Movie making equipment? Help needed :) +Audio Question?

Question

I want to start movie making again. I made a LOT on my digital blue when I was younger, and I miss the whole experience of it. So now that I'm older, I want to find some good equipment.

And by equipment I mean a camera and way of recording audio. :P

Video

*For cameras, what's a good digital video camera that will give good quality results, but not SUPER expensive? (I cant afford anything like 3k, my range is a few hundred.)

*Is it better to record to a memory card, or to a tape, quality wise? (All digital cameras, mind you)

Audio

I have a question about audio; in movies, how do they get it to flow so well without making noise when you piece the clips together? Anyone who's made a movie with just a digital snapshop camera will get this;

Is a boom mic the answer? How do they work anyway?

And if I should get one, how much do they run for? If not, what kind of mic should I get?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Best video quality continues to come from miniDV tape based camcorders.

Least expensive miniDV based camcorders with a mic in jack (but no manual audio) are the Canon ZR900 and ZR930. The "DV" in "miniDV" = "digital video". Digital video tape, flash memory and hard drive based camcorders all store video digitally. MiniDV tape store in DV (or HDV) format which is the least compressed of the available consumer storage media. MiniDV tape based camcorders transfer video using firewire, so your computer needs a firewire port. Macs have had a firewire 400 port for years, Windows computers sometimes have them - and if your computer has an expansion slot available, they can be added. You will also need a firewire cable - they generally are not included in the box with the camcorder. Adding a firewire port is generally cheap - and easy to do if there is an available expansion slot.

Flash memory and hard disc drive (HDD) camcorders use the same storage formats. The Canon FS10 or FS100 may be in your budget range. They are flash memory based camcorders with a mic jack. They may have manual audio control, too - download and read through their manuals at Canon.com to confirm that.

I have given up on HDD based camcorders because of their problems with vibration (loud bands, motors, etc) and high altitude (over ~9,600 feet), recovering data from the hard drive when dropped or otherwise broken, and a few other data archive issues.

No one should ever waste their money on a DVD based camcorder - and anyone who bought one should be allowed to return it for a full refund.

On your audio question: In big budget movie production, the film cameras don't record audio. The audio tracks are recorded to separate audio-specific equipment. This is one of the reasons a "slate" or "clapper" is used - it is easy to sync the visual of the snap from the slate with the sound of the snap on the audio...

Sometimes, in smaller budget productions when camcorders are used and the audio is captured by the camcorder, the audio and video is captured for the entire scene, then the camera is moved to the next angle and the scene is reshot. During editing, the audio is extracted from the "good" capture and left intact while the video is cut back and forth... I hope this makes sense...

On your audio equipment item: When filming scenes with dialog, it is typically best to get the mic as close to the audio source as possible. Sometimes, this means the camera needs to be 10 feet away. Because the camera's built-in mics are not so good at that distance, an external mic is the only way to get the mic closer. Mounting the mic to the camcorder will create the same problem. Getting the mic closer (with a cable or wireless) lets you separate the mic and camcorder.

Boom mics are typically "shotgun" mics that are very directional. The good (expensive) ones (like those from Sennheiser - ot the high-end ones from Audio Technica) also have mic elements pointing to the sides of the mic so they can reject any audio from the sides and allow the "main" mic to pick up the audio only directly in front. There are affordable shotgun mics that work pretty well like the Audio Technica ATR-55 or the NRG Research SA-568 or the RODE Video Mic (but this one normally stays mounted to the camcorder). Of course, this means a boom operator person is needed. For a boom, you can use a stick... or one of those telescoping light changer things from a hardware store, but they can get heavy after a while (which is why they even make the expensive light-weight pro poles).

If the cable connecting the boom mic is going to be longer than 15 feet, you really should use "balanced" cables and XLR connectors so you don't pick up RF (radio frequency) or EM (electromagnetic) interference. Since consumer camcorders with a mic jack typically use 1/8" (3.5mm) mic jacks, that means an XLR adapter (like those from juicedLink or BeachTek). You can try an XLR-1/8" cable tail, but that is a lot of weight on the 1/8" jack and you really don't want that breaking off in the camcorder so be VERY careful. This is why wired pro-grade mics are all XLR, good mising boards and field recorders are XLR and pro-grade camcorders are XLR for audio input. That's why I like the SA-568 - it uses either XLR or 1/8" and it "normal" or "tele" switchable.

You might also consider a shock mount when mounting a mic to a boom pole. Like a Sabra SMM-1 universal shock mount.

Another method is to use a wireless lavaliere. You can hide the mic element under clothing (tape to skin using moleskin or some other gentle adhesive so you don't irritate or tear skin off when removing the mic) and the body pack clips to a belt or pants waist. Some base stations need AC power - there are a few for "ENG" (electronic news gathering) that have battery powered base stations. Audio Technica makes an affordable one - Sennheiser and Sony (Pro - not consumer) make good pro grade units that use battery powered base stations

Answer 2

If you're serious, then you need to be looking at something that will enable you to have a good level of manual control over what you're doing. That might mean recording to tape, and for that I'd recommend something like the Canon HV30 HDV/DV (switchable) camcorder. It's great quality and you can plug in mics, headphones, etc. You can also stream out your tape contents to a computer via firewire.

Alternatively, the new generation of high def camcorders that record to high capacity flash memory (SDHC, Memory Stick) are also getting better and better - with the latest models letting you plug in mics and headphones, etc. The most popular HD format is now AVCHD, with good reason because it's very good.

You need to be thinking about spending upwards of £599 though to get the facilities you need. Look at the new Canon HG20, HG21, HF11 or Panasonic HDC-SD100, HDC-HS100 for the very latest in solid state and HDD-based hig def recording. I've used the SD100 and also the Canon HF11 and they're excellent.

As for "boom mics", what precisely are you referring to? A directional mic on the end of a fishpole or a directional mic sitting on the camcorder? I assume the latter, in which case look at Canon's own mic (I've forgotten what it's called - details on their website) and that has as plug in to the camcorder which means that you're ready to roll with nobody else involved and no wires!