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Mixing | Episode 8: Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing. The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

In this video we talk about what you have to do next once you have finished editing your film and you have a picture lock. This is when you start to make the sound of your film sound just as good as the look of your film. We are by separating each actors dialogue with in Adobe Audition, and set there level between -6dB and -24dB. Adding room tone will help to fill in any silence between dialogue.

Adding foley and sound effects is all done in the mixing process, so once you have re-recorded cups being put down, doors opening and footsteps you can add these into your edit.

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

More tips in the video.

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

Mixing Episode 8 Indie Film Sound Guide
Mixing-Indie-Film-Sound-Guide.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Organise and Sync | Episode 7: Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing. The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

So you’ve finished shooting your film. You have a bunch of cards you need to unload onto the computer which contain the picture and sound elements for your movie. But before we start editing the footage and mixing the sound, let’s get all these files into a clear and precise structure, and synchronise the production audio to the shots.

Editing and mixing without a proper folder structure is an absolute nightmare. Files get saved in the wrong place, shots go missing, footage can’t get re-linked, and it just becomes a fighting battle.

It can get even worse if you’re working with multiple post production artists, all sharing the same files and muddling everything up when you bring it all back together.

To help alleviate some of that stress, I’ll show you the folder structure we like to use here at The Film Look, and I’ll also show you a handy application to create the structure in an instant!

Get yourself over to digitalrebellion.com and download their programme called Post Haste. It’s a free desktop app for managing projects, and has some great features.

Post-Haste-Folder-structure

Once you’ve got it downloaded, you’ll see this screen. They already have some awesome templates for a range of creative workflows, but we are going to design one from scratch specifically for organising short films for use with multiple artists, and hopefully prevent any unlinked and dodgy files in the future!

Let’s start off with the film’s root file, where absolutely everything for the film will be located. In order to keep files from going missing you must save everything used for the film inside this folder, even if that means duplicating some assets from graphics libraries, for example.

Keeping it all inside this folder means you can move the hard drive to another computer, open it up, and everything you need is already in the correct place.

Inside here we have project folders where all of the session save files will go. Inside these folders will be one for dragging old versions of save files to keep it tidy.

Next we have a media file. This is where all of the video and audio files will be transferred to, as well as any photos, graphical assets, and music used in the film.

Inside the video folder we have folders separated by each of the shooting dates. Inside the dated folders, transfer everything from each card you have into their own folders. This means copying all of the system files as well as the video and audio files. This is to ensure if anything goes wrong, you have the full image of the SD card if you need to transfer anything back over to the camera. Fingers crossed you never have to do this!

Having dates on the folders means you will know exactly what you shot on that day, and you are able to link the video dated folders with the audio dated folders.

The audio folder is similar to the video folder; everything is firstly dated then the whole card image is copied and pasted into their own audio folder.

Then there is a production documents folder for scripts, storyboards, shot lists and other documents like forms, permits, and contact information documents.

The last main folder in the structure is the export folder. Inside here is a folder for the film and scenes, and another for rendering out VFX sequences.

So now we have a folder structure, let’s make a bin structure inside your editor!

We are using Adobe Premiere for our projects; if you are too, you can find our Premiere Template in the description below. If you’re using something else, follow along and you can create and customise it to suit you!

Organise-and-Sync

First of all we will create a sequences bin; this is where you can save your main timeline, any duplicates if you want to save versions, and maybe even something like a selects sequence.  

Then we have an assets bin, which will hold all of the global music and graphical assets for the film.

Next is a media bin. Inside here will be a bin for the shooting date, inside here will be a bin for the video and audio, and an extra bin called Synced A\V.

When you have your footage imported and inside the correct dated folders, we will start to rename clips, synchronise the video and audio, and place them into the Synced A/V bins.

Go through each video clip and rename them to the mark written on the clapperboard at the start or end of the take. The audio will have an audible take with the same numbers and letters called out.

Some shots may have no audio to sync. And if you have recorded any wild takes, rename these according to the mark you can hear at the start of the take.

To synchronise and merge the audio and video takes, first of all double click on the video file to bring it into the source window. By clicking on the audio icon, it will display the waveform. Scrub along to the audio spike and bring the in-point right up the start of the spike. You can set an in-point by scrubbing to the point and hitting “I” on your keyboard.

