Sound is a vital part of the video making process, one that’s importance truly cannot be stressed enough for beginning film makers. It can be tempting to focus on the visual aspect of film first, and consider sound to be secondary and unimportant. However, sound is half the experience of a film. An intentionally designed and carried out sound scape is what will most times set apart a beginning filmmaker from a professional.
Luckily, there are a few quick and easy ways to get your audio to crisp perfection.
The first in this multi part series is the importance of preproduction. When you plan ahead, you can save endless amounts of time trying to correct for thin, rumbly, low-quality sound, coming out with much cleaner audio with much less effort and time wasted.
- Consider the genre you will be shooting. The genre often correlates with how much flexibility you have while recording. For example, if you are shooting a scene in the production studio, you have much more control in limiting background noise than if you are shooting an on-location documentary.
- Check out the necessary equipment. Prepare for the worst; you can never be too prepared. If you will be shooting outside, make sure to check out a dead cat (windscreen) just in case it gets windy. If you will be shooting dialogue in a public place, it may be smart to check out a microphone to direct the dialogue straight into the mic and avoid background noises.
- Choose and scout out your location wisely.
Try to choose a place where there is maximum control and minimal interruption. If you can eliminate the sound beforehand, you won’t have to suffer the labor and time of trying to correct in post-production. If you are going to film in a kitchen, consider whether or not you can unplug the refrigerator to stop the whirring. Same with fans, AC units, the hum of a laptop… it all gets picked up If you can, choose a location that is secluded from the public, or else somehow indicate that you are on a set and quiet is of the utmost importance. - Communicate and reserve your space. Trust me, it’s easier to ask people for a space in advance than it is to either ask folks to leave a public space in the middle of a shot or get shy and film even in the midst of their loud door slamming and laughter, which will certainly be picked up by your mic.
- Think about direction when designing your shots.Your mic records what is in front of it the loudest, so if someone’s yogurt is in the fridge and you know you won’t be able to unplug it, but you really want to shoot in the kitchen, plan to take the shot facing away from the whirring so as to minimize the distracting background noise.
- Plan constructed sound. Some spaces are going to be loud, and you’re still going to want to film there. That’s okay! In these cases, it is important to remember that film first and foremost is a construction.When you are in a sound proof space, record audio and foley sounds to overlay onto the video of the noisy location which you will scratch, and/or scout out appropriate sounds and music to use from a sound library.
Preproduction relieves stress during production and accounts for potential disruptions that may arise. In planning sound beforehand, you create space to focus more intently during production, setting the tone for the whole project and ensuring that your sound will enrich rather than detract from your story.