DV SOUND
A lot of beginning filmmakers underestimate the extreme importance of sound.
This is a mistake.
A movie can have beautiful photography and look wonderful, but if the sound is poor it will ruin the experience for the audience. On the otherhand, a movie that has some visual problems will be forgiveable as long as the soundtrack is clear and well mixed. To wit: Mike Figgis, director of 'Leaving Las Vegas' and 'Timecode,' has been quoted as saying that he'd watch an animated dot bouncing around a screen as long as it had good sound.
It just takes a bit of extra consideration to make sure your DV film has great sound. I might as well cut to the chase and explain rule number one, which is perhaps the greatest piece of advice I will relate here: do NOT plug your camera, or any sound device, into the wall! Your camera will pick up the ground current from the outlet and it will leave a high frequency hum on your soundtrack that will be the cause of many a headache. I learned this the hard way.
This frequency can be removed, with difficulty. It is far more cost effective to simply buy an extra battery and make sure you always have one charged up.
Here is a simple and effective audio setup for shooting your film: connect a boom microphone via an XLR cable to your camcorder. There, that's it. You've greatly improved your sound, as opposed to simply using your on-camera microphone. Let's, however, go into it in a bit more detail.
XLR CABLE
You should already know what this is, but just in case you don't, its a standard three-pronged cable for audio purposes. Get to know it. You can get them anywhere any sort of sound gear is sold, from guitar shops to film and video equipment suppliers.
THE MICROPHONE
You're most likely going to want to get a unidrirectional (cardioid) condenser shotgun microphone. There are varying reception patterns -- picking up sound coming from angles as wide as 120 degrees (hypercardioid) to 60 degrees (supercardioid). The smaller the reception angle, the more directional the microphone is.
If you're on a budget and can't afford a variety of sound equipment, I'd reccomend going with a hypercardioid microphone. The most common model is the Sennheiser 416; a cheaper but nearly as effective alternative is the Audio Technica 815b.
Audio Technica 815bAnother alternative is to use wireless lavalier microphones. These are tiny microphones that clip onto the lapel of your peformers. They are attached to a small radio transmitter that the actors can hide on their person and which sends the sound to a receptor attached to the camera. These microphones are omnidirectional, but they're designed to pick up mostly high frequencies -- in other words, they won't pick up much sound other than the actors' voices.
You'll also probably want to have a windscreen (often referred to as a dead cat), in case you're in a windy situation.
THE BOOM
Usually the most effective way to use a shotgun microphone is to attach it to a boom pole and hold it over the heads of the performers. You can use anything from a broom to a paint pole for this; just make sure the microphone is securley fastened and that the XLR cable is wrapped tightly around the pole and taped down to prevent rustling. Or you can buy a good telescoping boom pole with the XLR connections built in on opposing ends; it's a good investment, and if you can't afford it you can always rent one from film and broadcast equipment facilities.
THE XLR ADAPTER
If you have a prosumer or consumer DV camera, chances are you'll need an XLR adaptor. All professional cameras come with these inputs built in, and a few prosumer models do as well (the Sony PD150 being the prime example), but for everything else you'll have to spend a few extra bucks (well worth it, of course). Canon has its own XLR adaptor for its cameras; other brands can be outfitted with an adapter from Beachtek.
XLR inputs always have left and right inputs; if you only have one microphone, you can buy an XLR splitter (you should be able to find one at Radio Shack) to distribute the signal.
THE MIXER
Here's an extra addition to the setup mentioned above, which I'd highly reccomend. Running the microphone into a mixer (which is connected to the camera) will allow your sound designer/recorder to get the best possible sound on location. One good model is the Shure FP33 Field Mixer; it's pricey to buy, but once again you can rent one fairly inexpensively. The advantage of a field mixer like this one is that it's highly portable and can, to an extent, be operated by the boom operator. It's great if you only have one sound person.
Shure FP33 Field MixerIf you have someone who is able to just concentrate on the mixer, you can use a standard Mackie mixer. If you know someone in a band, chances are they'll have one.
RECORDING TO SEPERATE DEVICES
One of the big advantages of shooting on DV, as opposed to sound, is that the sound and video are automatically synchronized and in one piece (of course). However, it is true that you can get better sound by recording to a seperate device, such as a DAT (just as you would as if you were shooting on film). Another advantage is that the camera will be completely independent and unattached to any umbilical sound equipment. If you do this, make sure you use a slate (or at least clap your hands on camera) before each take, so you can synchronize the sound in post production.
That said, most DV filmmakers are content to use their cameras' sound recording capabilities, and there's nothing wrong with that. You can still get great sound.
Just PLEASE remember to leave the wall outlets alone!
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