Lav mic vs shotgun mic

[Bonksz]

I'm currently getting everything together for a short film for s film festival for my school. But as of right now I'm not sure which is better for the video I'm shooting. I know shotgun is good for run and gun but I can tell lav mics better. But for the shoot I'm shooting it in an abandon building. I'm just worried cops may come, but the person that shown me it say people shoot stuff all the time and never got the cops there. I can get smart lavs from my school to use. The only problem is I never used them for my own video. How do you go by organizing the audio you want? I don't want a ton of audio files and not knowing which is the one I wanted from earlier. But the shotgun mic I have is the rode shotgun mic which is fairly good. But anyways enough with all the writing. What do you guys think about this?

[saunders420]

this is a tough one. What the scenario? and is the dialogue more important than the cinematography?

If you can....use both. You wont regret it. but let me know what the scene is and I could maybe get an idea of what could help maybe.

[Bonksz]

Both, I don't want to lack in either since both are very important. But I'll give you the general idea since I'm still developing the story. 2 or 3 friends (depends how much actors I can get) are going to go see if the myth that a spirit comes back and goes after anyone that comes in the building on Halloween. As any other horror story you can see how this unfolds just by that brief scenario right there aha.

[saunders420]

shit eh. You can only use one or the other right..?

Think if you were to use the shotgun, will it prevent you from doing stuff, whatever the case, same with the lavs.

Find the pros vs cons. if one outweighs the other use that one.

hell even go grab a random audio recorder's for cheap if you want and lay em around to capture the whole thing to timestamp the rest of your work.

[Bonksz]

shit eh. You can only use one or the other right..?

Think if you were to use the shotgun, will it prevent you from doing stuff, whatever the case, same with the lavs.

Find the pros vs cons. if one outweighs the other use that one.

hell even go grab a random audio recorder's for cheap if you want and lay em around to capture the whole thing to timestamp the rest of your work.

I own the shotgun mic but the lav mics id have to get from my school. Sadly i never used a lav mic and never went through organizing audio or hooking them up. Shotgun would work easier but i think the lav would give better quality.

[saunders420]

yeah use the lavs. Get to know them. always good to learn new tech and the process behind it. Dont be intimidated. Just extra work.

also if you really need a different sound, if it doesnt come out right///post work, you could always try and repair the audio, try to mix it to how you want it to sound.

[Antwan]

Ahh budget filming eh?
I don't know about the equipment..
but cops are usually out around Halloween.
Not the best time to be out late at night either. Stay safe!
Good to scout the location and plan for those things, assuming of course.

There are a quite a few now major miniature film makers who rely strictly on effects and fake sounds.
They recommend airsoft/bee bee guns as props. Not sure what you're using, the less conspicuous the better though.

Otherwise I'd say good luck, have fun.

[Bonksz]

@saunders420 yeah, hopefully I have no audio issues.

@antwan yeah I know, I'm making sure everything is planned out properly so no issues happen. All of the props are bought just need to do some location scouting and that's it.

[Antwan]

Right on.
Hey, you've been doing the filming thing more right?
Are you also doing production? Just curious.
Meant to comment on the last short.
It was interesting, liked the twist at the end haha.
If you're really into it down the line some character development might be good.
Make someone funny, relatable group of friends could make it better.
Just something I thought on when I saw it.

Would be interested to hear about your setup when you get more experience.
I've been thinking about a bit of filming myself.
Is your school helping with progression?

[Demzilla]

if you have to shoot someones face...at all....
no lavs...
there is no special way to make lavs smooth without them being consistently in the same place.

take the shotgun and make sure you do standing dialogue after each scene is done.
it will be a lot easier later to sync up the mouths in editing if you have to.
the shotgun will also get your room/background noise a lot easier that a lav.
i dont know how much work your putting into the film editing wise.....

lavs cant get wet....so blood and sweat fucks everything up..
lavs move around a lot.....against clothing makes it sound like someone opening a bag of chips but never gets them open.
lavs take batteries.....fuck that...
lavs makes some voices worse.....high to low...high pitched voices...super bass sounding voices...its tricky
sometimes cords and transmitters fuck things up.....because for fucks sake they only make lavs with the shittiest copper wiring..
horror movies usually have a lot of screaming....that would be peak static if you used lavs...

if you dont have someone monitoring the sound board for the lavs, literally anything can happen...

go with the shotgun.

room noise....foot steps and shit..wind..
sounds from far away....depth you cant get with lavs...screams in the distance...

separate dialogue is easier
do the scene..
have people read there lines after its over
after because they have a better sense of whats actually happening in the scene
sometimes we do the sound and the actor only says there parts in the conversation. both actors are performing but one of the actors just mimes the words without any voice...for timing with the voice actor..
then you have a voice file of one person.
and a voice file for the other person.
edit back in post...

regular standing dialogue.
no movement..
no props
about 2/3 feet from shotgun...



invest in a dope muffle if its windy
get a boom stick...
have a friend run the audio while you direct...

maybe see if your school has a phantom powered tascam with 1/2in or xlr pins to plug your shot gun directly too it...


PA
one for director
one for audio.

WRITE THAT SHIT DOWN SO YOU DONT HAVE TO GO OVER FILE NAMES AND NUMBERS LATER..

