Audio...

Now for this blog posting I am going to be talking about audio. In my past postings I have been briefly over viewing my plot ideas as well as gathering inspiration, but now that I have a decent idea on what I want my film opening to be about, I need to start thinking about important things like sound and audio. Rather than slapping some music over clips, Raul and I have decided to take a riskier route with our opening and incorporate mostly dialog and ambient sound. Knowing this, I had to do some research. My sound equipment set up is quite minuscule, I have my built in Sony a6300 microphone. That's it. From past experiences, this microphone does nothing close to the quality I'm looking for. Being the cheap teenager I am, I went straight to Youtube and looked up "Cheap audio equipment" and found these videos: 

Now with these videos I came across three different types of microphones that might be useful for our production: 

1. Shotgun Mic

Now this piece of audio equipment is something that I am almost certain I'm going to have to purchase. It is quite versatile, meaning I can rig it to a boom poll, allowing Raul and I to hold it as close as possible to our subject (out of the camera frame of course) in more mid range situations. Also, I can attach the mic directly to my camera which is perfect for shots with ambient noise or close up shots with dialogue. Of course these mics can be quite pricey, so I will be surely surfing Amazon for the cheapest option. 

2. Lavalier Microphone

This microphone is something I'm a little more on the ropes about just because of my third option. The lightweight and compact size of this mic allows us to attach it to our subject and get quality audio from the widest of shots. Knowing we are going to be shooting mostly indoors, I'm not sure if we will be needing this. Additionally, a large issue with this is post editing where we would have to sync the audio with the video, a tricky process. However, a lavalier is useful for picking up movement such as putting a plate down, walking, turning a sink on, etc.

3. Iphone

Lastly, and definitely the most cost effective, is just our phone. Probably most useful in tandem with a boom mic, the simple voice memo function can be useful similarly to how a lavalier mic is, picking up audio from wider shots. We would just simply place the phone close to our subject and be able to capture crisp audio. Of course quality will be sacrificed with this method, but spending $30 on a mic I might not even need does not seem well worth the cost.