Today we did some test recordings, these included recording various atmospheres and dialogue tracks. These test recordings have helped me understand which mic placements work better for each style of recording and which mic patterns are best to use.
I used a Marantz Solid State Recorder, Rode NT2, AKG C3000 Microphones & Boom poles for the recordings
When recording people dialogue i noticed the further away the mic was from the person who was speaking, the level of natural reverb and boxiness on the recording increased a lot. To work out the best position for the microphone I gradually lowered the mic to obtain the best mic position to reduce these problems. This is heard in the recordings.
When recording atmospheres on location i noticed that every little knock, whether this be knocking the xlr cable or slightly knocking the boom pole was picked up by the microphone. This caused the level on the Marantz to peak which in turn ruined the audio recording. To resolve this we held the boom stand carefully and made sure there was enough headroom on the input level to account for increases in volume. I used an omni directional polar pattern for the atmosphere sounds so i could pick up all the sound around me all at once. The selection of location recordings were chosen due to certain atmospheres that are needed for selected scenes in the film.
Test Recordings –