Okay, half way there. Find the production audio of the same take, double click on it to bring it into the source window, and set the in-point just like the video file by hitting “I”.

Now that we have the in-points selected on both clips, hold control and click on both the video and audio files. Right click and go to Merge Clips, set the Synchronise Point to In Points, and check the box next to Remove Audio from AV clip. Checking this will get rid of the scratch audio and just use the good production audio. If you want both, uncheck this box.

Then place the newly merged file into the Synced A\V folder. Do this with all of the files, and you will have synchronised audio for your scene.

Now it’s time to edit!

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

More tips in the video.

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

Organise and Sync

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Foley Art | Episode 6: Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing. The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

Foley art is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that we are going to mix back into the film. For the scene we are using, these are things like clothing movement, Frank tapping on the table, coffee cups and saucers clattering, and hats coming on and off.

Without these sound effects, your film will lack a rich cinematic soundscape. It will feel unnaturally quiet and uncomfortable. Foley Art is what separates the men from the boys and women from the girls, and mixing Foley into your film is another step to creating the film look.

If you have been following this guide from the start, you have probably already recorded a bunch of wild takes for your scene. A lot of these will work great. But if there are any which don’t quite sound right, you can always add those elements to the list of sounds you can re-record as Foley.

So how do we go about recording Foley?

Find yourself a quiet room. A small room, preferably with carpets will work best. Hanging up any blankets and clothes to cover up walls will dampen any reverb you might get from the sound bouncing around the room.

Next you’ll need props and materials. In order to record the sound effects, use any objects which will create the noises you need.

With the materials gathered it’s time to imitate the actions in the scene to re-create the sound effects.  As a visual aid, you can export the edit of the scene and put it on a laptop or a phone. Playback the scene and do what the actors do.

Do this with all of the actions you can think of, several times. Like when recording wild takes, mark the track by yelling out what action it is you are re-producing. That way in the mix, you’ll know exactly what the sound is supposed to be.

Get the microphone as close as you can, and try to keep the gain lower than what you set it during the shoot. You will want to record the Foley very clean and with low noise. The sounds may be quieter than dialogue, and it might not hit really loud levels, but don’t worry. Just as long as the recording isn’t noisy and you have the microphone nice and close, this will work just fine.

After recording Foley, you should have everything you need to create a rich cinematic soundscape for your scene. You might have to source some sound effects online, but if you can re-produce them yourself, it’s always the better option.

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

More tips in the video.

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

Foley Art Episode 6 Indie Film Sound Guide.jpg
Recording Foley.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Story in a Can #5 | "The Cave"

In each can there are 20 locations, 20 objects, 20 characters, and 20 scenarios. We pick one from each of the cans and try to come up with a film idea on the spot. Sometimes they are bad, but sometimes we turn the idea into a film.

In Story In a Can #9 Rob and Rich have to make a story about a Character who is a Bar Tender, a location of a Cave, an object of a Someone Else's Wallet, and a scenario of a Nana Going Insane?

Watch the video to see what story was made.

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Wild Takes | Episode 5: Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing. The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

Let’s talk a bit about recording sound effects for your film. In particular, wild takes!

So far I talked about positioning, getting clean dialog, removing unwanted noises, and where to set your levels. Now comes the next thing on the list: recording wild takes!

Wild takes are the process of recording sound on location without the cameras rolling. This means you can get a lot closer to certain things and record crisp, clear sound effects. We will go through recording sound effects later on in post-production known as Foley Art, but right now, we are going to grab as many sound effects as we can here on set.

There might be some sound effects which are very difficult to re-produce, such as the sound of machinery, locks, doors, and footsteps on particular surfaces.

Grabbing these sounds on location means you won’t have to go trawling the internet for the perfect door latch sound effect!

We will record furniture, clothing, tapping, and cups and glasses later on as they are a lot easier to get right in post, and it will save time on set.

So, record your wild takes at, or lower than, your scene’s gain cap. If the sound you are recording is quiet even at the gain cap, don’t worry! You don’t need to rack your gain right up to record it loud, because it’s likely going to be mixed quietly in the edit anyway.

