Editing and Sound

180 Degree Rule Review

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdyyuqmCW14

Montage Definitions

• Soviet montage theory is an approach to understanding and creating cinema that relies heavily upon editing

• In classical Hollywood cinema, a "montage sequence" is a short segment in a film in which narrative information is presented in a condensed fashion.

Montage

• Blue Velvet• Psycho• Raging Bull• Citizen Kane

Montage Technique

• Camera needs to move anywhere from 25 to 45 degrees in order to make a smooth transition

• When moving through different symbolic shots—it is important to change up the angles and image sizing

• Think about visual impact

Sound Recording

• Video is on the screen, but sound is everywhere!

• People can become engrossed in scenes with shaky camera or possibly bad lighting, but if the sound is bad you lose your audience

• Also, if sound peaks—over-modulates it is unusable

What is sound?

• Sound is energy that travels through a medium like air as a wave

• When something makes a sound, it causes molecules of the air to vibrate, i.e. to alternately bunch together (compress) and to move apart (rarefy)

Ears and Brain

• When sound waves hit your ear, they cause your ear drum to vibrate, which in turn sends nerve impulses to your brain.

• This allows you to perceive the vibrations as sound

Microphone

• When sound waves hit a microphone, they cause a diaphragm inside the mic to vibrate which generates an electrical current known as the audio signal. This can be sent to an audio recorder

Dynamic Mics

• Dynamic mics don’t need a battery

• Rugged• Cheap• Handle loud sounds• Not sensitive to soft

sounds

Condenser Mics

• More sensitive than dynamic mics

• They have a greater frequency response

• They need a battery• They can’t handle

very loud sounds

Dynamic

Dynamic microphones use a simple magnet and coil of wire to convert sound waves intoa signal. Here’s how it works: a thin diaphragm with a coil of fine wire attached vibrates whenstruck by sound waves. This causes the coil of wire to move back and forth around a magnet,creating a small amount of electricity, which flows out of the microphone’s connector andthrough the microphone cable.

Condenser Condenser microphones (sometimes called electret condenser microphones) use aneven thinner diaphgragm than the dynamic type stretched tight just above a piece of flatmetal or metal-coated ceramic, called a backplate. When a fixed electrical charge is placed on the diaphragm/backplate assembly, its electrical output varies depending on themovements of the diaphragm, which vibrates in response to sound waves. This output signalis extremely weak and subject to outside electrical interference, however, so it must bemodified and/or amplified by a circuit called a preamplifier

Balanced Audio Cable

XLR (X-linked lymphocyte regulated) cables have 3 pins, a circular connector and are used to deliver balanced microphone and line-level signals over long distances. An XLR cable's ability to deliver a balanced signal means that the final audio signal will have less unwanted noise from outside electrical interferences. This preserves the original audio signal, even over long distances and near other electronic devices.

1/8 to XLR Connector

Zoom mic and Shotgun

Directional

• Omni-directional • Cardioid • Shotgun (uni-directional)

Omnidirectional – An omnidirectional microphone picks up sound equally from alldirections (the prefix “omni” means “all”). An omni mic will pick up sound from above, below,in front of, behind, and to the side of the mic in a 360 degree sphere. The polar pattern for anomni, accordingly, is roughly circular.

Cardiod: Unidirectional

By far the most common type of unidirectional microphone is the cardioid, so namedbecause its polar pattern resembles a heart-shaped figure.

Shotgun

• Doesn’t zoom in on sounds• It narrows the field of sounds it’s sensitive to • Cuts out undesirable sounds

Shotgun – The shotgun microphone is so named becausethe long, slotted tube in front of the microphone cartridge makesit resemble a shotgun. This “interference tube” makes shotgunmics significantly less sensitive to sound coming from the sideand rear than other directional microphones. A shotgun mic’sextremely directional pickup pattern (called a line/gradientpattern) makes these popular for news gathering, outdoor sportscoverage and TV/film production.

Tips Shotgun mics can bepositioned slightly above, below, or to the side of thesound source, so that the mic does not appear in thecamera frame. Try to avoid aiming the mic at a hardsurface, such as a tile floor, brick wall, or hard ceiling.These surfaces reflect sound waves, and may reflectbackground noise into the microphone or cause thesound to be slightly hollow. A heavy blanket can beplaced on a reflective surface to provide sometemporary sound absorption. Shotgun mics are moresensitive to wind noise than standard microphones,so try to avoid moving the mic rapidly and use a foam windscreen if possible. Larger“zeppelin” or “blimp” type windscreens are usually necessary outdoors. Also, it’s agood idea to use a rubber-isolated shock mount to control handling noise that maybe transmitted through a stand or boom.

Audio Recorders

• Nagra• Digital Audio Recorders

Tips and Tricks

• Position the mic as close to the source as possible

• Especially important when recording dialogue

• The difference between great footage and unusable footage is whether or not the dialogue is well recorded or not

• Controlled situations are easier to work with

Headphones

• Always where headphones—preferably ones that cover your ears

Problems with Camera Mics

• They can’t detach• They tend to be omni-directional• They pic up sound from the camera

External Mic

• Using an external mic• The camera can be placed

for visuals while the microphone can be placed for best possible audio

• Audio cable noise• Keep mic and sound

person out of the shot

Lavalier Mic • It can be clipped to

your subject’s shirt

Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Sound

• http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/11/23/246916733/a-sound-of-fear-forged-in-the-shadow-of-war?utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprfacebook&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook

Diegetic

• Part of the story world of the film

Offscreen Sound

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS1C7kzn-FA