Oh the pressure...
Recording on the fly...
we're gonna look at recording in a large
conference setting, from pieces to camera,
to interviews and atmos, and look at a
range of techniques, so keep watching.
Videographers will appreciate that
Recording on the Fly is scary...
there's a lot of pressure on you to come
up with the best job in very tricky situations.
There are time constraints, noise and
technical issues, and they all have to be
considered...
For example in an ENG situation,
you have only seconds to be
ready for your next take.
In a conference situation you have noise
people and a lot of movement,
in both situations you
have all that to worry about,
plus all those technical considerations.
Let's look at a few ideas that will help you,
first things first...
Be prepared!
We dedicated a whole show to
being prepared and location recording,
you'll find them in the Perfecting Audio
Series, and they should be a big help to you.
You need to have everything working
tested and charged, and if you can, get to
the venue early to look around so you're
aware of any potential situations or
locations that you may need to avoid.
Come up with alternative recording
locations, should the director or the
client want to use an unusable location.
So what gear do we need?
Let's look at a common situation,
here's a conference, we
have a presenter, we'll be having
interviewees and b-roll, and we'll have
pieces to camera.
Make sure you have a
windshield or pop shield on any handheld
mics, and use new batteries...
and more new batteries after lunch...
with handheld mics a wireless option like
the Sennheiser XS, AVX or EW systems
are all great to give
...the presenter movement and freedom to
move about...
again make sure they're charged...
I know they're expensive, so if
you don't need them every day rent them.
Another option is the Tascam DR10X,
which is a great little recorder and plus straight
into the XLR connection on your microphone.
You will need a boom, and a boom
pole for a backup recording.
Talking about back up recording...
are you recording to the camera?
Well then I take a feed from
your mics out to your backup recorder...
if you're recording to a recorder remember...
give yourself plenty of headroom...
talking about recording to the camera,
do consider the sound that you're recording.
If you're recording with a mic on your
camera, this is what you get...
which should sound like this now that
were covered.
For all recording...
let's look at another
couple of simple things we can do to
make your shoot a success.
First things first, mind yourself...
events like these are very
long days...
have snacks and lots of water.
Mistakes come with fatigue, and you'll
miss problems if your concentration is waning.
Take breaks, manage your energy levels,
do something between to distract
your mind with Tetris or crosswords give
your brain a complete break from what
you're doing.
It's amazing how many people are not
watching the presenter as
they are in front of camera, there are a
lot of shoots nowadays where they use
non-professional presenters, you'll have
to be able to help them along as much as possible.
One crazy thing I see again and
again is the presenter holding the mic
to the guest and the presenter is
talking and then when the guest is
talking to hold the mic to themselves!!
I've seen this happening again and again,
watch your presenter and where they put
their mic, and make sure they're doing it right.
Finally keep it close, you're
probably shooting in a large room,
with lots of noise and people.
A camera mounted mic will not work
clearly in an interview situation.
So you should avoid it at all costs,
boom from below to
reduce the amount of noise going on to
your recordings.
Use lavs properly positioned and as often
as possible and don't forget to use your
stickies to mount the mics.
They will move over the
course of the day,
so you don't want them
moving in to unusable positions..
To make your life easier in the mix or edit
make sure you
have wild track record...
a couple of minutes of ambience every
time you're in a record situation, and tell the editor
that you have recorded the ambience and
where it is keep your original recording
safe you might be hearing back from the
editor looking for this, and that you're
in a stressful situation, these rooms
have an awful lot of big energy going on,
and you've a lot to do, so use that
energy and enjoy your experience.
It really will lighten your load,
I'm Keith Alexander,
and you've been watching AdoramaTV.
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