You will want to record at least five or six takes of each sound effect, all from different angles, positions, distances, and even direct and non-direct recording.

Having more to choose from later on will help a lot when mixing. Something recorded at a different angle can sound quite a bit different, and sometimes it sounds a lot more realistic and cinematic too. So make sure to record a range of each sound effect so you can choose the best later on.

When you start recording, mark the take by clearly stating what action is being performed, and if it’s from a different angle, state that too. In editing, you will be able to listen to the start of the audio and know exactly what it is.

So now you should have: a well-positioned microphone recording clear and loud dialog, you should have eliminated any unwanted noises and sound effects during the dialog takes, a gain cap with room tone, and a library of sound effects to layer into the scene.

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

Wild Takes Episode 5 Indie Film Sound Guide.jpg
Recording Wild Takes.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Gain & Room Tone | Episode 4: Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing. The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

Most audio devices will have a way of manually choosing how sensitive your microphone is to sound. But where do you set your levels?

So far we have talked about getting in the right position, recording clean dialog takes, and removing any unwanted noises from your scene. If you want to catch up, episodes 1-3 are in the description.

Let’s talk about where you should be setting your sound levels. The loudness of actors and their actions differ from scene to scene, and even take to take. So what I like to do is run through the scene with the director and the actors, sound kit at the ready, and study the sound levels.

Set your levels so you are getting loud and clear dialogue with a little bit of room from the top peak line just encase the sound gets a little louder. If you are risking your sound clipping during the dialog, your gain is probably set just a tad too high.

Once you find a comfortable loud and clear level, you shouldn’t have to adjust the gain above this for the rest of the scene. Make a mental note of the number your audio recorder is reading out – this is your scene’s gain cap. Going above this will only introduce more noise with no real benefit.

If an actor shouts in the scene, such as this example of Stu, your microphone will very likely be overdriven and the audio will distort. This is known as clipping.

Clipping your audio is just as frowned upon as overexposing your footage. You aren’t only recording something that sounds bad, but the information is now destroyed and can’t be recovered. No amount of tweaking will fix the distortion.

The solution to this is to lower the gain until you can record the shouting without it clipping. 

Because you’ve brought the gain down in order not to clip the audio, it will have also lessened the amount of natural noise compared to the other takes which are set higher. So we will need to add that natural noise back in. You can do this using room tone.

Room tone is a recording of up to 2 minutes of nothing but complete room ambience, recorded at your scene’s gain cap.

Room tone is there to fill in any patches of silence when editing dialogue and sound effects. It is also used like a Band-Aid, to cover up any unwanted noises or if the director gives direction mid-take.

A good time to record your room tone is at the start of the shoot, just after you have found a good gain cap.

Recording it before you start rolling picture helps in a few other ways too. Firstly, you won’t forget it as its top of the list. Second, you aren’t making people wait around at the end of the day to capture it. And third, if there are any more unwanted noises you didn’t pick up on, you will likely hear them when you record it.  

So, step four, set your gain cap and don’t go beyond it. Either lower the gain or move your microphone away if it clips. And don’t forget to record room tone!

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

Gain & Room Tone Episode 4 Indie Film Sound Guide.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Story in a Can #4 | "The Drug Dog"

In each can there are 20 locations, 20 objects, 20 characters, and 20 scenarios. We pick one from each of the cans and try to come up with a film idea on the spot. Sometimes they are bad, but sometimes we turn the idea into a film.

In Story In a Can #9 Rich and Kristian have to make a story about a Character who is a Drug Addict, a location of a House in the Suburbs, an object of a Feather, and a scenario of a Walking a Dog?

Watch the video to see what story was made.

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Minimise Noise | Episode 3: Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing. The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

As the sound recordist, you have the power of the microphone and headphones. If you can hear any unwanted noise, such as the air conditioning unit, a clock ticking, or a plane flying overhead, you need to speak up and get it shut off. Welcome to episode 3.

So far we have talked about the best position to record and prioritising dialog. Now it’s time to talk about reducing unwanted noises for really clean and crisp audio.

Unwanted noises are a pain to remove in post-production. You want to record in the quietest possible environment, so turn off any whirring computers, buzzing fridges, and silence anything which hums, buzzes, or beeps.

