Recording DVD Commentary (in a living room)

[karatemanjohnny]

Hey everyone,

I've got to record a DVD commentary in the living room of someone's house. Any advice?

I was thinking to do a stereo mic setup on the room.

Maybe three mics looking down over the couches. Although I'd have some phase problems them perhaps.

I don't want to do close mic'ing, because that would kill their vibe. These aren't voice actors, or actors at all, or studio people, or anything. Just some experts at what they do.

Any suggestions on how to make this work the best?

Thanks!

John

[joaquin]

If you do not have them...rent Lavaliers. They won'y even know they have them on. Phase issues are going to be un-avoidable for they'll move, etc. Deal with that at the mix, by muting the silent persons and trying to have only one mic open at the time...if it's imposible you'll figure a way out at the Mix.
Lavs are the way to go. Even better if they are wire-less. Remember to place them at the side where the speaker is most likely to turn his/her Head.
I'd also have One LDC in Omni for room purposes at mix down...hopefully they won't crank up that TV. Record to your own Media, but do not forget to have audio also in the cameras, so it'll be easy to sync afterwards.
My 2cents...............Joaquin.

[RobMacki]

I had two similar shoots this week like this.
I went with one MKH416 as close as possible and still be out of frame.
(they will most likely be more aware of the cameras than the mic)
I went with Lavs for back ups.
These were 3 camera shoots so I went Boom Camera 1, Lav 1 & 2 Camera 2 L&R
Boom and Nose mic on Camera 3 L&R.
IMHO the 416 will most likely be chosen for the DIA track on both shoots.
Lavs can have phase, noise and dirrectional issues. And as posted above know what the eye-line is so you get the best capture on placement.

You could get into trouble with stereo mics if they get summed in post. A dialog or editor is not going to want to edit and clean 3 tracks for one source.
When in doubt ask the dirrector how he/she would like to cut the audio in post.

If the subjects are close enough together one 416 (or 66) will be good.
One thing to do is to try to cut down on room ambience with fernie pads or blankets on floor and hung on C-stands if they are available.

my .02

[karatemanjohnny]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm going to be doing the post-editing, actually. There won't be much post audio work, aside from time aligning the audio to the video.

I'm going to stray away from lavaliers because I don't own any and don't want to rent/buy any. I'm not really getting paid much for this and they won't foot the bill for the rentals. Plus, I don't want to deal with any scuffle noise or anything.

I'm going to do some tests with my current mics, involving me and friends just sitting around watching a TV.

If you had two mics and couches that looked like this:

|
|
___|

would you do one mic in front of each couch, or one looking down on each couch?


I think I'm probably going to do one short boom stand looking at each couch from the front (depending on how the tests go).


Thanks for the ideas.

- John

[joaquin]

Hi Karate. I'm not sure I understood your drawing!? any way, like Robmackie suggested, the MKH416 is a nice directional option...do not know what mics you have in your locker, but try Hyper cardioids with the null point towards the TV set. If the prduction and speakers do not care...3 hand helds would yield the best results!! just got to make sure they understand and are careful to speak to the Mic...happens a lot that they forget!? If you are going to do post...I'd usually pan all mics center and mute or automate down the mics that are not in use. Phase issues with moving mics and targets are unavoidable, though, it should not be a problem...best of luck with the experiment and please tell us what was your decision...............................Joaquin.

[jwh1192]

another suggestion would be to have them wear small in-ears for the film and their mics ...... do not have to be high ebd ones ... just run the wires down their backs to hide .... now your stereo pair has a fighting chance ... stereo pair and TV sound in same room might get you into trouble if the TV is too loud ...

have fun ... DVD commentary has no rules , be creative

john

[karatemanjohnny]

Cool, good thoughts.

The drawing was supposed to be something like this:

But didn't really come out right.

Anyways, the volume can be pretty low on the TV because they're watching martial arts footage, and there's not really much significant noise (just the uniforms and maybe yells).

"have fun ... DVD commentary has no rules , be creative"

That's the best thing to keep in mind really.

Thanks,

John