im new to this and need some help on sound

[upup&away]

My friends and i are planning a film and are almost ready to experiment with the whole shooting process. the problem is i dont know how i should do the sound. my friend has external mics. should i plug it straight into the camera? what else should i do?

thanks,
up up & away

 

[2001 Productions]

There are, essentially, 2 methods of recording sound for a motion picture:

1. Single System, in which the sound and picture are recorded simultaneously on the same medium.

2. Double System, in which the sound and picture are recorded on separate media and synchronized in post.

If you're just shooting a small project on video with minimal crew, recording double system is unnecessarily complicated. As you say, just plug in an external mic and go for it.

Double system is used on pro shoots so the camera can operate relatively unencumbered, and so the camera op and sound recordist aren't in each other's way.