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My short film sound

That's the last thread regarding my short film , I promise :P .

So I want to capture the best audio possible on set . I'm on a budget though .

I have someone to rent me something like the Zoom Z4N but I don't have any other mic or boom pole . My question is : Can I get a good audio only using z4n or this is just a device to record the audio , do I need a shotgun mic as well ?

Thanks .
 
The zoom on its own obviously won't give you as clean of an audio signal as another mic used in conjunction with it would, but yes it's doable and the audio would be okay, depending on how close you can get it to your subject.

You could always re-record the audio after you've done your edit. I know a guy who does that exclusively, he doesn't do any of the audio recording during production, just uses the on camera audio for reference, does his edit, and then records and mixes the audio.

This, for example.. my understanding is that all of the audio was done in post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkDqmzMgLWw
 
Is it possible to get good audio with the H4n alone? Yes. Will you get good audio using the H4n alone? The odds are very much against you. There are just too many issues to resolve. First, you have to get it in close, so mounting it on a boom-pole is your first problem. Then you really should aim just one of the mics at the actors. You will then have to split the stereo track into two mono tracks in post and delete the "dead" track.
 
I don't have any dialogue in my film .


The think is that I almost never use the sound I recorded on set ,since I use DSLR and it is absolutely horrible .


The thing is that for instance , my character wakes up in the morning .

We have moving sheet , we have the sound of .. whatever you do with your mouth when you wake up . After that we have her footsteps and so on and so on .

I want to record this in post probably but the thing is that I don't have any descent mic . I was thinking of renting Zoom z4n but it is quite expensive to rent for one day and since i've never used it I might not get anything out of it .

What do you think :( ?
 
If you have no dialog then you should get a mic to connect to your computer to record Foley and sound effects. Foley can be fairly "delicate" or quiet, so the noise from the substandard mics and mic pre-amps in the H4n would be noticeable, especially when you start layering sounds. It will also save you the hassle of re-syncing the sounds after you record them. You would have to get a decent mic, however. There are passable USB mics in the US$100 to US$200 range. Or, if you have access to a decent mic you can get a USB interface like the Blue Icicle, about US$50.
 
Thank you very much ! :)


My other kinda of a stupid question is .

I have a friend of mine who has recording studio . But he doesn't have shotgun mics and all that .


Can I record foley on the mics he uses to record musicians ? Or it is not going to work ?
 
Thank you very much ! :)


My other kinda of a stupid question is .

I have a friend of mine who has recording studio . But he doesn't have shotgun mics and all that .


Can I record foley on the mics he uses to record musicians ? Or it is not going to work ?

Absolutely. Finally something on this site I'm knowledgeable about! haha.

Yes, IF he has something like an isolation booth (or even a closet full of clothes will work) and a good condensor mic. Just make sure his XLR cables, compressors, and his interface are all in excellent shape to prevent any sort of grounding buzz. There will always be some, but if everything is in order, it won't be noticeable at all.

A vocal booth, for example, would be ideal for isolated foley work.
 
adobe sfx library is free
sounddogs is cheap
freesound.org cheaper yet (free)

doing your own Foley is fun, but you can get away with less...

my short film "The Hot Rod" used almost all canned sounds, with a few exceptions dealing with the hot rod itself, but even those are supported by sounds from one the above..

Some folks rave on the sound quality, I, and Im sure Alcove know how crappy it really is, but in comparison to where I started.. tons of improvement have been realized. For me that's what I'm after, incremental improvement in my skills..
 
guess I got lucky, my background is audio heavy. One of my film teachers let us use Hollywood Edge, she let us take what we wanted from it for our own personal sound libraries at home. Hollywood Edge Is NOT cheap by any means. great stuff but it's been used to death! what I would suggest, is that you fund a similar resource if you can't simply get your hands on HE and layer it with your own Foley recordings. patience is key!
like filming lightning, wait for thunderstorms, rain, whatever you need and capture. take that h4n and walk around and record stuff.
learn a DAW like cubase, Nuendo, studio one, adobe audition and learn EQ, compression and limiting.
 
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