Home nightclub agreed to let us use their ‘Tequila Lounge’ to film in this morning. The scene consisted of the two main characters infront of the bar, a barman, and extras sat around the room in pairs. We had many problems with this location, and have already been talking about possibly reshooting in a different location. The problems are listed as follows:

• The first issue we noticed was the amount of noise coming from the refrigerators behind the bar; they were very loud, but fortunately we were able to turn them off with the discretion of the manager.
• Secondly, the nightclub also served food and drinks during the daytime, meaning that it was open for business whilst we were filming. Music was being played in the rooms near us at a level which was very obvious on the recording; it would have been impossible to record a room tone that would have worked well in editing. Cleaners were also walking around the corridors, which was evident on the recording.
• The whole length of the bar contained a mirror, and after trying out several positions, it was impossible to stand with the microphone placed above the actors without it being seen in shot. To overcome this problem, we had to position ourselves behind the bar with the microphone pointing upwards. This was awkward as we could not freely move the boom pole without it either hitting objects behind the bar or moving in to shot. We had to greatly sacrifice sound quality in order to get a take.

Not only did we have problems with the location, but also with the equipment at first. After filming a few takes, we realised that our Marantz recorder was set to receive signal at mic level, and not line level as it should have been. Due to the restrictions with the equipment, our headphone feed was pre-recorder and so we didn’t notice this until we played back one of the files through the Marantz, and it was then that we noticed that the Marantz had amplified and already amplified signal, causing a lot of distortion.

This scene was very problematic, and it highlighted the key issues when using a location that isn’t perfect for the job.

Hilton Hotel Scene

In the early hours of this morning we recorded the scene at the Hilton Hotel in Lincoln City Centre. The room we used for the shoot wasn’t being used by any of the hotel occupants; however it did contain a walkway from the hotel bar in which occasionally occupants walked through. The problems we face today are as follows:

• The air conditioning unit could not be turned off. This unit was quite loud throughout the room and was very evident on the recordings and there was no way we could have reduced it. To tackle this, we had to use the shotgun microphone as close as possible to the actors and not take perspective into consideration. Had we held it any higher, the background ambience would have been detrimental to the quality of the recording.
• Occasionally hotel guests would walk through the room, usually with loud shoes which echoed around rather loudly! This could not be helped and as we have had the privilege to film so late at night in such a good location, we were very respectful to the guests and staff in the hotel.
• Other problems were noise from the bar in the other room, as well as the occasional noise from the kitchens. Again, these were problematic but after a few takes we managed to get enough audio that most didn’t contain any unwanted noise.

For this shoot, I mainly operated the boom (Andy had a problem with his shoulder), whilst Andy operated the mixer, ensuring it didn’t hit the limiter. We did have a few problems with the limiter due to the difference in levels of both actors but still having to hold the microphone as close as possible. These were quickly rectified and the gain was correctly. At one point we used two cameras at the same time, and so we had to be sure to make a note of the file number for each camera as to make the editing process quicker for everyone.

Overall, this was a successful shoot. We managed to work around the many extras involved and capture good quality audio even with the few issues we had with background noise.

 

 

 

 

 

Days 2 – 4

I have not felt the need to blog on a daily basis this week, as the production ran very smoothly. As all the scenes were shot in 3 rooms, we were able to work out any trouble spots that may effect the audio. There were only a few issues:

• The living room contained a fireplace, and on the seconf day of filming the wind noise coming through became quite apparent. To tackle this, we used a thick fabric throw to cover the fireplace which worked perfectly and stayed there for the remainder of the week.
• During a take on the second day, a hanging basket outside was creaking due to the wind and this also became apparent on the recording. We quite simply solved this by taking the basket down for the remainder of the week.
• The living room, although large, was not big enough to accommodate for all the equipment, in particularly the lighting, which took up a lot of space. To work around this, we occasionally had to position ourselves behind objects that are in shot, which although was awkward, it was also manageable.

Overall, the shoot this week went very well. We have become accustomed to using the equipment effectively as well as working well with the filming crew. I have attached the call sheets as well as some pictures of the shoot below.