[Bonksz]

Right on.
Hey, you've been doing the filming thing more right?
Are you also doing production? Just curious.
Meant to comment on the last short.
It was interesting, liked the twist at the end haha.
If you're really into it down the line some character development might be good.
Make someone funny, relatable group of friends could make it better.
Just something I thought on when I saw it.

Would be interested to hear about your setup when you get more experience.
I've been thinking about a bit of filming myself.
Is your school helping with progression?

Yes i am, i'm in the second year of the digital video production course at my college. Thanks though aha, that short was a wreck, i had to film way more but some of the actors were a no show sadly. I never thought about character development though, i should really look into that since my weak point is character development and story telling. But as for my school i find it pretty basic, if you're new to cameras and everything itll help a lot if you learn better hands on. It's also good to know more people interested in the same field if you need a bigger crew for new projects. If you want to learn film i could inbox you some channels that'll give you a great start on film making. As for progression i didn't find it that good for me, although we'll see throughout the semester with this short film and see from there. For me the best progression was just going out and filming, skateboarding, skits or anything. The more i messed up the more i got better at correcting those mistakes and learning from it. Hope this helps a bit aha, talked a lot on this one

[Bonksz]

if you have to shoot someones face...at all....
no lavs...
there is no special way to make lavs smooth without them being consistently in the same place.

take the shotgun and make sure you do standing dialogue after each scene is done.
it will be a lot easier later to sync up the mouths in editing if you have to.
the shotgun will also get your room/background noise a lot easier that a lav.
i dont know how much work your putting into the film editing wise.....

lavs cant get wet....so blood and sweat fucks everything up..
lavs move around a lot.....against clothing makes it sound like someone opening a bag of chips but never gets them open.
lavs take batteries.....fuck that...
lavs makes some voices worse.....high to low...high pitched voices...super bass sounding voices...its tricky
sometimes cords and transmitters fuck things up.....because for fucks sake they only make lavs with the shittiest copper wiring..
horror movies usually have a lot of screaming....that would be peak static if you used lavs...

if you dont have someone monitoring the sound board for the lavs, literally anything can happen...

go with the shotgun.

room noise....foot steps and shit..wind..
sounds from far away....depth you cant get with lavs...screams in the distance...

separate dialogue is easier
do the scene..
have people read there lines after its over
after because they have a better sense of whats actually happening in the scene
sometimes we do the sound and the actor only says there parts in the conversation. both actors are performing but one of the actors just mimes the words without any voice...for timing with the voice actor..
then you have a voice file of one person.
and a voice file for the other person.
edit back in post...

regular standing dialogue.
no movement..
no props
about 2/3 feet from shotgun...



invest in a dope muffle if its windy
get a boom stick...
have a friend run the audio while you direct...

maybe see if your school has a phantom powered tascam with 1/2in or xlr pins to plug your shot gun directly too it...


PA
one for director
one for audio.

WRITE THAT SHIT DOWN SO YOU DONT HAVE TO GO OVER FILE NAMES AND NUMBERS LATER..

Thank god i didn't end up signing them out from school, as of right now i have the rode videomic that i own. But i was thinking of doing the boom pole method if the lavs were too time consuming and stuff. As for recorders and stuff i believe sign out has the zoom h1 i think. I have to wait and see on that one. I was also thinking of using the C100 from my school or at least a 6D since my t3i is getting pretty rough lately. But im not sure if itll be worth it going 2 hour commute all the time just to edit C100 footage since my macbook would more than likely die trying to edit the C100's footage on it.

[saunders420]

Demz, Thoroughly coming correct. Legit

[Antwan]

Yeah, a lot of ideas right here. Always Inspiring to read about others making stuff happen though.
I'll definitely look at those links soon if only to have it in mind.
Just curious about one more thing, how do you go about casting?
Seems a bit overwhelming haha. Not a ton of local friends these days.
So if you had to, how do you think you would cast actors?
Appreciated Bonksz.

[Bonksz]

Yeah, a lot of ideas right here. Always Inspiring to read about others making stuff happen though.
I'll definitely look at those links soon if only to have it in mind.
Just curious about one more thing, how do you go about casting?
Seems a bit overwhelming haha. Not a ton of local friends these days.
So if you had to, how do you think you would cast actors?

Appreciated Bonksz.

As of right now I'm kinda in the same boat with casting. It's coming together pretty good as of right now. I just need one more actor then the cast is set. But your best bet is if you have a friend interested in the idea ask if he wants to do it with you. Then they'll end up getting their friends involved. That's how this project started for me, an alternative is posting an ad on Kijiji. I did it and got a few emails back, just explain its a student film and stuff. If you're in high school or college try looking for drama clubs. I heard a few friends of mine at school got actors from that as well. Just be careful with Kijiji if you go that route. Theres some crazy people out there lmao. Since you're starting out just don't be picky if this or that person isn't a great actor. Take anyone that's willing to help out. Hopefully this helps out.

[Antwan]

Yeah, fair enough..
I may start by shooting music videos.
I don't know if they are willing to act but I know some friends in a hardcore band that would likely welcome the help.
Ideas can go over your head so it's good to talk about it.
Appreciate the back and forth, made me think on it again.
Really nice having a place where others have experience or can at least relate.
I'll leave you to it haha.