Once this is done, you will have a nice quiet location to record in. But it doesn’t stop there!

Sometimes in a scene an actor will be performing an action while delivering a line. If the action creates a very loud sound mid-dialog, you’ll want to minimise the loudness of the action as best you can.

Here we have a scene: Stu and Frank are discussing how they are going to dispose of a body, and Stu goes to take a drink. This is where the issue occurs. Stu speaks at the same time he places the cup down onto the saucer.

This means we now have 2 sounds baked into one audio track; the dialog of Stu and the coffee cup sound effect.

There are 2 ways we can deal with this. Firstly, we can change the blocking. If the timing can be changed so Stu delivers the line THEN places it down, problem solved.  But sometimes this slows down the pace of the scene. So instead, we can try to minimise the sound of the cup and saucer colliding.

If the teacup and saucer aren’t in the shot when it is being placed down, you can remove the saucer completely and cushion the contact between the table and the teacup using something like a towel or a sweater. Then it’s a case of recording the sound effect of the cup and saucer and mixing it back into the scene.

It might seem like you are doing twice as much work, but think of it like this:

With all of your sound elements as independent single tracks you are able to alter those sound effects without affecting any of the others. If your sound elements were on a single track grouped together, you won’t be able to change one sound without changing all the others. It’s like trying to unbake a cake.

This goes for dialogue too. In production, try prevent any overlap of dialogue between actors. You can always edit overlap of lines in post-production.

So step three, remove any buzzing and humming from the scene, and limit the loudness of sound effects by dampening or removing them all together.

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

Minimise Noise - Indie Film Sound Guide

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

One Year on YouTube! Q&A and Giveaway Results | Vlog #26

 

To celebrate the channel's 1st birthday we hosted a Facebook LIVE event with a Q&A and a giveaway of some prizes. We recorded the whole thing, and created a fat-free version for you to watch!

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Dialogue is Priority | Episode 2: Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing. The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

There’s a lot of sound going on during a shoot. You might be wondering what you should be recording first. Welcome to episode two.

So far we have talked about positioning your microphone to get the best results. Now it’s time to talk about WHAT you should be recording. If it’s a narrative film you’re making, I imagine it will have some sort of dialog. This is your highest priority.

Don’t worry about recording footsteps, pats on the back, coffee cups clinking, or any other sound effects just yet. All of these sound effects are a lot easier to reproduce.

But if you don’t get your dialogue, you’ll spend a lot of time trying to either fix it in post or dubbing it back in.

Right now, as the sound recordist, you just need to make sure you are getting clean dialog takes. If your audio is compromised before action is called, such as buses going past, or rowdy pedestrians outside, make the crew aware and you can wait it out, these things usually only last a few minutes at most.

In the meantime, the rest of the team can record some reaction shots, inserts, or anything else which doesn’t require audio being recorded.

If the sound is compromised during a take, however, it’s a good courtesy to continue rolling.

A short interference of sound can be edited out just as long as you have a few cleaner takes to work with. I will talk about this more in a later episode about mixing.

When recording dialogue, it is essential to mark the take and record a clap using a clapperboard or your hands. A clap will generate a spike in the waveform so you can use it as a pin point to synchronise your good audio to your camera’s scratch audio.

If you are recording your audio straight into the camera, it isn’t as necessary, but it is a good habit to have anyway.

If you forget to mark the start of the take or the board wasn’t visible in the shot, you can always mark it at the very end, known as second sticks.

If you notice the take wasn’t marked with a clap, make everyone aware before the director yells cut. Syncing audio which doesn’t have an audio spike is a pain to mix.

Speaking of the director yelling cut! The camera operator and sound recordist should only cut picture and sound when the official call has been made. When you start making films, this is a habit you might have to force yourself to break.

If the director wants to continue rolling, and you cut sound, the shot will have to be marked again, slowing down production. So just keep rolling until they say cut!

So step two. Your priority is good, clean, loud dialogue!

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

Dialogue is Priority Indie Film Sound Guide
Dialogue-is-Priority-Indie-Film-Sound-Guide.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Our Posters Arrived! | Vlog #25

 

To celebrate completing the Indie Film Sound Guide (and to help cover up more of our studio's horrible white walls) we made a poster for our 4th (and currently blank) poster frame!

