Booms v. Lavs

[Jochen Schmidt-Hambrock]

Thank you so much for explaining that. Animal rights activists sent me a letter after my last shoot plus my fave lead actress no longer speaks to me.
Now I'll know better!

But doesnt your garden look much better now?

 

[Marc Wielage]

New July 2010 issue of Am Cinematographer, p 66, shows a boom operator holding a mic what seems to be 20-25' away from what appears to be the sound source.

You're assuming they're in record when that picture was taken. What if it's inbetween takes? What if it's a rehearsal? What if they were only recording ambient sound and not dialog? What if they were mainly using wireless lavs for this shot? There are many sensible possibilities that could be going on here.

Be careful not to make assumptions about behind-the-scenes shots like this. Trust me, you can't get great dialog from 25' away, no matter what the microphone or the sound mixer. Chances are, all the dialog for the scene came from master takes done with medium- and close-up shots, with the boom less than 5' from the actor's head.

 

[Dave Blackham]

You're assuming they're in record when that picture was taken. What if it's inbetween takes? What if it's a rehearsal? What if they were only recording ambient sound and not dialog? What if they were mainly using wireless lavs for this shot? There are many sensible possibilities that could be going on here.

Be careful not to make assumptions about behind-the-scenes shots like this. Trust me, you can't get great dialog from 25' away, no matter what the microphone or the sound mixer. Chances are, all the dialog for the scene came from master takes done with medium- and close-up shots, with the boom less than 5' from the actor's head.

Most likely this is guide track audio and using audio recorded closer for the master track. I havnt seen the article so I don't know the circumstance. I disagree though, as there are a few situations that 25 feet or more may be OK but they are rare. Say if your using say an MKH70 mid/long gun mic in certain circumstances it may be possible or desirable. If your in an area of very quiet background noise say on a mountain range or very quiet wilderness and the actor/presenter is raising their voice then 25 feet may be appropriate. Its all down to what perspective audio is needed to match the pictures.

Most current day production audio is usually recorded too close for my tastes and lacks suitable perspective for wider shots.

 

[Tim Duran]

Guys, thanks for the input.

 

[Michael Totten]

IMO , a properly placed boom mic almost always sounds better. For example, it's hard to compare the sound quality and range of a $2000 dollar Schoeps to most any lav mic.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

For those trying to get the basics of sound recording and even a bit beyond the basics, check out this book. I have it on my bookshelf and it comes in handy.

http://www.trewaudio.com/store/product.php?productid=768&cat=3&page=1

 

[Zack Allen]

At what point do you choose to go with a boom or a lav mic? Is it distance from the camera, amount of movement by talent in the frame, shadows, or what? Is there much of an issue in combining sound issues from one type mic to sound from another mic in post? In the few productions I've watched, all have been with lavs, regardless of how far that talent was from the camera. (What I don't know is if they were wired or wireless systems.)

Tim, you might find this link very helpful towards your question....

Boom Vs Lav

 

[Tim Duran]

CinemaSound, great referral. Thanks

 

[Marc Wielage]

\Say if your using say an MKH70 mid/long gun mic in certain circumstances it may be possible or desirable.

That's not my experience, and I own seven different shotguns, including the MKH70 and the even larger MKH816. I usually use those when we're surrounded by so much background noise, there's no other way to cut through the crud. (Beach dialog is a good example.) But a combinations of lavs and shotguns is a more practical solution.

Most current day production audio is usually recorded too close for my tastes and lacks suitable perspective for wider shots.

Agreed. It's hard to find a current top-rated TV series that doesn't use lavs for all the exteriors a great deal of the time, and they do often sound very closed-miked. I'd rather have that than ADR, but it's definitely a compromise.

Good re-recording mixers and dialog editors often have the choice of mixing some of the lav with the shotgun, which I find will take the curse off the lav-only route. I've often done this for the production mix, and I think it works fairly well unless you run into clothing noise or other issues.

 

[Dave Blackham]

That's not my experience, and I own seven different shotguns, including the MKH70 and the even larger MKH816. I usually use those when we're surrounded by so much background noise, there's no other way to cut through the crud. (Beach dialog is a good example.) But a combinations of lavs and shotguns is a more practical solution.

The situation to which I had in mind for long gun only at distance was where there is no crud ie on a quiet mountain range or similar. It certainly wont work on a beach with seawash or such.

Agreed. It's hard to find a current top-rated TV series that doesn't use lavs for all the exteriors a great deal of the time, and they do often sound very closed-miked. I'd rather have that than ADR, but it's definitely a compromise.

Good re-recording mixers and dialog editors often have the choice of mixing some of the lav with the shotgun, which I find will take the curse off the lav-only route. I've often done this for the production mix, and I think it works fairly well unless you run into clothing noise or other issues.

Glad we agree on this.