 

Filming ‘April’ – Day One

Today we began the first day of location recording for ‘April’. It was first opportunity to have a look round the cottage and find any potential problems that could be an issue when recording. To say we were expecting a “cottage” with the possibility of low ceilings, we were actually pleasantly surprised; the cottage was actually a reasonably new, detached building with average sized ceilings and good sized rooms, and there was an instant feeling of relief knowing that the room sizes would not pose a problem. When looking for potential sources of background noise, we found that although both the fridge and the boiler didn’t appear to make too much noise, when listening through the recording equipment it became apparent that these would be a problem. As Ronnie had told us when talking about the SQN mixer, high frequency noise greatly affect the levels of the pre-amp, and so turning off the boiler and fridge when recording eradicated these problems (at the cost of us being a little colder, and having slightly warmer drinks!).

The scene we filmed today was in the bedroom, and the only real issue we had was the creaking noises of the bed. As annoying as the noise was, we couldn’t find a way to stop it; it would have been possible to tell the actors to move less however this would have been detrimental to the scene and wouldn’t have been a viable option. After doing several takes, we found that we should have had enough audio to have a take that contained little noise over the dialogue which could be used in post-production. Although this noise is unwanted, it still added realism to the scene and so we could still use it we really needed too.

The only other issue that we had was correctly setting the gain on the SQN mixer. The male actors voice was obviously a little louder and much deeper than the females, meaning that we had to find a good level that would be sufficient for both. The SQN has a built in limiter to prevent any clipping, although it comes at the price of being quite obvious when listening back. Unfortunately, we ended up hitting the limiter a few times during this scene as it was our first proper opportunity to use the SQN and get used to its characteristics, but I don’t believe these small sections will be harmful to the quality of the audio. Effectively this was a learning curve and we now know how the SQN will react to different SPL’s, as well as know the correct level of gain needed for each actor/actress.

Overall, I believe today was a success considering the time constraints and small problems, and I believe that we have learnt enough to be quick and effective when recording the rest of the scenes.

 

Day One on LocationContinue reading →

Meeting with Grant Bridgeman – Sound Recordist

Today we met up with Grant to discuss any potential issues with recording on location and how to overcome them. The meeting was very useful, and ran on for the best part of an hour! The main point of discussion was the ability to use the equipment correctly, namely setting the levels to an industry standard reference in which there would be enough headroom without accentuating any background noise. We covered many topics, which included how many boom microphones to use (in which we decided one would be sufficient), as well as the need for wild tracks of each room, how to interact with other members of the filming crew, and other general information.

Although the meeting with Grant gave us a huge amount of information and advice, the most important piece of information he revealed was the fact that another University lecturer, Ronnie Fowler, had been hiding a brilliant location microphone preamp in his office without anybody knowing! The chances of us being able to lend this piece of equipment sounded promising, and fortunately after meeting with Ronnie later today, he gave us the go ahead. The pre-amp was an SQN 5-Channel Location mixer which one of the best on the market for its purpose, and so obviously we are both very excited to use it. We will spend the weekend researching its capabilities before collecting the equipment on Monday; both Grant and Ronnie advised us to only use the equipment if we knew exactly how to operate it, so reading up online is essential.

The full specification for the SQN can be found on their website – http://www.sqn.co.uk/5Sspec.html

Preparations

I will be spending the weekend reading the script and making any notes in parts that could be problematic when recording. It is important that we both know the script in order to correctly move and position the microphone between each actor to capture the dialogue effectively. Knowing what is coming next in the script is vital; we do not have enough timeto stop filming because of small mistakes that we could have prepared for.

We will also prepare the sound log sheets, which will allow us to accurately log each recording along with the file name for the camera, which will allow the editor to match up each piece of audio with the visuals. As well as this, the sound log sheets will allow us to make any notes regarding the quality of the take which will be advantageous in the mixing stage.

Below is a full list of the equipment we will be using when on location:

1. SQN 5 Channel Location Recording Mixer
2. Marantz Solid State Portable Recorder (x2)
3. Rode NTG-2 Shotgun Microphone (x2)
4. Beyerdynamic DT770M Headphones
5. Boom Poles with microphone clip attachments
6. Cables (XLR, Jacks, USB, Power)
7. Batteries (x20 AA)
8. Laptop and External Hard Drive for Backup

 

Below are the call sheets for each day of location recording

CALL-SHEET-1 CALL-SHEET-3   CALL-SHEET-2 CALL-SHEET-4