It's often lamented that audio is the bastard child of video. People notice good video and bad audio. Audio has a huge impact on the quality of your work, yet many simply don't put a whole lot of time or energy into quality sound. That, in my opinion, is a mistake.
In field production, the easiest way to ensure good audio is to, well, hire an audio guy! Yes, I know you spent a whole lot of money of that lav or shotgun mic, and darn it, audio guys are expensive, and the client's budget is tight as it is...
First of all, I agree that there are times when you can get away with not hiring a sound guy. If I'm shooting a single camera, talking head interview, I generally don't hire someone to do audio. I can handle clipping a lav on the talent, (Sanken lavs are my faves, by the way.) and monitoring sound while shooting what's basically a lock-down shot isn't too taxing.
But for anything more complicated, anything dramatic or in any way acoustically challenging (a noisy environment, for example) I pick up the phone and call my favorite audio guy. Why? Because then I don't have to worry about the sound. Sounds simple, right? But think about it. I'm busy shooting, which is a full-time job, requiring my full attention. I can't also be effectively monitoring audio. With a dedicated sound guy, I know the audio is being taken care of , and if theres a problem the sound guy will let me know, we'll listen together and decide what to do about it.
Good sound guys (and so far in career they've all been guys, at least for field production. I'm sure there are some highly talented sound gals out there, and I salute you...) usually bring a kit of tools and gadgets that would make McGyver jealous, and know the techniques for solving just about any audio problem. ("Hmmm...so the talent is wearing chain-mail...we might pick up some jangling...").
Budget wise, a sound guy is a pretty easy sell to your client. It's not a hard thing for them to understand, that if they want good sound ("Good sound is important to you, yes?") they need to budget for it. And it will save everyone time, too, having someone dedicated to getting the audio, freeing you up to just worry about images.
That said, it's worth having a small, basic collection of audio gear. A couple of good lavs, a nice wireless, a decent shotgun and a boom pole. You never know when you're going to have to deal with something last-minute, so it's best to be prepared, right?
Speaking of shotguns, here's a really nice shotgun mic shootout. Lots of good information and sample clips.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Can you hear me now?
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All the guys I've worked with help carry equipment, position light stands, get stuff from the truck for you, and, many can repair electronic equipment in the field.
They take care of bars and tone while you are busy lighting.
They schmooze with the talent while you are setting up the camera, so the talent doesn't realize how long it's taking you.
I've had soundguys offer wide angle lens adapters, lighting kits, any kind of cable, gaffer's tape, blankets, whatever is needed.
A guy with gear is anywhere from $400 to $1,000/day depending on the gear used.
Who wouldn't want someone like that along?
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