Joel had booked an interview with Sarah Sativa, a prominent cannabis campaigner. Unfortunately I could not be there for the interview so James kindly stepped in and offered to record sound. He admitted to being a bit rusty with the sound so I went through the kit he would use for the interview and how best to use it.
For the interviews I decided it was best to record with the Sennheiser 416 as it is a mono mic with a narrow pick up field to filter out any unnecessary background noise. It would be extended on a boom pole just out of frame to reduce to signal to noise ratio. If we were filming on a DSLR we would record the audio to a Zoom h5/h4n as DSLRs aren't built to handle audio. However if we are filming on the XF305 we would record straight to the camera as it would save time trying to sync it up in post.
Are next interview was with another cannabis campaigner. I was available for this one and we were filming with a Canon XF305, this meant I could record straight into the camera as it has XLR inputs. It did mean however that I had to stand behind the camera while recording so I could monitor and adjust the levels where necessary. Due to standing so far back the boom pole was extended quite far so Joel thoughtfully took a break mid-interview so I could put it down for a few minutes.
A photo of us recording our second interview
We are planning on using some stylish looking footage as cutaways while we can hear the voices for the interviews. I thought it would be useful to get some sounds to go with these cutaways such as the lighting and smoking of a joint. I used a lapel microphone to try and recreate some of the sounds made. I felt it was a suitable microphone as I could get extremely close to the subject due to tiny size of the microphone. I also recorded with a sample rate of 96khz, which gives the audio a higher resolution, to give me maximum flexibility in post if I wanted to slow the audio down.
Recording the sound of a lighter (using the book as a kind of stand to clip the mic onto)
Attempt 1. at trying to recreate the sound of a joint burning by placing the mic on an incense stick
Attempt 2. Using rolled up plastic sheet and letting it expand next to the mic
Attempt 3. Rolling up cling film into a ball around the microphone head and letting it unravel. This worked best as it provided quite a realistic crackling sound.
I had to record all these sounds in my bathroom as there was too much background noise in my room due to the busy road outside.
I had seen a TED Talk on YouTube about recording sound effects and it mentioned that the sound of clingfilm unravelling could be used to replicate the sound of a cigarette being smoked. This gave me the idea to try and create that sound.
I also did a small amount of research using the book The Sound Effects Bible (Ric Viers, 2008)
The Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers
For our third and final interview Joel had arranged a woman who would like to remain anonymous. By this point I had been inducted and allowed access to radio mics. I decided to use them for this interview as they are a lot less invasive and intimidating to the interviewee than a mic on a boom pole. This means you often get more honest answers as they can forget they're wearing it.
Tom couldn't be there for this interview so Amy and I filmed. We used an LED light panel to fill the background so the interviewee would be in darkness in the foreground. Amy also filmed close up shots that also retained her anonymity.
Radio mic set up with Zoom h5
Interview set up
Sound log sheet for anonymous interview
For the interviews I decided it was best to record with the Sennheiser 416 as it is a mono mic with a narrow pick up field to filter out any unnecessary background noise. It would be extended on a boom pole just out of frame to reduce to signal to noise ratio. If we were filming on a DSLR we would record the audio to a Zoom h5/h4n as DSLRs aren't built to handle audio. However if we are filming on the XF305 we would record straight to the camera as it would save time trying to sync it up in post.
Are next interview was with another cannabis campaigner. I was available for this one and we were filming with a Canon XF305, this meant I could record straight into the camera as it has XLR inputs. It did mean however that I had to stand behind the camera while recording so I could monitor and adjust the levels where necessary. Due to standing so far back the boom pole was extended quite far so Joel thoughtfully took a break mid-interview so I could put it down for a few minutes.
We are planning on using some stylish looking footage as cutaways while we can hear the voices for the interviews. I thought it would be useful to get some sounds to go with these cutaways such as the lighting and smoking of a joint. I used a lapel microphone to try and recreate some of the sounds made. I felt it was a suitable microphone as I could get extremely close to the subject due to tiny size of the microphone. I also recorded with a sample rate of 96khz, which gives the audio a higher resolution, to give me maximum flexibility in post if I wanted to slow the audio down.
I had to record all these sounds in my bathroom as there was too much background noise in my room due to the busy road outside.
I had seen a TED Talk on YouTube about recording sound effects and it mentioned that the sound of clingfilm unravelling could be used to replicate the sound of a cigarette being smoked. This gave me the idea to try and create that sound.
I also did a small amount of research using the book The Sound Effects Bible (Ric Viers, 2008)
For our third and final interview Joel had arranged a woman who would like to remain anonymous. By this point I had been inducted and allowed access to radio mics. I decided to use them for this interview as they are a lot less invasive and intimidating to the interviewee than a mic on a boom pole. This means you often get more honest answers as they can forget they're wearing it.
Tom couldn't be there for this interview so Amy and I filmed. We used an LED light panel to fill the background so the interviewee would be in darkness in the foreground. Amy also filmed close up shots that also retained her anonymity.
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