UNDERSTAND AUDIO

Audio is half of your final video, and its quality can make a huge difference

After lighting, audio is the second element to get spot on for truly pro video quality. You can’t rely on the basic microphone that’s built into your camera. Instead, you need to pinpoint the sound you want to capture, and get as close as possible with a specialist mic.

For stills photographers looking to branch out, the most popular choice is a shotgun mic, which sits on top of the camera. These pick up sound directly in front of them and can be used to isolate the sound of a person talking.

Wedding filmmaker Andrew Michael (www.andrewmichaelfilms.co.uk) attaches a Zoom H1 with a small lavalier microphone to the groom, and pops a Sony TX650 digital voice recorder on each reader, along with the person conducting the ceremony. “Never rely solely on someone else’s audio equipment or speaker systems,” he says. “For corporate events, you might need to use more high-end audio equipment, however at a wedding you want to stay discreet and professional.”

If the audio in your video brief is just as important as the visuals, aim to monitor it continuously, not just while you’re setting up. Consider hiring a sound recordist to check levels as you’re busy working the camera. In an interview situation, if you’re the interviewer and operating the camera, it’ll be easy to miss sound problems and lose the speaker. Where you can, monitor audio through headphones and listen out for any sounds that aren’t coming from your intended source.

Not every single video has to include audio recordings from the shoot itself. For example, product reviews or wedding highlight videos might simply have an overlay of music.

As well as getting crisp recordings of anyone speaking, be sure to capture ambient noise from your shooting location on a separate track. Background sounds added over the top at the editing stage will make the audio as a whole sound more natural, as if the viewer were there themselves.