A Sound Decision

Here begins my new motive to offer tips and advice for other filmmakers. The order of the blog entries will not reflect the order of importance for the recommendations. I am not that organized.

This first recommendation is a biggie, though. HIRE A GOOD SOUND PERSON! I can't stress enough the importance of good sound in your movie. It's much easier to fool an audience's eyes than their ears. Whatever you do, don't skimp in the sound budget for your movie. If you don't have any budget to speak of (even though you should have at least SOMETHING - more on that tip later), barter with a willing and talented individual who will make it their sole purpose to record great sound for your movie.

I highly recommend my sound engineer, Jim, and my boom operator, Lion, who did a knock up job of capturing great audio even in less than ideal situations. Oh, yeah, along with a good sound engineer, you need a qualified boom operator. I didn't realize just how important it was to have a good boom operator until I saw how Lion and Jim worked together. They were absolutely seemless in their execution. Jim would set up his mini-studio 10-50 feet away from the scene and he and Lion would communicate inconspicuously through headphones as they worked out the best location for the boom.

As I've been editing the last few weeks I've been amazed at the difference between the reference audio (sound recorded by the camera) and the professionaly recorded audio. Once I replace the bad audio for the good audio, the scene really comes to life. It's an extra step in the editing process, but it is absolutely worth it.

Whatever you do, please don't use the camera's built-in microphone for your movie's audio. If you absolutely can't afford to hire a sound person, buy or rent a high-quality microphone and a boom pole and practice with a buddy willing to help you for free. Yes, spend some time practicing before you get on set. Shoot some scenes together and then cut the footage to hear what was done well and what wasn't.

But, really, get a good sound person. It's worth it.

~ Justen