Audio Techniques and Equipment
Audio is a very important part of filming. When you have a professional crew, they will take responsibility for monitoring the audio to ensure the dialogue is audible, remove distracting ambient noise, and can add sound effects or voice-over narration when needed.
If you are managing your own audio, it is important to practice filming with your audio equipment and listening to the sound in the room prior to filming the virtual simulation. When possible, invest in good audio equipment or hire an individual who can support you with audio throughout the film development process.
Placement of the microphone can make a difference to sound quality. Understanding where to place a boom microphone (i.e., direction, location) or how to put on a lapel microphone (over and under clothing) will be key to enhancing sound quality and decreasing the risk of external noise disruptions.
Watch Simon Cade from DSLRguide video on sharing tips about different types of microphones, which microphones work best for certain scenes, and how to position the microphone while filmmaking.
Another helpful resource for audio and editing is by Audacity, which is a free audio software. Kevin Stratvert provides a tutorial on how to use Audacity:
Insights from the Student Team
Leveraging the Knowledge and Expertise of Student Content Creators
“As a second-career nursing student, I am generally much older than most of my nursing school cohort. Throughout the program, I have consistently been impressed by my classmates’ level of skill and ability to quickly master digital content (TikTok, YouTube, Vimeo). It can be easy to brush off this type of content simply as a social media fad, but more and more filmmakers are starting to recognize the value of digital content creators and their work. Leveraging the knowledge and expertise of student content creators, especially when not working with a professional film crew, can be a value-added resource.” ~ David Beazely
Here is an excerpt from a roundtable discussion where professional filmmakers discuss how social media is reshaping the filmmaking landscape:
How do social film and traditional film differ?
Danny Feng: To me, it’s one thing. Previously, filmmaking was high-end. You had to go to film school and then you had to work in a team because the cameras were so large. Nowadays you can shoot anything, even on a tiny DSLR. When the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV came out, you could shoot 4K films with one lens. In social video you’re just telling stories in a shorter, effective way.”
Harry Seaton: Danny’s point is really important, because, with the rise of TikTok and Instagram Stories, a lot of people don’t realize they are filmmakers. They don’t realize they’re capturing a story, because they’re capturing such a small part of it, but they are. It’s a case of, “How many storytelling elements can I get into whichever medium?”
Jita Mitra: If you look at lots of YouTube formats, you’ll see the same formats on TV, they’re just executed differently. As my career goes on in both TV and digital content, I see that the same tropes and beats in storytelling exist in all content. I think there are more similarities than differences.
The full transcript of the roundtable discussion can be found here: https://en.canon-cna.com/pro/stories/social-media-filmmaking-debate/
Watkins, T. (2023). How is social media reshaping the filmmaking landscape? Canon. https://en.canon-cna.com/pro/stories/social-media-filmmaking-debate/
Attribution
Exploring Movie Construction and Production by John Reich is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
