I want to shoot a feature, but want the best sound possible (which is usually the one thing i cant capture great in my films.) I am hoping to enter the film into festivals. my question is,what is the best way to capture sound? (id rather not have a seperate sound system and sync it up in post, too expensive. although if that is the best way i will see what prices are)

can i get a good shotgun mike and run a long cable into my camera and connect the mike to a boom pole? is there a way i can also connect a mixer to my camera?

i will most likely shoot on a dvx 100b.

i just want clean, consistant sonding sound. hoping someone can give me good ways of getting this without too much money.

thanks for any help

Everything you said is possible, and not too complicated.
1) Good shotgun mics are expensive ($300-700) A Sennheiser ME-67 is your best value for features, at about $350. It is very directional and filters out a most noise. Spend your money here, not on a
2) Mixer. You wont need one unless you want to record multiple tracks at the same time, which I wouldn't try to do. Record your dialogue in sync, then go back and re-record all your effects. make sure to record about a minute of room tone also. Then you can mix everything in post.
3) the biggest mistake people make when recording sound is getting too much. Watch your VU meter. You want to try to get as much green as you can ("full spectrum") without going into the yellow. Any sound recorded in the red will clipped and will sound really weird. If you want a loud sound record it at full spectrum than amp it up in post.
4)Skill is more important than money. Find a (trained) musician to work the boom. We generally have a very good ear for what sounds good and what doesn't.

Best,
Eric

should i buy a vu meter or does the camera have one? why should i record the room tone?

quote:

Originally posted by Cobraperry:
should i buy a vu meter or does the camera have one? why should i record the room tone?

The camera will have one on-board, shown on the LCD screen. You need room tone to mix with in post. Let's say you're directing the actor during a shot, and your voice is caught by the mic. You can go back later and erase your voice using the room tone as a replacement. Then layer sound effects on top, giving the track a natural feel. Room tone can also be used to get a noise floor when using noise reduction on your dialogue.

Audiences are hyper-sensitive to audio, as well they should be. The ME-67 is expensive and while it is highly directional, shotugns plain just don't work well indoors, or in high-ambient sound environments, like clubs or restaurants (owned the MKH416 for about a year). Shotguns are known to be used by pros because they have the budget to use an arsenal of microphones for different situations, which is why it's popular amongst younger filmmakers to suggest buying them. Us cheap filmmakers can usually only afford one mic. The ideal solve-all microphone is the Rode NT3 , and it is more than $100 cheaper, more versatile, more sensitive, and has a better noise-signal ratio. It can be used indoors (it's hypercardioid), outdoors AND as a post-production voiceover mic with great results. It's also interally shockmounted so it can be used without an expensive shockmount, on an inexpensive DIY boom pole.

I applaud you for caring about your film's audio. Your audience will thank you.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: funkbomb,