Making documentary - sound?

Discussion in 'Art & Culture' started by phonetic, Oct 20, 2006.

  1. phonetic stroking my banjo Registered Senior Member

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    I'm planning on making a documentary about UFO's, because I live in the UK UFO capital - Bonnybridge (twinned with Roswell, booya!). I'm not planning on making it a documentary persuading people UFO's exist, don't worry

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    Going for a Louis Theroux kind of approach. I respect his style and think he's a funny bloke.

    I'm using a fairly basic mini DV cam - Canon ZR85. Since I plan to interview people, I don't want to rely on the camera's mic - because it's shit.

    I'm wondering what the most cost effective method of sound capture is (e.g. If I need to spend more than about £20, it will put me off).

    I'd thought of using my sony mic as a boom mic, connected to a laptop and the video camera connected to the laptop at the same time. Recording video + audio inputs at the same time. Although that sounds like a pain and it's probably complicated.

    Any ideas/experience and is there any chance I could have decent audio without spending a lot of money?

    I envisage interviewing people in pubs/cafes, so I guess the mic would need to be directional/very close to the person.
     
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  3. RubiksMaster Real eyes realize real lies Registered Senior Member

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    Any kind of microphone that you can hold close to the person (and preferrably off-camera) should do. I don't know how much a decent mic would cost. Not too terribly much, I'm sure. If you get a bad sound recording, you can always touch it up in Adobe Audition, or your sound editor of choice.

    Actually, it wouldn't be that hard to set u. But, your computer would probably not be able to keep up with the sheer amount of data streaming in if you tried to do it like that. You could instead record only the audio into the laptop, and then use the camera itself to record the video. You could then capture the video (with or without the soundtrack - you'll delete it anyway) onto a computer, and import the audio file(s) you recorded. The rest would be standard editing.
     
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