TEAMWORK

THE FORGOTTEN HERO

In all the excitement about pictures the sound element too often gets forgotten. I've actually heard a 'director' tell the sound recordist that she didn't need any sound at all on a shot! What? Even if you intend to cover a shot with commentary, you still need the background noise of whatever's in the picture - especially if it's a person speaking. Music's the same - in most cases the sound track is much improved by the addition of the bird twitter or whatever effect relates to the visual content.

But many directors remember the sound recordist's requirements only after they've thought about the shot, the performance, the costume, etc. The Sound Crew (usually these days, just one Sound Recordist) has one of the most difficult jobs on the set.

In a radio studio, a post-production Foley suite or in a pop recording session, the Sound Mixer is the key figure in the operation. On a film or television set, the Recordist is only one of many important craftspeople involved. The Sound Department must do its job in harmony with all the others - camera, lighting, design, costume etc.; and must often take a back seat.

So the first requirement of a sound person is thick skin. The next is three arms and four eyes. He needs to hold the fishing rod over his head with two hands while he adjust the recording level with the third. He needs to watch the performer(s) making sure his microphone is in the optimum place and at the best angle. While he's doing that he simultaneously needs to watch the meter on his mixer and keep his fourth eye on the cameraman!

THE EQUIPMENT

The sound recordist's job is to provide the sound that best matches the picture. The main tool for this is, of course, the microphone. There are many kinds of mic, but the three main ones used on video and small film production are:

	The Rifle Microphone. Very directional - the pickup from someone talking in front of the mic is maybe twenty times as much as if he stood behind it. You rarely see this kind of microphone, though; they're generally concealed inside a large grey sausage known as a windshield. It can be used in the hand or mounted on a 'fishing rod'.
	The Clip Microphone. Sometimes (erroneously) referred to as a Lavaliere. It can be clipped onto clothing (though using toupee tape is better) or even hidden in the hair! This sort of microphone is usually used in conjunction with a little radio transmitter than can be carried in a pocket and a receiver that the sound recordist carries.
	The Hand-Held Microphone. Used by singers (often as a prop!) and some American news stations.

So - which do you use? The first choice is the gun or rifle mic. The sound quality from something like the Sennheiser 416 is excellent. It can be used for most drama; for an interview; for a reporter speaking to camera; even recording 'reality' dialogue on board a racing yacht.

Of course if you've got two people riding across a field on horses you wouldn't ask a sound recordist to chase after them with a microphone on a long pole. (Though I have seen a cameraman ride backwards on a horse in this sort of situation!) For any action that's in very long shot or a great distance from the camera you'd probably use a clip with a radio link.

The hand-held comes into its own for musical events (sometimes on a stand) and, perhaps, used by a presenter doing vox pops.

MIXING IT

The next bit of equipment is the mixer. This can be a large multi-channel job on a big drama; but on most small programmes it's a little two or three channel box worn on a sling around the sound recordist's neck. Most of the time the mixer isn't used to 'mix' - it serves as a record level controller. More on level controls later.

The mixer can be fed into a DAT or MiniDisc recorder but, on small productions, it sends its signal to the camera. This can be done by direct cable or by radio link.

The final bit of kit the sound recordist needs is a pair of headphones - universally known as 'cans' for some obscure reason. These are used to monitor the quality of the sound as opposed to the quantity monitored by the meter. The cans can be connected to the output of the mixer or, for greater confidence in what's being recorded, to the output of the camera.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT

There's one more piece of gear that needs mentioning here. A good pair of ears. I know it's obvious, but a good sound recordist must be able to hear nuances in sound that would escape most of us. Until we see hear the thing alongside the picture and think; "Yuk".

Ears are selective in what they hear; microphones aren't. For all sorts of physiological reasons we're able to distinguish the sound we need to hear from the unwanted noise. A microphone doesn't do that. It hears all sounds just as they are. And, if you're on location, you hear things but you don't HEAR them. Something in your brain says, 'Right. There's a waterfall over there behind me, I can see it and I can hear it. All's well with the world'. But when you see the shot on screen you're suddenly aware of that strange splashing noise; where on earth is that coming from?

A good sound recordist develops the ability to distance himself from the actual location and hear noises that you and I would miss. While the cameraman is setting up a shot and lighting it you'll see the sound recordist manoeuvrings his microphone over the actors' heads. He's monitoring not only the sound quality and quantity; he's trying to get the minimum of extraneous noise from the window, the corridor, the air-conditioning ducts.

Press onwards to find out more about the equipment in action