Sound Recording for Motion Pictures (1960)

sound recording for Motion Pictures a class project in advanced production educational author Merlin C herck production supervisor audiovisual Center Indiana University faculty adviser Bruce R Buckley the objective of the soundman is to record intelligible sound this is easily done in a professional studio that is acoustically treated for sound recording a cork floor helps to quiet the movements of crew and Equipment the ceiling and walls were constructed to eliminate outside noise and treated to reduce reverberation but Film Production units often have to record synchronous sound on locations which are far from ideal such as in this office the walls Windows floor and ceiling are hard surfaces which reflect sound waves causing excessive reverberation [Music] outside sounds and building noises which ordinarily go unnoticed to the ear will be picked up by a microphone in planning for the recording session the soundman must consider three problems acoustical treatment of the room controlling or avoiding unwanted noise and choice and placement of microphones a rough sketch of the set helps the soundman position his equipment in cooperation with the cameraman and lighting crew the sound Man's first consideration is choice and placement of the microphone the choice of a microphone depends on the subject's position and actions and the area from which the sound is to be picked up or excluded the microphone should be mounted in such a way that it is isolated from mechanical vibrations its placement depends upon the camera's field of view for example in this scene the subject remains seated depends not only upon the Cooperative efforts of the department within the school but success also depends upon your spiritual and monetary support as well the microphone is placed as close to the subject as possible and adjusted so that its pattern will pick up his voice and be less sensitive to sounds coming from other directions on the set Professor I seem to be having some trouble neutralizing this acid solution what are you using for an indicator I used phenol a scene involving two or more people in which the microphone cannot be easily concealed it may be suspended from a boom the boom can be moved to follow the actors keeping the microphone close at all times take this back well I wish I were in New York City hey [Music] when recording a larger group a microphone with an OM directional pickup pattern may be suspended from [Music] above after [Music] Brown when recording Outdoors the only control of sound quality is the selection and placement of the microphone as shown in these examples microphone selection and placement is the first important element in good sound recording with the microphone placed the next consideration is the acoustical treatment of the set in most location recording an untreated set produces excessive reverberation enclosing the area with acoustical materials reduces the degree of reverberation highly porous materials are used to absorb sound in this set the sound absorbing materials include a thick rug heavy drapes and acoustical tile Flats these materials differ in their effectiveness ordinary drapery material provides a minimum of control while a thick rug better reduces reflected sound waves specially designed acoustical tile is among the most efficient sound absorbing materials the holes in this fibrous material greatly increase its sound absorbing ability The Sound Energy absorbed is changed into Mane amounts of heat the combined materials in this set reduce the excessive reverberation giving intelligibility and a lifik quality to the recording a rehearsal provides a check of the effectiveness of the Sound Treatment in the past years your support has always been watching The V meter the assistant soundman adjusts the recording level that in these Dynamic times your efforts will continue to be unflagging he may indicate that the sound is still too live or reverberant the sound man suggests that some of the flats be moved in closer additional acoustical material is sometimes used to fill in an open area that may be causing reverberation problems the final position of the flats lights and equipment should be checked by looking through the viewfinder of the camera to be sure they will be out of frame during shooting to maintain consistent sound quality from scene to scene further changes in the acoustical treatment should be kept to a minimum so that the microphone will not pick up the noise of the running camera a blimp or soundproof housing is placed around the camera okay let's have a sound check we're getting a hum from something occasionally an electrical disturbance will cause a hum in the recording equipment hum can usually be eliminated through a few simple checks reversing the AC power plug checking the ground connection separating microphone and power cables they should cross only at right angles and if parallel be at least 2 ft apart nearby Motors and fluorescent lights are often a source of unwanted sound with unwanted sounds eliminated the location acoustically treated and the microphone placed the sound man is ready to make a quality recording all right places everybody quite on the set this is a rehearsal sound ready sound ready camera ready camera ready roll sound rolling roll camera rolling slate