Low-budget filmmaking tip #189
Recording live sound at a beach is problematic at best. Beaches are great places for action scenes, fight scenes, and dialogue-free contemplative scenes. Anything that requires sound is going to sound like crap. If you must do dialogue at a beach, plan for ADR.
If you have a higher budget, you can afford someone who knows sound well enough to do it.
Low-budget filmmaking tip #179
For every sound you record for your sound design, keep in mind that you can pull three different sounds from that: the original recording, a speeded-up version, and a slowed-down version. An ordinary impact sound when speeded up becomes a sharp crack, and when slowed down becomes a deep whoomph.
Low-budget filmmaking tip #171
Here’s a nifty “Emergence” kind of sound: Reverse the first five seconds or so of your sound effect or music, add a little echo to it, then reverse it back. Mix that into the original beginning bit and voila! Now you know how to do that tricky sound thing they do a million times in “Torchwood.”
Low-budget filmmaking tip #170
For your sound design, do your main sound bed first. Don’t worry about gunshots, footsteps, and other incidentals yet — get that main sound bed in first. Spend a goodly amount of time getting that perfect, and the rest’ll be tons easier.
Low-budget filmmaking tip #162
When using a microphone, watch the sound levels of the recording device. Never trust your ears to give you an accurate sound level reading. Did you know, for example, that your headphones had a volume control?
Low-budget filmmaking tip #144
If you’re getting a hum in your sound, replace your cables with shielded cables, or new cables, or at least don’t run them next to or across power cables. Make sure they’re properly grounded.
Low-budget filmmaking tip #142
Before you plan a shoot, record the ambient sound from the location and go somewhere else and really listen to it. Make sure you aren’t missing something that’s going to bedevil you later, such as an elevator, nearby crowd noises, crashing sounds from across the street, whatever. It’s usually easier to find a new location than to clean up crap audio.
If you can’t change the ambient sound, maybe you can work with it. Whatever’s making sound in the area, film a few minutes of it. For example, if there’s construction going on, film the crew. That way, if you find you can’t get the sound out, you can always arrange for the construction to be a part of the scene.
(thank you for that tip, Brad Mays!)
Having a minute of clean ambient audio is better than nothing, but having clean audio to start is better still.
Low-budget filmmaking tip #99
If you don’t have a Big Giant Machine to film, film people complaining about the sound of the Big Giant Machine just off-screen and then add the sound in post.
Low-budget filmmaking tip #67
Easy on using the Wilhelm Scream as a sound effect. Ten years ago, it was cute, but nowadays enough people know of it that using it actually distracts from your movie and breaks the story. You don’t want to do that. (and “Primeval,” I’m looking at you…)
Low-budget filmmaking tip #64
Get at least one minute of clean ambient sound from every location. This is very important. You will not regret having it in editing, but if you don’t, sure as hell you’ll regret not having it!