Making the Best of use an On-Camera Microphone

Ideally you will have an external microphone and be able to freely move the camera around without having to be concerned about how your shot will affect your audio.  However, you may find yourself in a situation where you are working with the microphone that is built into the camera.  Although this is the second worst-case scenario (the worst case being no microphone at all), there are a few things that can be done to get a better sound recording.  If possible, get right up next to the sound source (whoever is speaking or what music is playing for example) and stay there.    Always wear headphones plugged into the camera so that you can monitor what you are recording and (if you can) experiment with finding a location that sounds best before settling in.  Avoid moving around a lot and DO NOT touch the microphone (be especially careful when adjusting the zoom or focus).  There are a few tricks that can be done in post production to fix mistakes, but remember - nothing is going to make awful tracks sound good.

Consistency in Sound

The thing with audio is that people really don’t notice it unless it is, none existent, very noisy or it changes radically within a scene.  It is important to be aware of the overall consistency of your sound, because nothing betrays a mistake worse than a sudden change in sound quality.  Whether it is the background noise varying between cuts or sounding muffled on one voice and clear on another or changing from loud to quiet (unless that is relevant to the content like someone whispering after shouting).  To have control over these elements and to give your editor a fighting chance at making the final product sound good, I recommend that you do everything in your power to record all your audio tracks in the field as well as is humanly possible, doing your best to maintain a solid consistency throughout.

Some Pros and Cons of Wireless

Using a wireless system can allow you to get a microphone close to the sound source you desire and even move with it, without the hassle of cables interfering with your talent or other production elements.  You should know that a brand new, high quality wireless microphone receiver/transmitter kit will set you back a couple thousand dollars but the time you will save in editing and the confidence you will have in the field will be well worth the investment.  I’d rather run audio cables 200 feet than rely on a substandard wireless setup because they never sound good even under the best of circumstances.  I’ve spent hundreds of hours working on tracks (from lower end wireless rigs) that are so full of dropouts and noise that I almost lost my mind trying to make them sound presentable.  Maybe I’m a vain perfectionist but when I got my excellent wireless systems and started using them on all my shoots I finally felt like a real professional.

The Truth About Microphones

Even the most expensive and sensitive microphones pick up what is closest to them most clearly.  Although the shape and type of microphone makes a difference, for the most part the sounds in between what you want to hear and the microphone (like noises in the environment) are going to be recorded along with the audio you are trying to capture.  For example: if you are in the middle of the audience in a large theater and you hold a up a microphone to record the sound of the actors on stage but the person sitting in right front of you is talking, what you will get on your recording is the talking person near you loud and clear with the actors on stage barely audible in the background.  So a good rule of thumb is - get the microphone as close as possible to what you want to hear most clearly.

Sound Good First

Sound quality is the primary indicator of professionalism in videography.

The thing that is more noticeable than poor lighting or sloppy camera work is noisy sound.  This is because bad sound really distracts the viewer from getting the message you are trying to relate with your video.  I believe that you could possibly have great success communicating without any picture, if the audio is great (like radio) but a video with lousy sound is just annoying and amateurish.  Of course there are exceptions and sometimes professionals intentionally distort audio to make it seem less polished for effect but, most of the time sound people are working toward making pristine audio recordings or (unfortunately) attempting to repair or salvage faulty audio tracks.