Featured Article: Sound and Film Making - by Kristopher Hoffman

I've been thinking about this article for a while. It's something that a lot of film makers need to hear... Honestly, so much attention gets paid to the visual landscape of the film that, often, sound falls by the wayside and is an afterthought.

Before I continue, I want you to understand where I am coming from. A lot of what I am going to talk about, as we go along, is what I call the psychology of film making. You are crafting a feel, a look and a pace for your films... you control the screen, and as such, you control what the audience sees and hears... Use that to your advantage and you can make the audience feel what you want them to feel.

For a while, we're going to really ignore the visual aspect of film making. The reason for that is simple even though the mechanisms behind it are not. The way the human mind processes visual data is a complex interplay of focus, filtering and ignorance. The mind and eye focus on movement, and detail is often ignored by the brain. Animators and CGI companies have been taking advantage of his for years. They will reduce the detail in the backgrounds of fast moving scenes to speed up production... I mean, what's the point in having all that detail if the mind isn't going to see it. I won't go into the whys and hows of this, just trust me... this is how it is...

Believe it or not, people will forgive a great deal, visually speaking. We have poor night vision, we don't see well when compared to other animals, and we can't see much beyond movement. As such, we were designed to use our ears a great deal more... Don't believe me? Try sitting in the dark and just listening. Go out at night, sit in the woods and listen. You will hear everything going on around you. If there is nothing to hear, your brain goes into over drive and amps up your hearing to the point that you can, literally, hear the blood rushing through the veins in your ears.

Because we are so invested in our sense of sound, little problems with sound can be devastating. Issues with sound will cause the brain to stop, take inventory and ask, "What the hell was that?" As you can imagine, this will destroy the audiences suspension of disbelief. And really, isn't that the point? To wrap the audience in an experience, make them believe it and tell your story? So, you can see that bad sound can cause lots of problems and destroy the picture you are trying to paint.

So, now you're asking yourself, "How can I fix it? How can I create a good soundscape for my movie?"

Here are a couple simple tips that should help out.

1) DO NOT use on board sound!
Yes, your camera CAN record audio along with your film clips. Yes, you should do that... you should do this for reference audio, but that should never be your primary source of sound.

Why not? The first reason is that the microphone on your camera is not truly directional. This means that this microphone will pick up stray audio from the entire location. You will hear cars, birds, air and any reverberation that may exist in the location.

Using an external microphone and running it into the camera can help with this, but I still wouldn't recommend it. The frequency return on your camera will not be the same as an external recorder. You will lose a lot of your low end (bass) and high end (treble). That is because your camera (NO MATTER WHICH CAMERA YOU ARE USING) is not designed with audio in mind. It is built to capture video... and the manufacturers know that anyone doing professional work will be using an external recording system.

Lastly, many of the cameras use an automatic gain control... this means that the camera will adjust the volume automatically... When your scene gets quiet, the camera boosts the input volume and you get a lot of noise (a hiss.)

An external audio recorder can be purchased for a small amount (we use the ZOOM h4n). If you can't afford an audio recorder, then at least GET AN EXTERNAL MIC. The results will not be as good as with an external recorder, but you will get a better signal return.

2) Use a boom and get the mic as CLOSE to the source as possible.
This will give you the best sound possible. I could give you a long, technical explanation about why, but it would bore you... (and me) So just take my word on this... frame the shot up, get the mic as close to your actors as possible and make sure you point the mic at their mouths.

3) Monitor your sound.
Get a good set of headphones like these. These aren't expensive, and have a good return. Listen to your sound as you are recording. This will allow you to catch audio problems as they happen.

Speaking from experience, there is nothing worse than shooting an entire day, only to realize that the audio was messed up. It sucks to reshoot something that you shouldn't have to.

4) Use blankets.
If you hear excessive reverb (slight echoes) in your audio, lay blankets on the ground. If the shot is not a wide master that shows their feet, you can control stray sound waves this way. They don't have to be special blankets, the ones of your bed will do.

5) Ground out your mic.
When you use a shotgun mic, you are working with a "pick up template." The pick up template refers to a shape in 3 dimensional space that will pick up the sound of anything it touches. This template, will pick up noise off into the distance... much farther than you realize.

So, when ever possible, point the microphone at the ground. This will "ground out' the mic, causing it to stop picking up additional sound at ground level. If you point it up, you are catching the sounds of trees, birds, air, airplanes, the air conditioner... ALL OF IT.

6) ROOM TONE... LOVE IT... GET IT... USE IT...
Often, indie film makers will edit without room tone... this means that lines will be delivered and there is a noticeable lack of sound between lines. This can be solved by recording and using room tone.

Room tone is exactly what it sounds like... the tone of the room or location you are working in... BEFORE you start shooting, the first thing you need to do is make every one stop talking, stop moving... if at all possible - get everyone to leave the room... then take 3 minutes and just record the silence. You can't hear it, but the mic and recorder will...

When you edit your conversations... listen for gaps in sound... and apply room tone to the silence... it will make a world of difference.

7) Use headphones when editing.
When you are done editing, listen with your headphones on. Fix the problems before release.

These 7 tips should help you craft an enthralling soundscape and help push the boundaries of disbelief in your films. Learn them, use them... love them.