Talking heads documentary

[Ana Conlon]

I'm in the process of preparing to film a talking heads documentary. As audio isn't my strength I wanted to ask for advice. I hopefully can use the audio equipment I already have as budget is an issue.

I currently have;

3 zoom h1's and
3 giant squid lav's.
Sennheiser G3 transmitter and receiver.
rode ntc-2 and
zoom h4n.

I wanted to know if I could use any of these or a combination of them to record the talking heads. The environment for each talking head will be silent and controlled. Finally if I can what would be the best setting and set up?

Thanks in advance

[Jay Massengill]

What's the greatest number of subjects and interviewer or interviewers that will be recorded at one time?

What camera or cameras will you be using?

How many crew people will be at each recording session?

Did you mean Rode NTG-2 mic?

It's good you have a quiet and controlled environment to shoot in, hopefully it's also well treated to not be reverberent.

[Oren Arieli]

Will any of these be recorded outdoors? Does the lav need to be hidden? Do you know if there will be any constant background noise (traffic, fans, air-conditioners, etc.)?

[Ana Conlon]

Sorry they are all really obvious relevent questions

All in doors with very little background noise and one speaker at a time the interviewer won't be included in the audio. it will be filmed on Dslr 7d and 5d Mark ii and its the rode ntg-2 with 2 crew

I guess the lav doesn't need to be hidden but I'd prefer it wasn't very obvious

[Richard Crowley]

The most obvious solution would appear to be using the Rode NTG-2 on a fixed boom just out of camera frame (assuming close-up framing). The Zoom H4n recording audio AND sending audio to the camera. There is a good chance that you can simply use the audio track from the video and not have to fiddle with synchronizing the audio track from the H4n.

[Brian Berg]

What is the pickup pattern on the Sennheiser? If it's an omnidirectional, you might find an inconspicuous spot between the talking heads and place it there. I personally would record audio in as many ways as possible. You not only have backups, but if one feed is too dry and an other too reverberant, you can blend them together. You might find the one method you thought wouldn't work well, actually worked best.

[Jay Massengill]

At the bare minimum I would add an attenuating cable with a headphone jack, to go between your Zoom H4n and your primary camera's mic-level input.

As already suggested, use the Rode NTG-2 on a static boomstand just above the frame, connected to your Zoom H4n.

I would also use a wired lavalier mic, also connected to the Zoom H4n. You could get a wired XLR adapter for one of the mini-connector lavs you already have, or buy a basic wired lav like a Shure SM93 for about $155.

You could of course use your Sennheiser wireless set or one of your H1 recorders with the Giant Squid lav, but neither of those will be as reliable or as easy to use as a wired mic.

You should also make certain your secondary camera is recording good enough audio to aid in syncing the video files in post-production. I would also make sure both cameras have their time and date clocks set identically to aid in keeping the files organized.

How many people will you be recording for the project? And how long is it planned for each to talk? The more total people and the longer each talks, the more benefit I think you would get from buying a wired lavalier mic.

[Shaun Roemich]

My Go-To standard for seated interview capture is a lavaliere mic for close mic-ing and as other have suggested an overhead boom mic JUST out of frame, recorded to separate channels.

I haven't historically had GREAT experience with Sennheiser Evolution 100 wireless but just completed a project with 4 interviews totalling 3 hours of footage and didn't take a single RF hit for likely the first time ever using a Senny kit so...

[Rick Reineke]

"I guess the lav doesn't need to be hidden but I'd prefer it wasn't very obvious "
- If your not skilled in hiding mics, don't go there. All kind of rubbing/cable noises can arise. It seems easy, but it ain't, even seasoned film sound pros do not get it right 100% of the time. Mount externally in the usual sternum area of the chest on the shirt lapel or tie with the typical '9dB loop' for isolation.
An attenuation cable would be recommended as well to match the H4n's headphone output to the DSLR mic level input. Sescom and Hosa makes these cables

[Ana Conlon]

Brian Berg-The Giant Squid Audio Lab is an Omni Mono Lavalier Microphone... I take your point about collecting audio from several different points I will defiantly do this

Jay Massengill- will the attenuating cable with a headphone jack allow me to record onto the Zoom H4n and directly onto the camera at the same time? I'm assuming having the headphone jack allows me to monitor the audio?

Rick Reineke- I also take your point about skill fully hiding the mic. Really its not important to have it hidden. I have little experience with situating lavs so I best play it safe here.

Based on all the advice above what I'm thinking I will do is;

The rode Rode NTG-2 on a static boomstand just out of shot into the ZoomH4n
The Sennheiser Evolution with one of my giant squid mics to record directly into my 5D Mark ii
and for added protection the zoom h1 with a giant squid lav also.

(Is it a bit excessive to use 2 lavs on one speaker? I could ask the speakers to ware dark clothes so the lav isn't so obvious.)

or

The rode Rode NTG-2 on a static boomstand just out of shot into the ZoomH4n
and get an XLR adapter for one of my lav's to record directly into the ZoomH4n as well
Then use my seenheiser video mic on my Mark ii (forgot to mention that one) to collect audio for syncing purposes.

I don't mind syncing the audio as I have a lot of experience in this without much issue.

[Rick Reineke]

"(Is it a bit excessive to use 2 lavs on one speaker?"
It's done all the time for live TV.. news shows and such, usually with a dual mount. TRAM Microphones BDTB Tie Bar, Double Holder, Black, BDTB | Full Compass
But a single lav in conjunction with properly placed boom should be enough and easier to deal with.

[Jay Massengill]

Yes the attenuating cable with a built-in headphone connector allows you to use the single output jack from the Zoom H4n to feed both a pair of headphones to monitor the H4n, and send a mic-level signal to the camera.

You can't monitor the 7D directly while shooting unless you are using Magic Lantern software and some special cables. But if you've matched the H4n output levels to the camera's input levels while using the attenuating cable, and then leave the headphone volume on the H4n alone, you should be able to get a good signal recorded to the camera. (The new 7D mkII has a headphone jack I've read.)

As a reminder to all new readers here, make sure not to mix the two mics (lav and boom) while recording. The H4n can be set to do this in the menu, but you must avoid that! Once the two mics are mixed in an original recording, you can't separate them, and that mixed signal would also get passed to the camera as well.

Any mixing and panning to the center of two nearby mics must be done in post-production where you can undo it if you don't like it.

You'll simply have to get used to monitoring a different mic in each ear while recording.