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Position is Key | Episode 1: Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing. The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

The position of your microphone is the most important element to achieve good quality sound: welcome to episode one.

Let me show you a prime example of why the position of your microphone is crucial to a good recording. Here I have a scene: Stu and Frank are chatting about how they are going to hide a body.

Take 1 was actually recorded using my mobile phone, placed on the table.

Take 2 was recorded using a Rode NTG-2 shotgun mic. Problem is the mic wasn’t shooting close enough to the subject. This is a prime example of why the position of your microphone is so important.

If my old mobile phone can outperform a quality shotgun microphone, it’s evident that closing the distance between the microphone and subject is key to better audio.

Rode Video Mics are a common piece of equipment for amateur productions, and for the price they capture a solid sound. But because it conveniently has a hot-shoe attachment, people assume that placing it on top of the camera is where it is supposed to go.

If you are a one man crew shooting vox-pops, or a self-shooting vlogger, a set up like this will work well only because the subject is so close. Any more distance than a foot, and the sound of your subject will quickly lose quality.

You can greatly improve the quality of a Rode Video Mic by picking up an extension cable for your mic and attaching it to a boom pole using the thread on the bottom of the hot shoe. 

Positioning a microphone overhead, and aiming it towards the subject is the most common method for recording good quality audio.

If you are in windy conditions, positioning it under the frame can cut some of that noise out. For the best results you can use a dead cat or a blimp, which will trap the wind before it hits the microphone.

You can actually use anything furry and it will do a similar job. Even something like a wooly hat will help. In fact, I’ll demonstrate using this fan heater directed against my face.

So just find something fluffy or furry and wrap your microphone in it!

Work together with the camera operator and figure out when your microphone is in shot. Then raise it out of frame an inch or two. These few inches will give you room to move and sway without it getting back in frame by mistake.

When the camera changes its position and focal length, the framing will change too which means you will have to adjust your position in order to not get the microphone in frame.

When you start recording, you want to limit how much you move your hands. If you adjust your grip during a take, it can create noises which travel up the boom pole and records into the microphone.

So find a comfortable position and instead of readjusting your grip with your hands, use your wrists and elbows instead. A cross grip is my preferred grip. If both of my hands were facing the same way and I rolled down, it’s a lot harder for me to hold onto the boom.

So crossing your grip will give you a strong, steady grip for longer periods of time. But, do whatever is the most comfortable for you. Now, let’s talk a bit about loose cables!

The easiest way to get rid of loose cable is to simply wrap it around the boom. You can buy boom poles that you can feed cables into, so they exit at the bottom. You can even find little clips to keep your cables neat on the outside

I like to use the wrapping trick because it means if I need some slack on the cable, I just spin the boom the opposite way and unravel it.

So, step one, if your sound is rubbish, it’s probably just not close enough!

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

Position is Key - Indie Film Sound Guide
Position-is-Key-Indie-Film-Sound-Guide

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

The Scene | Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing. The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

The Scene - Indie Film Sound Guide.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Want to Get Better Sound? | Episode 0: Indie Film Sound Guide

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you all of the basics to achieve better audio for your films. This includes preparation, recording, and mixing.

The guide uses a scene shot specifically for the guide, and follows a proper workflow from start to finish. This is everything you will need to know to start recording great sound for your short film!

Anything we didn't cover? Leave us a comment and we'll create a wrap up episode at the end of the guide, answering any questions we missed!

The Indie Film Sound Guide is a step by step series teaching you the basics of recording sound on set.

Episodes released weekly:

Introduction: https://youtu.be/NzmDV5Z9c_o

The Scene: https://youtu.be/dGD8pIOx2ls

Positioning: https://youtu.be/1Ki442J5hUk

Dialogue: https://youtu.be/X8YPFNYgu8s

Minimise Noise: https://youtu.be/e6MEJd_rGvI

Gain & Room Tone: https://youtu.be/U5MJvJ9_guQ

Wild Takes: https://youtu.be/Ci9RIH5d1ew

Organise & Sync: https://youtu.be/ZyVvwsWQIwk

Mixing: https://youtu.be/7x5SnoftgUw

Want to Get Better Sound - Indie Film Sound Guide

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Story in a Can #3 | "The Pharmacist"

In each can there are 20 locations, 20 objects, 20 characters, and 20 scenarios. We pick one from each of the cans and try to come up with a film idea on the spot. Sometimes they are bad, but sometimes we turn the idea into a film.

