Tips for Recording Great Sound

Sound is often an overlooked yet critical aspect of the video and film making experience.

Consider your senses for a moment. Your eyes and your ears work together when watching a film. Imagine you are in a cinema, the lights go down, and the screen is black. All you can hear is the sound of a dripping pipe and an echo. Your brain begins to build a picture of where that sound is coming from doesn't it? Is it a wet dark alley at night? Is it a sinister sound? Or is it a rainforest just after a thunderstorm? Either way your brain begins to build a mental picture. Sound engages the audience in an emotional experience before they've even seen anything. That is the power of great sound.

If you did an experiment and both a blind person and a deaf person were to watch a film - who do you think would have a better grasp of the story at the end of the film? The blind person could experience the sound and emotion of the story. That's why radio is still so popular - because you can listen and be taken 'virtually' to another place.

With this in mind I want you to consider taking more time to listen and absorb what sound is around you in your shooting environment and to ask yourself is this sound relevant to your film or is it distracting?

This is where you begin to make creative decisions that require a technical solution.

The creative decisions are about deciding what sounds are relevant to the story you are telling. Don't be afraid to think broadly here. In the same way colour can impact on mood and shot selection in drama, sound in many ways has a far stronger emotional pull because it brings another set of senses into the mix.

Now before you argue that 'you only shoot videos' the same principles that are used in cinema can be applied in your video work, (albeit the end user viewing experience may not be as controlled as in a cinema), your client might be watching on a computer or in a boardroom, but would you agree that your primary job as video producer is to engage your viewer? Sound will do this.

So in your video production I want you to put as much consideration into audio recording as you do with lighting, shot selection and camera movement.

Obviously not every shoot is going to suit a movie style soundtrack, but here are the three top things to remember:

1 - Clarity of the person’s voice you are recording.

You need to eliminate all the distracting sounds in an environment and ensure that the mic is as close to your subject as possible. The closer you can get your microphone, the better your sound will be. Remember, microphones don't have a zoom function like a camcorder lens.

2 - Eliminate all distracting sounds.

If you need to turn off air conditioning, fridges and anything else that buzzes, hisses or rumbles and you can hear it in the microphone then do so, otherwise change location.

3 - Add Dimension with Sound.

You can engage your viewer on a deeper level by creatively adding sounds to your video production, using equipment you already have. You can add significant production value by simply recording a wild track. A great technique is to get to a location, and for 20 seconds stand still and close your eyes. This eliminates your visual senses and allows your brain to simply focus on what you can hear. You'll be amazed at just how much sound your brain processes out. Once you hear what a microphone will pick up, you can make conscious and creative decisions about what sound is important and relevant to your video.

A wild track is when you record 30 seconds to 1 minute of ambient sound. This sound can then be added to the film during the edit stage. It can be used to smooth out sound edits and also used to add atmosphere to your film.

Print out this tip sheet which should help remind you of the key steps to follow on every shoot to make sure you get the best quality audio.

Download your tip sheet here

Den Lennie interviews Freelance Senior Sound Supervisor, Richard Meredith on how to get the best audio quality when shooting. Richard trained with the BBC and has been recording sound for over 30 years.

Download the podcast here