Notes from the "Audio & Video Production Techniques" session on Saturday

Feel free to add your notes to this page too! -- David.

Notes on video and audio production

• choose your own "look and style" the "professional" look is not the only style for video, focus on creating your own look, like your own voice, all these tools have their place, but we can get away with lots of things, the content is what it's about and where everything starts
• that said, if you want or need "higher production values" you can invest in sound, camera, lighting, and I would say in that order. Invest in good sound as a first step. If you're doing only audio, then you're there. If you are doing video, prioritize geting good audio

Handheld Microphones:

• Electro-Voice RE50 Omni-directional Microphone, the industry standard interview microphone
• Sennheiser MD46 Cardioid Microphone, an excellent interview microphone
• Cardioid or Omnidirectional? Cardioid: better off-axis sound rejection, Omnidirectional: less critical mic placement

Shotgun Mic:

• Rode, Audio-Technica, and Sennheiser all make good shotguns, it's like buying speakers, you have to listen for what you like
• Rycote Softie (or equivalent) wind protection and shock-mount pistol grip an essential acccessory for working with shotgun mics
• Boom pole optional and a pain to carry (thus I don't own one)

Fool the white balance by setting white balance while putting a gel over the lens, thsi fools the white balance setting, for example,

• Use 1/4 CTB (blue) or 1/8 CTB (blue) over lens when setting white balance to make the overall sceen warmer
• Use 1/4 CTO (orange) or 1/8 CTO (orange) over lens when setting white balance to make the overall sceen cooler
• Experiment with other colors
• Goal to establish baseline before going into color correction in post

Cameras:

• Sony HVR-A1U offers small size, HDV or DV shooting, and the option of using two XLR pro-audio inputs (Mic/Line w/ 48V Phantom Power) or built-in stereo microphone
• Canon S410 and it's ilk of small digital still cameras shoot movies too when you don't want to carry gear, larger cameras offer more flexibility
• New iSight camera built into Mac Book Pro is interesting too
• P2 Workflow with Panasonic HVX-200 is interesting

For more information:

• DVinfo.net user community with lots of video and audio discussion, "real-people, real-information" philosophy
• DVXUser.com user community with lots of video and audio discussion, somewhat focused on Panasonic cameras
• Kino-Eye.com (my blog for some articles and more references)