Sound Design for Filmmakers
Map out your sound design during pre-production for better audio in your film or video. This quick tutorial offers tons of great sound design tips for filmmakers.
“Fix it in post” has become an industry wide cliche – with all the powerful post production tools sometimes it’s just easier to clean up production mistakes on the backend, right? This shouldn’t be the case. Any real video pro will take their time to get it right during pre-production, not only to save time in post but also to create a better product. That’s the premise of this sound design tutorial from Lights Film School.
With useful info for sound newbies, as well as solid reminders for industry vets, this tutorial covers the basics of the sound department and explores ways you can better formulate your sound design strategy (click image for larger view).
Picking the right location and taking into account ambient noise and distractive audio is a primary component for ensuring clean audio during a shoot. Loud ambient noise is often problematic to remove in post and can lead to an unnatural sounding result. Learn what other considerations should be made when picking your shooting location.
Lastly, the tutorial shares 10 simple things you can do to increase the quality of your audio recordings:
- Turn off all mechanical and electrical devices.
- Windows and doors need to stay closed.
- Scout for quiet times at the location.
- No talking.
- Bring the boom op and mixer into rehearsals.
- Do a test recording and check playback.
- Record wild lines.
- Crew should minimize movement.
- Be on the lookout for noisey props.
- Capture room tone.
We’ve covered Lights Film School previously on the blog (here and here). It’s a great resource for any video or filmmakers looking to up the quality of their work!
