Recording audio for new broadcast students can often be THE most difficult part to getting great video stories. Here are five tips on getting the most out of your audio.
1. NEVER, EVER, EVER rely on the onboard microphone, unless it is a high quality shotgun boom microphone that has separate level adjustments on the camera itself.
These large microphones are attached to a camera or pole and held in an area in order to pick up the sound. The purpose of these microphones is generally to capture ambient sound or a person’s voice without having a microphone attached to an individual or held in the reporter’s hand. Boom microphones are generally used when a reporter and cameraman are on the run. Continue reading Microphones: Boom & Shotgun Microphones
Sound in video is more than just the voices from your interviews and reporter. Sound can play a major part in telling the story. Natural sound can accentuate information and tell the story. Listen and watch the following video which has a very focussed use of natural sound to punctuate the story.
Click here on this link to go to the video.
Consider the following questions:
How did the production use natural sound to open up the story?
How did the natural sound then create a transition in the script?
How did the sound emphasize what the officer was saying?
What effect did the sound have on the overall piece?
What would have been lost without the natural sound?
Handheld microphones are commonly seen being used by reporters on the scenes of breaking news and at sporting events. Handheld microphones are usually microphones with cardioid polar pattens – which simply means that the microphone is designed to reduce noise into the microphone.
Broadcast Staff Manual For The Scholastic Press 