Movie sound recording is one of the most important parts of your filmmaking process. Yet, as a filmmaker, your recording good audio is often the most overlooked aspect of making a movie.
Violate this rule, and you will find out the hard way that (assuming you don't have the budget for ADR) – You really cannot fix audio in post.
Movie Sound Recording
When I was staring out, I heard a bit of audio advice that I've been thinking about ever since.
“The eye forgives and the ear does not.”
This is why you need a movie sound recording strategy from day one. And one aspect of movie sound recording is coming up with a useful sound package. For the sake of this article, I thought I'd share my friend's ultra affordable and totally mobile shotgun boom pole, mic and recorder.
Since all of the equipment is battery powered, our audio guy was not burdened by a bunch of crazy cables. And we recorded a quick video to demonstrate – Check out the following video on movie sound recording.
Here's a brief overview of a simple field audio kit you can create for your film.
The following equipment was utilized in this set up.
- Rode VideoMic (affiliate link)
- Mono-pod (affiliate link)
- Zoom H1 Handy recorder (affiliate link)
Obviously this is a simple run-and-gun solution for indie movie sound recording. And to be completely frank, this type of setup can never replace a skilled sound guy with a full complement of recording and mixing gear. But if you are looking to gain experience or simply have some filmmaking fun, this audio recording kit gets you usable audio at a minimal cost.
Regardless of what equipment you choose, you must remember that movie sound recording is essential for high production value. And if you would like more tips like this, click here to grab your filmmaker checklist.
