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Was it wrong to purchase a shotgun mic for Indy?

M

MelonDome

1.I purchased the Rhode NTG-2 some time back and I wanted to get your guys' opinion on something.

So far my subjects (actors) have been relatively close, allowing me to pick up good sound. I'm starting to feel that shotgun mics are made to cater to individuals. For example news reporters. And not for short films.

In the near future, if there is a conversation between 2 people sitting/standing across from one another, will I get the same consistent sound as appose to non shot-gun mics?

2. Another quick question I have. Should I put my XH-A1 volume to high when picking up sound? or Should I just leave it at medium?

Here is a drawing if you don't understand. Thanks in advance

shotgunmichelp.jpg
 
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Well, since two people don't talk at the same time, the boom-op has to move the mic. He has it positioned at an angle, and just turns the pole back and forth. You can use lavs too.
 
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indie would you say that the shotgun mics are standard mics in the indy and professional world when making films? Im just curious. For example, when filming the mob meeting scene in the dark knight. Did the boom op continuously move the mic from the joker to the other mobsters when they spoke?

Or did they place the mic right above 1 actor, 1 angle, shoot the entire scene, and reshoot with the same setup with the other speaking actors, and just mesh them together in editing?

Can't figure out how other people do it.
 
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For Dark Knight, and most every other film of that size, the majority of the audio you hear has been re-recorded in ADR sessions during post production... more often than not.

But, yes. The boom op continually moves the mic from one person to another throughout each shot. As to what kind of mic is used really depends on the shot. In a really wide shot where there's no way to get a shotgun close enough, wireless lav mics are probably a better option. Sometimes lavs and a boom used at the same time could be the best solution for a particular shot.

It all depends on what you're shooting, and you've got for gear (and people to run that gear).

If you're really curious about the ins and outs of doing good audio, you might want to pick up Producing Great Sound for Digital Video by Jay Rose
 
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MD...the answer is yes.

Basically when you're talking about a big budget film, they will do all of the above. Some shots they'll shoot just for a tight shot of one of the persons talking with a double sitting and reading the lines for the other person, and then do it again. That's why you'll see a lot of errors in simple scenes - sleeve up, sleeve down then back up again. Drink full, drink half, drink full again. And they have the opportunity to shoot the audio in a studio, and edit it in if they need to.

For a low budget, the fewer the takes the cheaper (notice how I didn't say better!). So a low budget may do a two camera set up, and shoot from wide and close up on the same take, or set up a two mic set up, with a shot gun at each person, or if possible, a boom operator will move the mic from one to the other. The problem with that is that if you have a scene with anything but decent pauses between the lines, the boom person has to be good and quick.

So as Will said, it depends on what you've got, and who you've got, and I'll add, what your script and set is like. For me, I like the two camera shot. I have one camera that I almost use exclusively for audio. I rarely even take the lens cap off of the thing. Part of the reason for that is the expense of a good audio deck!

Chris

P.S. Oh yeah, I wouldn't turn up the audio to high. I can't say for your camera (I've never used one) but most things start losing clarity when you crank it up, and you'll just have bad audio that you'll have to shoot over again anyway.
 
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The reason you use a boom operator rather than just hang the mic from
a stand is so the operator can move the mic from actor to actor. Even for
indie films. The audio people call this finding the sweet spot. Being a good
boom op is way more important and technical and creative than most
people think. People think this person just holds a mic above actors heads.

MelonDome said:
For example, when filming the mob meeting scene in the dark knight. Did the boom op continuously move the mic from the joker to the other mobsters when they spoke?

Or did they place the mic right above 1 actor, 1 angle, shoot the entire scene, and reshoot with the same setup with the other speaking actors, and just mesh them together in editing?
Click to expand...
Both.

The camera is set up for the angle on the Joker and the entire scene is shot.
The boom op continuously move the mic to the actor speaking. Then the
camera is moved to get an angle on the mobsters and the entire scene is
shot again. The boom op continuously move the mic to the actor speaking.
This is done over and over.

The director will get close ups of each actor doing the entire scene. Then get
two shots and over the shoulders shots and then wide shots and medium
shots and overhead shots. This is called coverage. The director will cover the
entire scene with many different angles - the actors doing the same scene
over and over and the boom op capturing it all.

And then the audio is just meshed together in editing.
 
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As rik says, an experienced boom-op is important, it's not just one of those "Hey can you hold the boom?" jobs. So rest assured you did make the correct purchase, now just find a good operator.
 
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