In Story In a Can #9 Rob and Liam have to make a story about a Character who is a Pharmacist, a location of a Dive Bar, an object of a Lip Balm, and a scenario of a Car Won't Start?

Watch the video to see what story was made.

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Lighting Setups for Presenting

 

Presenting like this is a big part of our videos. Now we've experimented with different lighting setups and there's a few that we really like so we thought we'd share with you how we create these setups.

We don't like to shoot on green screens when we're presenting, firstly our studio isn't big enough to light it correctly and secondly we've got some pretty cool things on the walls so why not use them.

We have 5 main setups here at the film look The Film Look, The Film Look standard, The Film Look standard blue, window setup, sit down high key and sit down low key.

We have gaf tapes T positions on the floor so we know exactly where to stand for each setup. Let's start off with The Film Look standard setup this one here.

The-Film-Look-Presenting-Setup-1

It wasn't the first set that we had but once we tried it out we liked it so much that it became our standard Tuesday presenting setup.

So this is how it's done. Firstly the background Rob's collage of Instagram photos gives the shot a blast of colour, our shelving unit has a bunch of cameras we've collected or retired and it splits the frame in half. To get the moody look we block out the window and start lighting from scratch. We use a soft box filled with a set of five 115 watt bulbs placed behind a frosted shower curtain to create a really soft skin balance light. This is set to 5500 K watching the colour temperature saying on the camera.

For some colour difference we used a diffused car light above our heads using a warm household bulb set at 2700 K. This is used as a hair light as well as a background light. The main thing to remember with this setup is to soften the light as much as it can, with the light being so close it needs to wrap around the subject spotlighting it doesn't look so great.

Next we have the film looks standard blue.

The-Film-Look-Presenting-Setup-2-Blue

We altered The Film Look standard setup to add a blue accents to the shot. This is to match the colour design of our series coming out soon called the indie film sound guide. In replace of the soft box and shower curtain we use a china Lantern fitted with a single 115 watt bulb and the colour temperature of the camera is set to 5500K. The can light up in the corner is gifted a blue gel to really sell the blue accent. The household bulb has also been swapped with 115 watt bulb. Since this set up is more stylistic we placed a DIY anamorphic adapter in front of the lens which creates some nice soft lens flares and changes the shape of the bokeh from circular – oval.

To complement the blue light we use a 160 LED, kitted with an orange gel positioned down below and facing forward. This gives us blue and orange lens flares on either side of the frame. Finally we use a reflector in front of the subject angled up from the floor to fill in some light under the chin.

Next we have the window setup.

The-Film-Look-Presenting-Setup-3-Window

We've got this nine foot Victorian window which is great for presenting because it lets loads of light in and it's got these really nice symmetrical frames.

Because of the vast amount of light coming in we have to stop down the exposure with an ND filter to keep the sky from blowing out. As this severely under exposes the subject we have two soft boxes on either fitted with 5 115 watt bulbs each we've position as close as possible to the subject without getting in frame. We also used a reflector in front of the subject angled up from the floor to fill in some of the light under the chin.

Finally we have the sit down setup.

The-Film-Look-Presenting-Setup-4-High_Key

This set up is used more for our Sunday show The Film Look vlogs and is pretty straight forward. Two soft boxes fitted with 5, 115 watt bulbs each. One in front, one in the back. Both are angled at 45 degrees to create some nice shadows some fill and edge highlighting.

For low key version we get rid of the soft boxes and instead place desk lamps on the table behind this is the setup. We used this for an episode of story in the car with me and Rob both in shot. The lamps have been diffused using grease proof paper and that’s it.

The-Film-Look-Presenting-Setup-5-Low_Key
Lighting Setups for Presenting.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Studio Life | Vlog #23

 

We messed up the running order this week - apologies! This week Dan Lemon visits to finally sign the Corpse poster and talk about the next film, Rob shows his setup for getting sweet b-roll, and Ed's introduction to the channel starts here!

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!