Need some advice: Mobile recording for a movie

[sushiluv]

Hi

My Girlfriend is doing another movie and she´s totally unhappy with the sound of the ones she made so far.

I need some advice how we could get a decent originalsound while making the movie.

The upcoming project will be filmed outside.

Do i need preamped mics, how much of them?

would be cool if the stuff is not that pricey.

i consider using my powerbook for the recording.

thx a lot in advance, sushiluv

[DrDeltaM]

Look into Metric Halo. they're stuff is aimed to the stuff you plan to do:
http://www.mhlabs.com/metric_halo/products/mio/

Number of mics depends a lot on what you wanna do. The 2882 has 8 mic pre-amps build-in.

[PlugHead]

It depends on what your idea of "pricey" is - like most audio stuff, good quality comes at a cost, esp. if you're shooting "film" or are you doing "video"?

IME, I've used my TiPB (recording thru PT's Mbox) to grab "wild" sounds (for video), but as a truly "mobile" location sound rig, it isn't. Anytime you need to be mobile with your audio kit, a computer and attachments are not very handy, nor portable. If she's only shooting talking heads (doc's) and no action shots, it can work, but IME, the best way on the cheap is to get a Beachtek for the camera (get the model that provides p48), and use it's pre's, send the line out running back onto the camera - less hassle, and if it's really guerilla film-making, it's easier in the edit suite. You'll probably need 2-3 mics: a good boom mic kit (Neumann KMR-81, or on the cheap, a Sennheiser MK66, suspension, fuzzy, and pole/cables), a wireless (lav) or 2 like a Sennheiser/Lectrosonic etc - you don't have to buy them - they cost tons, but for low budget, renting is the best option. It just means having a shooting schedule, and budget the audio kit accordingly. If you're looking for "pro" results on a tight budget, and you expect to purchase the kit it can't be done - the standard recording kit for doc's/ENG (boom kit, 2 lav's, and field mixer) is approx. a 5 grand "minimum" investment - not cheap. My frickin boom pole kit cost about 1/2 of that!

As for cheap - there is nothing "cheap" in location sound kit, except for the sound you'll get with the "bottom end" toys: unfortunately, everything pro that works off batteries seems to have an inflated price, but as mentioned, rent instead of buying, and it's not near as tough on the budget...

YMMV, and best of luck!

[natpub]

...The upcoming project will be filmed outside...

ADR & foley are your friends

[fifthcircle]

Rental Houses will be your friend... Chances are you won't be able to afford the proper tools to get the job done right. Since that is the case, there are a large number of companies that specialize in Location Film audio equipment.

I'd recommend a good shotgun with Zeplin, a decent preamp/mixer, and probably a good wireless set for the wide shots. Then you'll need to record those sounds- are you going to the video camera or are you running a timecode sync rig? If you go TC sync, you'll need a slate, Time code DAT or nonlinear recorder...

Easily talking $15K worth of gear here...

--Ben

[sushiluv]

thx for your replies, i thought i posted in the "Low End Theory" area :0)

15k is in no way possible, only a fraction of it.

I think i should speak with some of the local rental services.

what is ADR & foley?



thx, sushiluv

[fifthcircle]

Originally posted by sushiluv
what is ADR & foley?

ADR I believe stands for automated (?) dialog replacement... Basically, you go through all of the lines that didn't come out well with your recording on location and you re-record them while watching playback of the movie (to maintain proper lip sync). If you are recording outside, you will almost certainly have to replace some of the lines.

Foley is basically the recording of sound effects for film. If you don't have access to a foley stage, you may find the sounds you are looking for in a sound effects library.

--Ben

[Henchman]

Originally posted by sushiluv

what is ADR & foley?



thx, sushiluv

Ok, this response explains to me why she was so unhappy with her previous sound.

It shows a complete lack of experience in Audio-post. If she wants a goodsounding film, she needs o use people who know what they are doing.

How long is her film, and how much did she budget for sound, if anyhting.