People often think about the picture and forget the audio when shooting video. Sometimes poor picture quality is acceptable if the content is strong and you can hear what’s going on but according to a recent survey it’s bad audio that really winds up TV viewers.
The Flip Camera’s audio is pretty good for such small and economically priced camcorder. But there’s a lot you can do to help.
- Get close to the source. There’s no point trying to capture someone across a room as you are liable to hear everyone between you and your subject. Get the camera in close (but not too close) to their faces. If you are trying to film a presentation put the Flip on a tripod and position it close to the speaker or failing that close to the PA system.
- Reduce distractions. A few seconds before you shoot think about the audio. What can you turn off that might be in the background and distract from the important sound. For example, spin dryers, TV sets, the running engine of a car. I often work with sound recordists when I make TV shows as a Director. One thing they always check is jewellery. If it’s jangling around it can ruin audio, so they may tape necklaces down or ask people to remove or swap their jewellery for more audio friendly accessories. Also reduce handling noise of the camera, your own jewellery banging on the camera can be a killer.
- Choose your location. As a Flip Director you can often choose where you shoot. As a TV Director I am constantly looking for good spots to film and always think about the audio as well as the picture. One of the trickiest environments is a nightclub with very loud music. But by asking subjects into side corridors or outside onto the street you can capture interviews and reduce the background interference then use cutaway shots of inside the venue to give it a context. Other examples would be filming down a side street rather than on a main road, avoiding venues who won’t agree to turn the Musac down etc.
- Explain the Audio. If you use cutaways or pan from the noise to your subject (if you are not planning to edit) it helps the brain understand why they are hearing the noise and where it’s coming from and it becomes less concerning.
- Pick Ups. A sound recordist swinging a boom can pick up sound regardless of where you point the camera. But with an onboard mike as with the Flip Ultra when you pan the camera from one person to another you are bound to hear a dip in audio and it might feel the sound is distant when someone speaks off camera. if you are planning to edit your videos, get people to repeat key sentences when the camera is on them and then edit the best takes with the best audio into your film.
I’ve included this video as a less than perfect example (apologies to the creator). The sound isn’t the worst I’ve heard but the crowd noise is a bit distracting. There is no context as to why it’s there i.e no cutaways to make it clear it’s an event and make it more acceptable. There seems no reason why it’s filmed at the event, it could have been filmed in a quiet office. In this case maybe actually getting a shot with the crowd in the distant background and the camera close in to the subject to eliminate the atmosphere might have worked better. Just 5 points for now, sound advice I hope! I’ll return to this subject again, let me know if you have any other tips to share with fellow Flip users.
Related posts:
View Comments