Don’t forget audio, it’s half of what you do

Most people think audio will just “show up” on the tape, without too much thought.  This couldn’t be more wrong. Audio is just as important to your video as the video is to your video.  This article will explain the importance of audio in your day-to-day production life, as well as explain the basics of audio, from a film and video perspective.

Without sound, your project is almost meaningless

Think about all the television that you watch on a daily basis.  Now think about all of the video games that you play on a daily basis.  Do you remember watching or playing anything without any sound at all?  Of course you don’t.   Even on it’s most basic level . . . think slideshow here . . . moving pictures couldn’t exist without sound.  That’s why the old silent movies always had the lady playing the organ in the theater.  If you don’t believe me try this:

1. Pick a show at random on your TV.
2. Turn the volume down to zero.
3. Watch the whole show.
4. Now tell me if you were entertained.

Unless you’re some kind of weirdo, you will always get bored in about 5-10 minutes.

The first thing most people sacrifice is audio

It is surprising how many clients come to me with video that was shot with bad audio.  The story is always the same . . . “I thought I was really getting a deal by going with (insert novice videographer’s name here). He had his own gear and he really gave me a great deal.  I don’t know what happened but the audio is not that great . . . can you fix it?”  My answer is usually no.  The only way to fix bad audio, is to re-shoot the entire thing.

Some exceptions:

1. You can choose to ADR or “loop” the audio. This means that you have the talent (or person speaking) come to the studio and record the audio again – matching the video exactly.  The talent listens to the original audio (usually one sentence at a time) to hear the inflection of each word, then they repeat the lines until the recording sounds exactly like the original.  As you can imagine, this is painstaking.  It is also very costly.
2. Some hollow audio – such as audio that is recorded on a microphone that is too far away from the talent – can be fixed.  But it is very rare!
3. If there is some microphone interference, like pops or wireless hits, that can be removed and replaced with similar sounds from different areas of the video. Example: A wireless hit occurs over the word “and” – you would just try to find the word “and” somewhere else and put it in the bad spot.  This is also not the best solution, but in a pinch it can work.

Those are not ideal solutions to the problem.  Trust me.  Good audio is always my first choice and in a situation where a client comes to me with good video and bad audio . . . I usually recommend a re-shoot.

So what does this mean to you – the novice videographer?

Take audio more seriously. I understand that you want to be a big time director, or even a big time DP, but the basics are the basics.  If you’re going to go out there and become a part of the professional world, you need to understand ALL aspects of video and film production.  Audio may not be your thing.  Personally, I don’t love audio.  But that doesn’t mean that I don’t understand it.  Take the time to understand all aspects of the process of production and you will be surprised how well you will do in your career.

Simple audio tips for the videographer

Since audio is 50% of your signal, you might want to start giving it the proper attention.  This means that you need to start thinking about audio BEFORE you start shooting.  Here are some basic tips that you need to think about for each shoot.

1. Find out what your audio needs will be. Talk to the producer or the client and ask about audio situations.  How many talent on camera at the same time? Do they want hardwire microphones or wireless microphones?  How about a boom or shotgun microphone?
2. Ask about your environment. Will you be inside or outside? If outside, will there be any distractions – such as a nearby highway or a nearby airport? Will there be any construction close to the location? If inside, will there be any distracting music at the location – like from an overhead PA system?
3. Know how to properly place a lavaliere microphone on the talent. Different outfits require different approaches to placing a microphone, make sure that you know how to properly do this.
4. Wireless microphones need to be set to the proper frequency. Make sure that you have enough time to set the frequency of your wireless system.  If there are other wireless systems in the area, be sure to check for them.  Also, radio interference is possible – if you are close to a radio transmitter you might want to think about re-locating.
5. Boom operation. Make sure that you get your boom (or shotgun microphone) as close to the talent as possible.  Talk to your camera operator about how close you can get. Also, make sure you’re comfortable with the boom.

Photo by: Mike McCaffrey