"just say no" to three point lighting - Library - Mount Saint Mary College

A camera operator would never judge
composition and good lighting based
on what he or she hears. Likewise, a
soundperson would be a fool to record
audio based solely on what they see.
Yet all too often, that is exactly
what many novice filmmakers do. They
see their audio meters reacting and,
therefore, assume that good audio is
being recorded. Headphones apparently
only serve the purpose of keeping one’s
neck warm; besides, we all know that
they mess up good hair.
Am I just wisecracking? I wish I
were, but sadly, there are way too many
novice filmmakers out there who do not
take monitoring their audio seriously. In
the classes that I instruct, I will often
(purposely) disconnect the audio feed
from the mixer to the camera, and then
ask everyone after the take, “How is
everything? Picture good? Sound okay?”
More times than not, the camera
operator (with headphones draped
over his or her neck) will grin and give
us a thumbs up! Perhaps the camera
operator stopped paying attention to any
audio, and just concentrated on picture.
Or maybe he or she just assumed that
the live audio from the actors was what
was being recorded. Bottom line: no
usable audio.
Music & Sound
Techniques for
Monitoring Your Soundtrack
The Right Headphones for Location Audio and How to Use Them
by Fred Ginsburg, C.A.S., Ph.D., MBKS
20 studentfilmmakers May 2009
There is absolutely no excuse for
waiting until the shooting day is long
over before evaluating the soundtrack.
Thinking that the sound is fine is not the
same thing as checking that the sound
is fine. Use headphones; and playback
some takes before you move on to the
next major setup.
There are some very simple remedies.
To begin with, the sound mixer, boom
operator, and camera operator should all
be wearing (over the ears, not around the
neck) a pair of high quality headphones.
At least once every few takes, the
boom operator should gently tap the mic
with his finger, or slide his finger along
the windscreen. Check with the camera
operator to make sure that he or she
hears that disturbance clearly through
the headphones. If, for any reason the
camera is not properly connected to the
mixing panel or boom mic, it would be
impossible for the camera operator to
hear the finger tap. Ditto, if the camera
somehow got switched to only pick up
audio from the built-in camera mic.
Let’s examine the issue of
headphones. It is imperative that
the sound person invest in a high
quality pair of professional recording/
engineering headphones.
Headphones intended for location
audio recording share the following
characteristics:
They need to fit comfortably over the
ears, as opposed to just being a foam pad
that sits against the ear. Professional
headphones should provide a modicum
of acoustic isolation by surrounding your
earlobe with a cushioned pad.
The frequency response needs to be
flat, so that what you record is what you
hear. You do not want any headphones
that “improve” the sound by boosting
high or low frequencies, nor adding
“concert hall” reverb. Avoid the so-called
“noise canceling” headphones because
they alter what you hear.
Impedance value for your phones
should be between 40 ohms to 80 ohms;
50 to 65 ohms are most common. Less
than 40 ohms, and your audio will
readily distort. Higher than 80 or so, and
the volume will be too low. Remember,
these headphones are intended to be
used with field recorders and mixers; not
home stereo receivers. Fancy 600 ohm
headphones are fine for music listening
at home because your powered stereo
receiver puts out a very powerful signal;
but plug them in to your camcorder and
you will barely hear a thing.
Another spec to look at is the
maximum wattage that the drivers
(headphones) can accept before self-
destructing. Many inexpensive
headphones will blow out one or both
sides if they are subjected to a short,
but loud burst of audio (such as the
ear-splitting crackle made by a faulty
connection). Good headphones can accept
a full watt or more without damaging.
Cheaper phones can become worthless
with hits of as little as one or two tenths
of a watt!
Get into the habit of cleaning the
inside of your headphones with an
alcohol prep pad. You do not even want
to think about what kinds of germs can
flourish in a sweat fed environment.
Headphone cords are naturally way
too long. If it is a straight cable, then
fold it up into a neat bundle and secure
it with some wraps or cable ties. (Don’t
use an adhesive tape that will leave
sticky residue.) If you are blessed with a
coiled cable, here is a trick for managing
it. Tie a cord at the start of the coils, and
thread that cord through the center of
the all of the coils. Tie it off at the other
end. That will prevent the coiled cord
from stretching out. Should you ever
need the extra length, just untie one end
of the cord.
Once you have acquired your
headphones, the next step is to learn
how to use them.
Adjust your listening volume so that
normal dialogue is smack in the middle
of your comfort zone. A loud burst of
dialogue, such as a shout or a scream,
should be slightly uncomfortable (but not
painful) to hear. Loud enough so that, if
you were on a telephone, you would want
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move the handset a little bit away from
your ear.
If an actor barely whispers, you
should reflexively want to concentrate
hard or make it louder.
When you are using a mixing panel,
you can adjust your headphone volume
relative to the tone generator. Turn
on the tone, and set it so that it reads
at zero on the mixer. Then, gradually
raise the headphone volume until the
tone is slightly uncomfortable, just like
loud dialogue. Remember, when you mix
audio levels, zero should not represent
normal conversation. Those levels should
be several dB below zero.
It is natural for every individual to
set their headphone listening level to a
different physical volume knob setting.
Our hearing and sensitivity varies from
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May 2009 studentfilmmakers 21