Hey Guys - I'm an audio newbie and I'm about to attempt my first short that uses sound and dialog and I could use some recommendations. I own all the camera equipment, but I will be RENTING whatever audio equipment I'm going to need.

Here's my scenario:

I'm shooting with an XL2 in a New York City park. It's not a particularly noisy location, but it's in the vicinity of a dog park and I'd like to minimize the background barking as much as possible (other "park" sounds - birds chirping or the occasional car passing is okay). The entire project will take place on a single park bench.

I own an Audio-Technica ATR-55 shotgun, but that's all. What other equipment would you guys recommend I rent? It's a 1 day shoot and I'm trying to keep my rental costs under $500. Should I forget my ATR55 and rent a Sennheiser MKH 60-1 or something of the like? Should I use the XLR inputs on the XL2 or am I better off renting some sort of recording device?

I'm a total newbie when it comes to this setup so I'm thankful for any input. Thanks!

My experience is that the audio is a little noisy when coming into the camera. But it's definitely the easiest thing to do. If you make sure you have a decent boom, and a windscreen that should do the trick.

MKH 60, boom, mic cable, foam wind screen or rycote softie or zeppelin, Sound Devices 302 mixer, mixer to camera snake, Sony MDR7506 headphones.

Regards,

Ty Ford

PS; boom operator

MKH 60, boom, mic cable, foam wind screen or rycote softie or zeppelin, Sound Devices 302 mixer, mixer to camera snake, Sony MDR7506 headphones.

Regards,

Ty Ford

PS; boom operator

Perfect. Thank you.

Charles,

If this is a locked down shot with only one person on camera and they aren't moving around much, I have a little rig I use to hold the boom.

It's a light stand with a grip head and a fishing rod holder. To see a little movie of it, go to the video folder in my online archive at

http://tinyurl.com/yo8doe and download Ty's boom.mov

The boom never moves, the camera op always knows exactly where it is. You do have to make sure the talent doesn't wander, but it's a very handy rig that allows me to use my Schoeps cmc641 on the boom.

The Schoeps is just out of frame. There aren't many cases where that mic doesn't sound exponentially better than a lav.

Regards,

Ty