRMER, which I haven't seen yet. I believe Will Keenan, who was in the ALICE IN WONDERLAND movie I worked on last year, has a big role in TERROR FIRMER, so I definitely need to check that one out.
As for HIDE AND CREEP, the rough cut is finally complete. It's clocking in at 79 minutes, 24 seconds, which I feel pretty sure is long enough to be considered "feature-length" by most. I actually expect later cuts to be a little longer, after closing credits and a few extra shots are added.
There's still a lot of work to do, though. Sound design and mixing, music, and shooting those few extra shots I just mentioned. Still, getting a cut done, even a rough one, is another step toward really "finishing" the movie.
Since cutting is still on my mind, and I can't think of any other production issues to discuss (let me know if I missed anything), I should be back in two weeks to take a look at editing. Hope to see you then.
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