hi to evereyone,
I must direct a movie, so i want the better audio for my low budget (about 300 euros..).So, i've already have the videocamera, (gs400), and a cardioid microphone electret (is mono and i payed for it 70 euros..about 100 dollars).So, i know that this microphone is not very good, and i've some questions:
-Is it better to buy a dat (portable, not big) or a minidisc and record all there??
-would be better if I buyed a dat or minidisc and also a shotgun microphone? (liche at815b or at835b..)
-do you advice to me to connect the microphone to the videocamera or to dat or minidisc??why??

please, could you advice to me a good microphone and a good dat or minidisc recorder , but for spending max about 400 dollars (for all..)???i worry if i buy the minidisc, i know that there are copyright proplems to upload audio on pc or mac..(i've a MAC..)
let me know..it's very important!
thanks so much!!
bye!
joseph

I think you'd be wiser to spend the money on a better mic and lights and record to camera. Have you seen this by the way? It complicates the issue.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Major-Audio-Noise-Problem-found-on-Panasonic-PV-GS400.htm

The #1 thing you could do is to get your microphone closer. There are various ways to accomplish this, but the method that does best in the most situations is to get a boom mic.

You need:

boom- there should be do-it-yourself instructions around this forum. You might also need a thread adapter + shockmount.

(in your case) shielded microphone extension cable. With an unbalanced signal, you may encounter problems with interference on long lengths.

'hairballs'- the elastic stuff women use to tie their hair into ponytails. This is used to keep your cable more manageable.

boom operator

I'm sure others here on this forum will chip in with better advice.

Alternate approaches:

Find other filmmakers in your area with sound gear. www.mandy.com is one place to look, as is the appropriate forum here (helping hands).

Rent. With some places, you can get a lower price if you're friends with them and/or you mention that you're independent filmmakers.

Not-so-good suggestions:

Get a wide-angle adapter and shoot up close. The microphone will be closer when you shoot closer. You may not like the creative limitations of doing this.

ADR ('automated' dialogue replacement). Basically you dub over the sound in post. Very time-consuming, although it surprisingly doesn't take much gear nowadays. Get Jay Rose's book Audio Postproduction for Digital Video for details on how to do this (dplay.com for buying instructions).

Get a shotgun microphone (i.e. Sennheiser MKE300, which uses mini-plug and mounts on your camcorder's hotshoe), which is a little more directional than a cardioid. It's not significantly more directional than a cardioid so you are better off moving your mic closer. Also... shotguns don't sound too well indoors (you can work around this with sound blankets).