When we talk about video we often only think about the image; is it going to look good, how should I frame it or light it. More often than not, little consideration is given to the sound.
I have a rule of thumb and that is, the investment you make on a camera should be matched by the investment you make on audio gear. It’s kind of like when you buy a boat, you need to invest the same amount into the motor as you do the hull, even though the hull is the biggest and most obvious part.
So let’s simplify and break down how to use (and think about) the audio component of video. When we ‘frame up’ our scene with the camera it’s easy to work out which lens to use, you can quickly see if you need a wide angle lens or a telephoto; the question you ask yourself when framing up is, “can I see everything I need to see?”. The same method should be used when we consider audio, can I hear everything I need to hear? Long telephoto lenses zoom us into the scene, in the same respect ‘Long Shotgun’ microphones zoom into the sound; it’s all about choosing the right microphone for the job.
Probably one of the main reasons we neglect to take microphones into consideration is that firstly, most of us naturally come from a photography or visual approach. We have been taking still photos for a long time, whilst the ‘moving’ picture was available to a select few… that is until recently. With the creation of handycams, and video ability on DSLRs and even our mobile phones, video is now everywhere. But how many of you have said, “Hmmm what microphone should I buy?”, when you are considering what camera to buy?
The second reason, I believe, is that we are buying most of our video gear from camera stores. It makes sense, they are both types of cameras, a video camera and a still camera. The problem with that is that not many of them are equipped to sell audio gear and often wouldn’t know much much about it (no offence to Ted or Mr Paxton, but this is just my experience).
Now for some handy recommendations. There is not one mic that will work for all situations but there are a couple that will do most. If I was told I could only choose one mic and one lens, then I would definitely choose a lapel mic and a 50mm f1.8 lens (don’t get bamboozled by this, every camera shop will know what this means). The lapel microphone is my number one choice as you can get it close to the speaker’s mouth without it being too obvious, and the 50mm lens as it gives a really nice ‘short depth of field’, ie. somewhat blurry background and a really sharp foreground/subject. This set up will tick the vast majority of boxes you need ticked in your business, such as filming your team members or clients in an interview setting or for direct video messages.
Much of the research on video has demonstrated that people can put up with a slightly ‘dodgy’ visual image in a video, as long as the sound is perfectly audible. But if you can’t hear what the person is saying, people will ‘click away’ regardless of how nice the image is.
So my advice? Don’t neglect sound! It is often the most underrated component of any video you need to make.